Apple Juice Brined Turkey

[nolan]

I'm pretty sure I found the apple juice brine recipe on this forum.  I apologize for not being able to acknowledge the creator but I love their recipe.  I've used it on chicken pieces and a whole turkey and everyone loves it.

BRINE
   •   1 gallon apple juice, chilled
   •   1 cup Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
   •   3/4 cup granulated sugar
   •   1/2 cup honey
   •   1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
Recipe makes 1 gallon of brine.

DIRECTIONS:
   1.   Mix all ingredients in a non-reactive container until dissolved. If you are using a salt other than Diamond Crystal Kosher salt, substitute 3/4 cup Morton Kosher Salt, or 1/2 cup pickling salt, or 1/2 cup of non-iodized table salt.
   2.   Rinse turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Then immerse turkey in the cooled brine. Turkey should be completely submerged in liquid (place a plate on top of the bird if necessary to keep it covered with the liquid).
   3.   Cover the pot and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
   4.   After brining, rinse the turkey and pat dry with paper towels. If you have the time, place on a rack over a rimmed baking sheet and allow to air-dry 8-12 hours in the refrigerator. This helps create crispy skin during cooking

Turkey
1. Brine turkey for 24 hours.
2. Blot turkey dry with paper towels and dry rub with Cavender's Greek Meat Seasoning
3. Place in fridge for 24 hours to dry (tent with foil)
4. Preheat smoker 280* (to quickly reach 250*)
5. Fill drip pan with apple juice.
6. Brush turkey with extra virgin olive oil to lightly coat
7. Place turkey in smoker and smoke with apple wood for 4 hours @ 230*
8. Discard used pucks, refill drip pan
9. Spray turkey with apple juice
10. Continue to cook at 230* for 20 to 30 minutes per pound (includes smoking time)
11. Every couple hours I'd spray the turkey with apple juice
12. An 18 lb turkey took me about 10.5 hours to reach an internal temp of 165*
13. When thigh and breast reach 165* remove and let stand for 30 minutes
14. Carve and enjoy!

[Habanero Smoker]

The turkey looks good.

That brine recipe is SmokeHouse Rob's.
Apple Juice Turkey Brine

[nolan]

Thank you HS and great memory!  I was able to search for Smokehouse Rob and found the link:

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?21-Apple-Juice-Turkey-Brine-by-Smokehouse-Rob

I really like the taste of meat brined in it..

[SouthernSmoked]

Looks good!!

[cinrds]

I going to use this when I smoke a turkey on Oct 7th.  Going to smoke the bird this year for Thanksgiving.

[GusRobin]

Nolan -- How big of a turkey?

[Tenpoint5]

That is a nice looking Bird fer sure!!

[Tim_in_NC]

I'm going to try this out this weekend ...

Couple quick questions ...

How long to brine ... the above post says 8-12 and then 24 hours ...

When adding the dry ingredients, should you dissolve them first in a little hot water before adding to the apple juice ... then cool before adding the turkey to the mix ...

For a 15 to 18 lb. bird, is 1 dose of this brine enough (1 Gal. apple juice, etc...) or should this recipe be doubled ...

thanks,
TIM

[ExpatCanadian]

I'm also pretty interested in this... but I'm wondering about how sweet this will turn out, between the apple juice, white sugar, brown sugar and honey there's a heck of a lot of sugar in that brine!  Anyone find it sweetens the meat?

[Rainmaker]

I've got a 14 pound turkey that I'm smoking this weekend and willbe finishing in a deep fryer.  I am also intersted in trying this brine.  My questions is the same as the ones above, will the recipe make enough for a 14 pound bird?
Also interested in the answer to the question above about how sweet the brine makes the turkey.
Thanks

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm going to try this out this weekend ...

Couple quick questions ...

How long to brine ... the above post says 8-12 and then 24 hours ...

When adding the dry ingredients, should you dissolve them first in a little hot water before adding to the apple juice ... then cool before adding the turkey to the mix ...

For a 15 to 18 lb. bird, is 1 dose of this brine enough (1 Gal. apple juice, etc...) or should this recipe be doubled ...

thanks,
TIM

The amount of brine needed will depend on the container you are brining in. The container should be non-reactive and just large enough to fit the turkey without crowding. You should use a container that is taller then it is wide; such as a 5 gallon food safe bucket, or large stainless steel stock pot; sometimes a small cooler will fit your needs.

To determine how much brine you will need, place the bird in the container that you will be brining in, and add water until it covers the bird by about one inch. Remove the turkey, and then measure the water; that will tell you how much brine to make. After adding the other ingredients to the apple juice, you should have some extra brine left over, after the bird is covered.

As for brining times, I would stick with the 8 - 14 hours in the original recipe, because that recipe has been getting good reviews. Use the higher end times for larger birds. A quick method that is sometimes used to calculating brining times for an whole turkey is to use 1 hour per pound. That will give you a good time frame to work with.

P.S.
I forgot to mention. When calculating the amount of brine you need, make sure the turkey is unwrapped so that the cavity of the bird will fill up. If you skip that step, you will be short on brine.

[kmax]

Anyone ever used cherry smoke for a turkey?

[Mat_M]

I'm going to use this recipe for Thanksgiving. One question...in the picture you've posted, is that a 3 gallon bucket? 5 gallon? I can't tell from the scale of the picture.

[dumoch126]

I like the recipe, but have a question about the ten and a half hours. At approx 3 lbs per hour cooking time an 18 lb turkeys should have been 6 hours, or am I missing something? My turkey is 19 so I just wNt to be sure I can estimate properly! Thanks!

[thepro8]

thanks for the recipe. i'm trying it out this year. Really hope I don't F up my turkey.