Whether it’s a festive holiday dinner or just a backyard BBQ with friends, once you give slow smoked turkey a chance we assure you you’ll never go back to dry, roasted turkey again!
The best way to get flavorful poultry, whether it’s grilled, smoked, fried, or roasted is to brine the meat. Brining adds moisture and flavor to poultry so it is juicy and succulent, not dry. The brining process will actually to start the night before you plan to cook the bird as it requires about 1 hour per pound of turkey.
Brining Supplies:
- (1) Turkey, completely cleaned and thawed, although a fresh turkey is recommended. Do not use a self-basting or kosher turkey with brine as both have salty stalks that will result in excessively salty turkey.
- (1) package of Napa Valley Perfect Turkey Brine (several varieties to choose from based on personal preference) available at Barbeques Galore
- (1) Container large enough to hold the turkey with room to turn, such as a brining bag (available at Barbeques Galore) or a large steel stock pot.
- Space for the container in your refrigerator
Simply place the turkey in the container, following the brining directions on the package, seal and refrigerate for the duration based on size. Once complete, dispose of remaining liquid, pat turkey dry with a towel, season with desired rub and place on smoking tray
Smoking supplies, available at Barbeques Galore:
- Desired rub to season turkey after removed from brine
- (1) smoking tray
- (1) bag of hickory smoking chips. Chips should be soaked for at least one hour prior to using.
- Quality charcoal
Arrange charcoal and chips in smoker or grill and preheat to 175-225 degrees. Place turkey on smoking tray on grill and smoke at 175-225 degrees until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. About 30-40 minutes per pound of whole turkey.