Turkey Up

[squirtthecat]

That is a great idea.   I need to start soaking a country ham tonight - I'll do that very thing.
Thanks!

[KevinG]

No problem. I'd probably buy a new one and clean it out real good because occasionally I do end up getting a pin hole in the ziplock.

[Ka Honu]

...I usually don't do birds this big...

I usually consider a "big" turkey to be over 16 pounds so a 12-pounder isn't that big - what do you usually get?

Anyway, I usually buy "medium" turkeys (12-14 pounds) and find that I can brine them in my 12-quart stockpot with less than a gallon of brine.

[OU812]

When smokin a turkey I try to keep the bird right at 12 lb for me the bigger birds dont take on the smoke as well and they take longer to brine with some spots salter than others.

This is my brine bucket, it even comes with a lid.

[Rich_91360]

have the same bucket from King Arthur Flour.
Use when brining salmon and just put a luncheon plate inside to keep everything submerged

[OU812]

have the same bucket from King Arthur Flour.
Use when brining salmon and just put a luncheon plate inside to keep everything submerged

The plate thing works great.

[Habanero Smoker]

If you inquire around restaurants, or fast food places; often you can get a 5 gallon food safe container  with a lid from one of those places for free or at a minimal charge. They generally either recycle or throw them away.

[sodak]

Don't forget to rinse well...the bird that is...after brining.  I'm taking mine out tonight.  4 1/2 days soaking should be enough.  I'm going to refill the buckets with plain water tonight and start the smoking/cooking process tomorrow morning.  Camera is charging right now.

[Rich_91360]

4 1/2 days seems like an awful long time in brining solution.  Have you done it this long before.

[sodak]

Yes I have done this before.  I was actually going to leave it in for five days.  But, based on the size of the turkey 4 probably would have done it.  Both birds about 12-13 pounds.  Rytek recommends 5 days for big birds.

[sodak]

The product has been removed from the brining buckets and put into the smoker.  Two 12 or so pound turkeys.  A couple of turkey breasts rolled and tied.  A chicken ('cause it fit in the bucket) and a dinosaur leg my friend told me to toss in!  Unlike most everyone here, I built my own smoker and use chunk wood to generate the smoke.  But, I do have an adapter for the Bradley generator and plan to implement it one of these days.



My smoker cabinet is in an addition to my wood shop.  This makes the "hobby" a bit more tolerable living in the Dakota's.  The PID I built, to control the heat element, has been holding steady at 130F for about an hour and 15 minutes after loading the birds, etc...



So, now that the product has dried off enough, it's time to start adding the smoke.  Here is the smoke box.  The steel plate lid is removed and off to the side.  You will note it sits outside my shop and the smoke is piped directly into the smoker cabinet.  From the cabinet it is piped directly up and out of the shop through a special chimney.



Here's what I plan to use for smoke.  Fifty percent cherry chunks and fifty percent apricot chunks.  Will smoke for about 4+ hours at 130-140F



You can see a series of vent holes in the bottom of this picture where the smoke is beginning to roll.  That's a slide draft and I light the wood from below using a propsane torch then close the draft to keep it smoking rather than on fire.  Smoke is rolling and will keep checking it (that's where a Bradley is nice) every 15 minutes or so to make sure things are going well.  Time to put a lid on and clean up my kitchen mess!



The neighbor has already been over to see what's for supper!  Loves the smoke!  Will post more when the birds are closer to done.

[Ka Honu]

Looks like a pretty "cool" (pardon the pun) setup.

[bears fan]

Wow, nice setup.  I think I would drink to much beer if I had to keep tending to the wood chunks that often!

[bears fan]

So, how did the turkey turn out?

[oakville smoker]

My turkey is out of the brine this morning and gone for a quick swim to release some of the brine
Butter / beer / garlic / onion  / lemon injection is ready
now I have to decide what to smoke it with