Brine for 24hrs Some people will pat it dry and let it sit in the fridge for a day to get crispy skin. I do not. Spatchcock. Season with your preferred tub. I cover it with butter before seasoning, you can also rub butter and apply seasoning between the skin and breast meat if you’re ambitious. Smoke at 225° for 2hrs. Go to 350° until breasts are 150°. Pull, rest, take pics, serve. I wonder about the brine window. Do you get better results part 24hrs?
They sell giant zip locks for turkey now, like $4 for a 2 pack. Much easier to fit in the fridge than a bucket.
I have a brining bag. Going to put it in my yeti cooler with ice so it’s not taking up room in my fridge.
I don't know really, I don't think it hurts I usually end up using the brine to help finish defrosting, so it might sit in there for 2 days. Bucket and all in the fridge so it not dangerous. Might as well get it in early so you know the bird is fully defrosted come show time
I’m all ears on getting crispy skin. I’ve never successfully had truly crispy skin on smoked turkey as good as the meat has been.
make skin chips, can buy extra skin to do it with smoked skin on a turkey basically never ever turns out even 1/10th as good as just doing that separate
I start off low and slow to give some time for smoke flavor to work in before I crank it high. You can go high from the get go if you don't mind a lighter smoke. I also like olive oil for that picture perfect golden skin.
False The correct way to prep a turkey is 48 hours wet brine, 48 hours dry brine The wet injects moisture and seasoning into the muscle, the dry draws it out, gets some salinization on, and shoves it back in Skin is perfect after the dry brine You’re welcome, but it’s too late for 2024
the glaze is just a melted stick of butter with good quality maple syrup simmered brine is salt, sugar, peppercorn, star anise and every herb under the sun and just eyeball the bourbon currently being enjoyed by about 30 people that all say they’ve hated turkey until tonight
Has anyone wet brined a turkey and then left it in the fridge for 24 hours to crispy up the skin? Wondering how effective that is after the wet brine.
Thomas Keller thinks it works which is enough for an amateur like me. I'll be doing this exactly before smoking it https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/my-favorite-roast-turkey-51258050
I’m far from an expert but I have done this the last couple years and don’t think it needs brining. I thought about it too but most recipes I found call for one or the other - seems like both may be overkill.
I was seeing some comments on other sites that wet brining then dry brining may over salt the turkey, which is why I was considering wet brining it and then maybe put in a little bit of salt on it and dry brining in a cooler or refrigerator.
did it once out of curiosity before when i was cooking two birds i’ve never had a problem crisping up skin, but that one was noticeably (at least by me) crispier
My wet brine is light on salt/sugar and more for herb/flavor infusion. The dry brine is for salt. I’m pretty sure Meathead did a whole science thing about flavor penetration in meat and showed that most of it stays pretty surface level. My logic: the herbed wet brine imparts good flavor where it can; the salty dry brine penetrates deeper while also drying out the skin and fortifying the muscle. Like everyone else in this thread…the turkeys I make are world famous all over my family.
Same here. My in laws went to Europe and told someone I make a good turkey so my turkey is internationally known as great.
Turkey fucking sucks. I've never had a single half way decent smoked or oven baked turkey. You can wet brine it for as long as you want then dry brine it for the perfect amount of time, cover it in the finest of rubs , do all this fancy shit, and it is still going to be some bland ass mediocre ass turkey. Fuck turkey. Ham is where it's at.
Turkey is a bottom tier meat item when compared to beef, pork, chicken and plenty of other things but is still good if done well. Also, post-Thanksgiving’s turkey sandwiches are fantastic.
Turkey in the wet brine until 7am tomorrow. Then going to rest it with a bit of salt until early Thursday after I spatchcock it. Making my 12 year help me with it so he learns how to bbq.
i was home with just my 11 year old and he was watching the brine process and asking a ton of questions and seemed genuinely interested in trying it smash cut to sunday night after i carved it and he had zero interest in eating any of the food that was served i hate kids
I specifically recall my six-year-old asking for a specific meal one time. My wife was out of town. I spent a couple of hours making it for him. I served it to him and he said he didn’t want it and only likes it when his mom makes it.
I know this feeling. My wife was out the other night and my kids said they wanted a quesadilla for dinner, so I made a dynamite quesadilla and they each took a bite and said they hated it and wanted mom's version - which is two tortillas, shredded cheddar cheese in the middle, microwaved. Little shits.
lol. I always get the same thing when they say they want mac & cheese. I buy nice cheeses and make a really good mac & cheese and they say it’s disgusting and just want the box stuff.
Not really. Even really big birds you’ll reach the equilibrium point around 24 hours. Once it’s at equilibrium you won’t get any more penetration. As others said, better results to brine for 24 then let sit uncovered in the fridge for 24. Brining works via osmosis. I don’t understand how the wet brine is accomplishing anything without salt/sugar/or a salt substitute. Without those ions you’re just flavoring the outer layer.
He had to be like 3 whenever we stood in that fucking CCB line for that tiny ass stout that one time.
I'm sort of in a pickle here. Long story, but because of some obligations tomorrow morning, I am out of pocket from 830-1030 in the middle of smoking the 19# bird. Dinner is a little after noon. I have an Akorn. My options, as I see it, are: -smoke tonight, hold in oven (makes me nervous skin will get rubbery) -smoke tomorrow starting early, trust my wife/kids to take it off if it's done before I get back to the grill. -Bird has been dry brined, I can set a firm temp in the Akorn while I'm gone, I just like to smoke a little higher temp (275-300) for poultry HALP
The wet brine will impart a layer of flavor along with additional water/moisture. Dry brine takes that flavor and redistributes it deeper into the meat (along with tightening the muscle). Wet brine only makes turkey too stringy. Dry brine only doesn’t have enough moisture for my liking. 48 hours of both is the perfect combination. Try it, you’ll like it.
You have a Sous Vide? I am being asked to smoke my turkey this evening and then reheat it tomorrow and i am thinking to smoke it, let it rest, then butcher it into manageable sizes (cut it into full pieces, wings, breasts, thighs, all on bone) and vacuum seal it. Then reheat it all to 145 tomorrow morning before we eat.