Thanksgiving dinner was excellent and I hope yours was as well. I didn't take any pictures except of the cooking turkey and the soup appetizer because it was busy enough already.
Here is the brine recipe I used for 13 hours (1 hour per pound):
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup bourbon
2 Tbsp whole peppercorns
5-6 bay leaves
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
enough water and ice to cover the turkey
Rub was Bill and Cheryl Jamison's Poultry Perfect Rub from the book Smoke and Spice. I mixed it with butter too and smeared on the breast.
Baste was a 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup wine, 2 garlic cloves mince, and 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.
Technically it wasn't "smoked" because I cooked it at a higher temp but the cherry wood still gave it a nice light smoke flavor, deep skin color, and a smoke ring.Here's the cooking log for the turkey for all of you BBQ geeks like me. (Click the picture to view larger.) If you want the template in an Excel spreadsheet, here: NMT Cooking Log
Your turkey brine sounds outstanding and the final result looks perfect. I'm glad I wasn't the only one too busy for photos - I think I remembered to take two.
ReplyDeleteSomebody was smoking a turkey in our neighborhood and it smelled soooooo good.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you and your family. The roasted acorn soup looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a a wonderful, stress free Thanksgiving.
Wow, I'm impressed. It looks beautiful. I'm pleased you brined the bird as I'm an advocate of brining all poultry and pork too.
ReplyDeleteThat turkey is gorgeous. I bought an extra turkey and froze it, to smoke later, when all the family is gone, and it's mine all mine.
ReplyDeleteYour turkey turned out just beautiful. Hope and your family had a great thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteHope your t-day was happy and peaceful.
ReplyDeleteThe soup looks delicious and the turkey turned out PERFECT!
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