Whole Smoked Turkey (Texas Style) (Southwest)
photo by ford1up1
- Ready In:
- 9hrs
- Ingredients:
- 22
- Serves:
-
10-15
ingredients
-
Brine
- 1 gallon water
- 1⁄4 cup vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pickling spices
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 1⁄2 cups kosher salt
- 1⁄4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon maple extract
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
-
Turkey Prep
- 10 ounces cajun injection marinade
- 1⁄4 cup olive oil
- 1⁄4 cup cajun seasoning
-
Mop
- 1⁄2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1⁄2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1⁄2 cup butter
-
Guest of Honor
- 18 lbs turkey
directions
- Combine first 12 ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Let cool.
- Rinse turkey, pat dry and brine over night, completely submerged in the brine.
- Rinse turkey and pat dry.
- Using a syringe, inject your favorite marinade. I use a store-bought Cajun sauce, made for injectors, but you could certainly make your own.
- Coat with oil, and season liberally with Cajun seasoning.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge overnight.
- Remove and bring to room temperature while you're getting the smoker ready, following the manufacture’s directions. Bring smoker up to 240 degrees. I like pecan or hickory. You could use almost any hard wood, but I do not recommend mesquite. It's too oily, and will be bitter after that long of a cooking period.
- Smoke bird for 6-8 hours, keeping the temperature between 220--240 degrees, until internal temperature of the bird reaches 180 degrees.
- Mop, rotate, and turn bird every 40-50 minutes. Add pieces of wood to keep temp up and smoke going.
- For the mop: Combine cider vinegar, water, celery salt, salt, pepper, and butter in a pot and bring to a boil. Remove and set aside.
- Remove, wrap in foil and let rest for 30 min before carving.
Reviews
-
This brine recipe has been my goto for over 15 years. At this writing the brine is cooling, the turkey defrosted, and the ice chest setup for a 3 day brine (turning once after 18 hours) starting Mon 11/23. I made only 2 tweaks the first being I used 1c of kosher salt for my 16lb bird (it's the largest "smoke n grill" smoker will allow). I also omitted the liquid smoke because I'm using an actual smoker. I don't use the injector or mop sauce but rather put carrot, celery, onion, lemon halves and a stick of frozen margarine in the cavity. I start with the breast side down for 6 hours and flip it to finish. I use charcoal and hardwood chunks soaked 1 hour for a good smoke with a water and 2c of white wine bath and feed the constant temperature smoker every 4 hours. I give this a 4.5 stars! Thanks for publishing this Pokey, btw I'm almost your neighbor at what's left of Medina Lake!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Pokey in San Antonio
United States
<p>I'm a retired USAF pilot (32 years), now as a Systems Engineer, I'm 10 years into a second career with an engineering firm, supporting the military. I love to hunt, fish, camp, hike and, of course--cook. I collect cook books and recipes from all kinds of sources. I was so glad to find this web site to help me organize my favorite recipes, and find new ones. My favorite cooking style is BBQ/Smoking. I also love to cook elaborate meals for family and friends. Having lived overseas for many years, I've picked up a lot of recipes for German, French, Italian, Thai, and Greek dishes.</p>