Bourbon Brined Smoke Turkey

• Little Miss Made from Scratch

Bourbon Brined Smoke Turkey

Ingredients:

  • 12-15 lb whole turkey
    • Rule of thumb: 1lbs per person
    • When smoking a turkey, don’t use a turkey more than 15lb. If you use too large of a bird, it will be in the “danger zone” (40˚-140˚F) for too long. Ideally, you want the turkey to be pass through that zone after 4 hours on the smoker. If you stuff the turkey, it will take longer to cook.

Brine:

  • 8 quarts cold water
  • 1½ cups salt
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup bourbon
  • 2 oranges, quartered
  • 1 lemon, quartered
  • 1/3 cup whole peppercorns
  • 10 whole cloves
  • 2 dried bay leaves

Herbed Butter:

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • ½ Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
  • ½ Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
  • ½ Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp dry rub of your choice

Cavity:

  • 2 oranges, quartered
  • 1 lemon, quartered
  • 1 yellow onion, quartered
  • 10 sprigs thyme (0.75 oz container = about 30 sprigs)

Other:

  • Large tin-foil roasting pan
  • Large sanitized food-safe container to brine turkey in
  • Kitchen string
  • Oven-safe thermometer

Directions:

Timeline:

  • 7:30am Sunday, start to defrost turkey in refrigerator for 3 days. General rule: defrost for 24-hours for every 5lbs of turkey
  • 7:30am Wednesday, turkey into the brine for 24-hours
  • Thursday (Thanksgiving Day)
    • 7:30am, take out of brine, rinse and dry turkey, 3-hours in refrigerator uncovered
    • 10:30am, prep turkey and put on the smoker: About 4-6 hour cook time for 2 turkeys
    • 5:00pm, take off smoker (or when hits 160˚F), rest for 30 minutes
    • 5:30pm, Eat!! 😊

Brine:

  1. Prepare turkey for brine by fully defrosting, removing giblets and neck from cavity.
  2. In a large stock pot over medium-high heat, combine water, salt and sugar. Bring heat up and dissolve the salt and sugar into the liquid, then turn off heat.
  3. Let brine cool and then add remaining brine ingredients.
  4. Pour cold brine over turkey, cover with lid and store in refrigerator. Make sure the temp does not go above 38˚F (Danger zone = 40˚-140˚F). Brine for 24 hours. Avoid brining longer than 30 hours; at a minimum, brine for 4 hours.

Herb Butter:

  1. Add herbs, garlic, and rub to room temperature butter and combine. Keep at room temperature.

Cooking:

  • Remove turkey from brine and rinse with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels, especially the cavity. Place in roasting pan and put into the refrigerator for 3 hours, uncovered to help dry it out.
  • Preheat Smoker to 250 degrees F.
  • Stuff cavity of the bird with thyme, oranges, and lemons. Separate the skin from the breast and spread butter in between. Lightly spray outside of turkey with cooking spray. (I covered the outside of the turkey with rub, but wouldn’t do that again. I changed the recipe to include the rub with the butter).
  • Tie legs with kitchen string, and tuck wings in to keep tight against the turkey.
  • Place pan with turkey on the smoker, and insert your digital meat probe into the thickest part of the breast. Add ½ cup of water to the bottom of roaster pan; this helps keep moisture in the turkey.
  • Smoke at 250˚F until internal temp reaches 140˚F. Making sure to rotate the pan to ensure an even cook.
  • Turn temp down to 200˚F and cook until the internal temperature reads 165˚F. Use an instant read thermometer to check the temp in various part of the turkey, even if the probe reads 165˚F to confirm all parts of the turkey are cooked through.
  • Remove from smoker and set aside juice from the bottom of the pan (for gravy). Cover turkey with foil and rest for 30 minutes before carving (make gravy while turkey rests; **see recipe below).
  • Enjoy!!

**Mom’s Turkey Gravy Recipe: https://littlemissmadefromscratch.wordpress.com/2022/12/06/moms-turkey-gravy/

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