Smokin a Bird

I smoked a turkey this Thanksgiving. Contrary to what one of my colleagues asked, “What, you stuff it in a pipe?” (you know who you are… lets play Wii tennis, k?), I did not stuff the turkey into a pipe.

We also cleaned house. Not just a once over – I mean a DEEP clean. With the twins coming, we need space. Space, however, is something of a rarity in our house. So we bought some large Rubbermaid containers and started putting stuff away – Goodwill got a lot of donations, as did Half Price Books (50 bucks for a couple of boxes of books, not too bad). I’m happy to say that we made a lot of progress – but still have much more to go…

Enough chit chat – on with the recipe for –

Honey Brined Hickory Smoked Turkey

Brine:

1 gallon hot water
1 pound kosher salt
2 quarts vegetable broth
1 pound honey
1 (7-pound) bag of ice
1 (15 to 20-pound) turkey, with giblets removed

The brine adds flavor, juiciness (most of us have had dry tough turkey), and tenderizes the meat… don’t skip it!

Vegetable oil, for rubbing turkey

Wood chips – 2 bags (WalMart, Lowes, Kroger all have ‘em) – I used hickory – one could use any other hardwood (just not treated!!)

Spice rub (add ½ cup salt if not brining):

½ cup brown sugar

2 TBSP smoked papikra

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsp sage

2 tsp thyme

½ tsp cayenne

Smoke bombs: I made about 8 of them
Soak wood chips x 4 hrs (I did mine overnight).
Place wood chips + rosemary in double layered aluminum foil.

Combine the hot water and the salt in a 54-quart cooler (yes I bought one!). Stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the vegetable broth and the honey. Add the ice and stir. Place the turkey in the brine, breast side up, and cover with cooler lid.. Brine overnight, up to 12 hours. (I used a 13 lb bird.)

Remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry. Rub the bird thoroughly with the vegetable oil. Add dry rub (note: no salt in rub due to brining)

Heat the grill to 400 degrees F. Once it reaches 400 degrees, turn off all but one burner and place turkey over heating elements that are off.

I cut a foil roasting pan's sides off and placed it around the turkey to disperse the heat and prevent the turkey from getting burnt on the sides...

Using a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil, build a smoke bomb. Place a cup of soaked hickory wood chips in the center of the foil and gather up the edges, making a small pouch. Leave the pouch open at the top. Set this directly on the charcoal or on the metal bar over the gas flame. Set the turkey over indirect heat, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast meat, and set the alarm for 160 degrees F. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour.

After 1 hour check the bird; if the skin is golden brown (it was for me), cover with aluminum foil and continue cooking.

I replaced the smoke bombs after I didn’t see any white smoke coming from the grill. When there was about an hour left, I moved the turkey to the middle of the grill and turned on the burner on either side of the turkey to increase the heat.

The turkey took about 4 ½ hours to hit 170 degrees. Once the bird reaches 170 degrees F, remove from grill, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 1/2 hour (carry over to 180) . Carve and eat it.

In case you havent heard...

Listen to the video... what a rock star!
(Music by Loudon Wainwright III)