Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Great Brine Recipe for Smoking a Turkey, November 12, 2007
By RickClark

"I smoke quote a bit, but have never used a Brine Recipe. I decided to go this route instead of a rub. I marinated a 12-pound turkey for 24 hours using the brine recipe.
The only thing that threw me was the total smoke time, which took 12 hours. I thought it would take 6-7 hours because I was very careful in keeping the temperature between 220 and 240 degrees.
Quite honestly - I was concerned that it was going to dry out because there was barely any juice in the bottom of the roasting pan. The only way I could get to 165 degrees was to take it out of the roasting pan, double wrap it in foil, and take temperature up to 260 degrees for the last two hours.
I had some neighbors watch the entire process and were interested in the outcome. I compete on a cook team peforming at barbeque festivals with good success, but wasn't quite sure about this one.
All of us eventually conceded that this was a learning process because there is no way that a 12-pound turkey would be any good after cooking for 12 hours.
I let the turkey rest for about 15 minutes after smoking. I noticed immediately when slicing that the meat had a slight pink color, which is attributed to smoking.
I had always thought that you would get a more moist turkey by roasting it in the oven with continuous basting. I was surprised to find that this was the most moist turkey I have ever had with a great flavor.
I don't normally care for breast meat because it dries out so fast, but it turned out great and did not dry out for left overs. My neighbors were surprised as well. Everyone came to the same conclusion on flavor and tenderness.
Going forward, the only way I will cook a turkey is with a brine marinade."

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