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Smoked Turkey

2005-11-21 20:03:55.378509+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

Had guests over for dinner last night, and we tried out some of the recipes we're going to be using for Thanksgiving as well as a few others. The turkey was, in the words of one guest, worth being born for:

  • 12 lb turkey
  • half gallon apple cider
  • 5 juniper berries, crushed
  • 5 allspice berries, crushed
  • 2 fresh bay leaves, crushed
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • enough water to fill the brining pot

Marinate in the fridge for 36 hours, smoke with charcoal and hickory chips for 4 hours, have the smoker hit and knocked over by a visitor's car, pick everything back up and smoke for another hour, then get nervous and finish in a 350°F oven until done (180°F). I think you can skip the getting run over by the car thing, and I think I'll have a better handle on smoker temperature on my next run, so we'll smoke all the way through. I'm also going to up the juniper berries by a few.

[ related topics: Food Birds ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2005-11-23 00:06:33.831052+00 by: DaveP

So apprently you rolled the wings tightly enough, eh?

#Comment Re: made: 2005-11-23 04:15:14.304461+00 by: Dan Lyke

Duuuuuude!

#Comment Re: made: 2005-11-25 13:02:32.009287+00 by: radix

Got a recommendation for temperature control: http://www.thebbqguru.com

I have yet to get one myself, but I have a friend who uses this with his big green egg and he swears by it. Very simple concept: temperature probe + fan control + feedback loop. This allows you to have a wood or charcoal fire and still have temperature control. It's just a matter of time before I get one myself.

Belated Happy Thanksgiving! radix

#Comment Re: made: 2005-11-25 21:39:19.184375+00 by: Dan Lyke

Yeah, that looks really sweet. I may have to cobble together something similar, I wonder if any of the sub $40 thermostats at my local hardware store can read to 200 degrees or so, or if there's an easy way to build an attenuator for the thermostat that'll do the right thing. Given that my smoker is a garage sale special, I'd rather cobble a fan I already have to do this.

Of course I also keep threatening to find a hot plate at a garage sale to do an electric version. Wouldn't turn out enough heat to do a wet smoke, but would probably be perfect for a dry smoke for fish.