All systems are go...Turkey is smokin'

[SmokinMoe]

I pulled it out of the brine after 2 days and let it air dry in the refrigerator overnight, and then let it sit out for an hour while I cleaned up the bradley a bit.  Put it in at 7:30 am this morning.  I used 2 apple pucks to one maple.  The thigh is already reading 149 degrees and the breast is reading 130 after only two hours!! Could this be done by lunch? LOL I was thinking 10-11 hours, but who knows.
The guru is on 210 degrees and meat temp set at 168 (just to make sure it is done)on ramp mode.  
Not much in the way of the great smell a Boston Butt greets you with, but I can hear it cooking anyway!!
Chez, the thermometer is working FINALLY, after new batteries and I made myself read the directions this time.
Ok, I will let you know if it will be lunch or dinner.  Bring your own fork.

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

is it done yet?[:D]

[tsquared]

Sounds good,SM, we'll all be there.[:D]
Tom

[nsxbill]

Are you picking us up at the airport?

Bill

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

Smokinmoe must of fella sleep, eaten to much turkey[:D]

[MallardWacker]

Like all the cool SoCal girls say "You go girl..."

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[SmokinMoe]

It was a BIG dissappointment. It took 9 hours and the Bradley could hardly keep the temp at 200 degrees and it wasn't even that cold out.
The skin was rubbery and the turkey was TOO salty for me.  
My husband, on the other hand, said it was the best he has ever had-go figure!
I don't even want to taste another turkey for a long time.  
I knew I should've cut the salt down but was scared to because I knew how important the salt was to the brine solution.  Uggg, I don't know what to do now.  That was my fourth thing and it sure was bad.

[Habanero Smoker]

You may have brined it for two long. When I saw that you brined it for two days, I felt there would be a problem. A 10-14 pound turkey should be brined 12-24 hours. The longer times will make the turkey saltier. What recipe and amount of salt did you decide on?

Here is a turkey brine I found on the Light Cooking website; that I'm planning to try on a couple of chickens, within the next few days. I'm going to use 1 gallon of water, replace the lemon with pickling spices, and reduce the peppercorns to 2 Tbsp.

BRINE:
8  quarts water
3/4  cup kosher salt
3/4  cup maple syrup
3  tablespoons black peppercorns
8  garlic cloves, crushed
1  lemon, thinly sliced

To prepare brine, combine first 6 ingredients in a large container, stirring until salt dissolves.
To prepare 14 pound turkey, remove and reserve giblets and neck from turkey. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Add turkey to the brine, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours, turning occasionally.

[Warrior]

I am planning a 9lbs Turkey this weekend.  Temp is supposed to be around -5C.  

I have seen and read a lot about the T-shirt method, but still have a couple of questions.  When you do the T-shirt, is there REALLY that much advantage if your not too worried about the skin.  I am more concerned with the juicy meat...  

In your opinion, do you think that I am better off doing the bacon above and enjoy that addiditonal flavor, OR the T-shirt, (seems like the T-shirt is a bit more effort)

Thanks, look forward to your thoughts...

[whitetailfan]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Warrior</i>
<br />When you do the T-shirt, is there REALLY that much advantage if your not too worried about the skin?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If you're not concerned about the outside appearance, I say dont bother.  Olds may correct me here, but my understanding with the t-shirt is that it protects the meat from blackening with the smoke being applied.  I plan on trying it with my next pork loin, but if you gonna toss the skin, I would not bother. JM2Cents

<b><font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green"></b>
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB

[MallardWacker]

I know I am weird, go ahead it's ok if you agree.  But this just a general observation about high moisture smokes.  I understand what moe is talking about.  When I do birds(Chicken), to me that is some of the most moisture ridden pieces of meat that you can do.  The amount of moisture vapor that rises from the smoker is astronomical comapred to a brisket, ribs or butts.  I have noticed that when I have that much moisture the temp does take longer to come up to where I want it.  It's kind of like when you do a brisket, it goes through the rendering and then the smoker temp starts to rise.  I think this is what happens when you do something like a bird and it is only becomes greter when you do something like a turkey.   Though I don't critisize the BS very much, I wish it might have just a little bit more heat to help compensate this.  Just my "weird" thoughts here.  man I wish I was hunting...........

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[BigSmoker]

For Moe,

I agree that you brined your turkey to long.  I also think the problem keeping the temp up was the guru set in ramp mode.  ramp mode lowers the temp of the cooker as your product reaches it final temp.  
My humble opinion don't use ramp mode[:D]

Jeff
//www.bbqshopping.com

[/url]
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[Ian]

MallardWacker:   I do believe you hit that one right in the box, in all the years I have never smoked/cooked any fowl in my Bradley's as I believe in the school of thought that a temp in the three hundred range is the way to go and this would push this unit beyond it's capabilities. Now i'am not saying it can't be done but I think you would need to limit the number of bird's and keep them in the broiler range, actually I had a chance to pick up a case of quails after xmas and fully intend to do them on the Bradley as I believe these would be a good fit.[8D]

Ian <b>( GO STEELERS!!!!! )</b>

[Habanero Smoker]

I agree MW. Any time I do poultry with skin on, the BS struggles to maintain 200 Degrees F, due to the high moisture content.

As Jeff stated, ramp mode will definately extend your cooking time. Also it lowwers your cabinet temperature, that may have been the biggest factor that kept you cabinet temperature down. I only use the ramp mode if I know I will not be in the area, or if I'm going to be sleeping.

[bsolomon]

When I read the post on the 9th and it said "brined for 2 days," I almost wrote, "I'll bet it will be too salty" but I didn't want to sound like a pessamist.  

As we have discussed in the past, you can lower the salt content of a brine only so far, and then it will no longer be effective at what it is supposed to do, namely, keeping the meat moist.  The side effect of brining is getting flavors into the meat via osmosis and diffusion, most notably, salt, sugar, and any other spices or flavorings that go along for the ride.

That being said, if you can't control the salt and still have an effective brine, the factor that becomes the most important is the time.  A few extra hours, depending on the thickness of the meat, can mean the difference between excellent, salty, awfully salty, and then just plain awful.  Doubling a suggested brining time will virtually guarantee a failure.

If you are new to brining, always err on the side of not enough brining time.  The worst that happens is that the meat won't be as juciy of flavorful as you had hoped, but it cetainly won't be any worse than if you hadn't brined at all.  Always think about your schedule and available timetable - if you aren't going to be around to remove the meat from the brine at the desired time, adjust accordingly rather than letting the meat brine for too long.  Over-brining can easily ruin the finished product.