Apple Cider Brined Smoked Turkey Food

SPICE-RUBBED BUTTERFLIED SMOKED TURKEY RECIPE

Steps:

• At least 1 day and up to 3 days before cooking, remove the backbone from the turkey by cutting down either side of the spine with a pair of heavy-duty poultry shears. If necessary, use a cleaver or a heavy chef's knife to cut through the joints where the thigh meets the backbone. Alternatively, ask your butcher to butterfly your bird for you.
• Remove the wishbone by lifting the skin above the breast near the neck opening and locating the Y-shaped bone with your fingertip. Using a sharp paring knife, cut along the top and bottom of both halves of the bone. Slip your finger behind the bone, pull it out, and discard or save for gravy or stock.
• Lay the bird flat on a cutting board with its legs splayed out. Press down firmly on the breast to crack the bone so the turkey lies flat. Rub the skin all over with oil. Combine salt, paprika, smoked paprika, black pepper, mustard seed, coriander, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, sage, brown sugar, and baking powder in a small bowl and mix until homogeneous. Rub mixture over entire surface of turkey, coating it thoroughly. Transfer turkey to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least overnight and up to 3 days.
• When ready to cook, light one half chimney of charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Place the turkey on the cooler side of the grill with the legs facing toward the coals. Add 4 wood chunks. Cover grill with lid vents directly over the turkey. Close bottom and top vents halfway.
• Cook turkey, adjusting vents to maintain a temperature between 225 and 275°F (105 to 135°C), adding fresh wood chunks every half hour and fresh coals a dozen at a time as necessary to maintain temperature. Cook until a probe thermometer inserted into the coolest part of the breast registers 150°F (66°C) and the legs register at least 165°F (74°C), 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. Remove turkey from grill, let rest 15 minutes, carve, and serve.

APPLE CIDER TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Combine 4 cups water, apple cider, kosher salt, sage, rosemary, thyme, and peppercorns together in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil; cook and stir brine until the salt is just dissolved. Remove from heat; add ice cubes.

APPLE CIDER BRINE

Steps:

• In a 3-4 quart saucepan, combine cider with salt, sugar, ginger, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, and allspice; stir to dissolve salt.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook 3-4 minutes; remove from heat, add 4 cups of ice water and set aside to cool.
• Line a heavy roasting pan with turkey-sized oven cooking bags (which should be double-layered).
• Remove the turkey from it's wrapping, remove neck and giblets (store separately), and rinse and prepare bird.
• Stuff cavity with orange quarters.
• Make a collar of the top of cooking bags (helps keep bags open), and slip bird inside, stand it upright (legs pointing up), and unfold the top of the bag.
• Pour the brine over the bird, and add an additional 2 cups of water.
• Draw up the first inner bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, and secure with a twist-tie; do the same for the outer bag.
• Place the turkey, breast side down, in the roasting pan and refrigerate for 12-24 hours, turning 3-4 times while brining.
• Just prior to roasting, remove the turkey from the brine; discard the bags, brine, and all cured herbs, spices, and oranges remaining in the bird.
• Rinse the turkey under cold water and pat dry with paper toweling.
• Air-dry turkey under refrigeration for 4-6 hours (before cooking) for a crispier crust when roasting.
• The turkey is now ready to be roasted.

BRINED SMOKED TURKEY

Steps:

• Unwrap thawed turkey and remove any parts (neck, giblets etc.) that may be inside cavity.
• In a large food safe bucket combine the hot water and salt. Stir until dissolved. Mix in remaining ingredients for the brine. Add turkey to brine, seal container and place in the fridge overnight (8-12 hours). If the brine mixture does not cover the entire turkey we add more water/apple cider to mixture.
• The next day remove turkey from brine, rinse under cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Place the turkey in a large foil roasting pan, breast side up.
• Then tie the legs together with baking twine.
• Heat your smoker to 250°F according to manufacturer's instructions. We recommend using cherry wood chips.
• In a small bowl mix together the ingredients for the rub. Gently lift the skin of the turkey up and rub butter mixture under the skin.
• Brush the turkey with olive oil. Season the turkey cavity with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Put the turkey into the smoker and smoke for about 30 minutes per pound, or until an instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast meat.
• Remove turkey from smoker. I recommend using silicone mitts to lift the roasting pan off the smoker. Tent the turkey lightly with foil for at least 30 minutes before slicing, giving the juices time to redistribute.

APPLE CIDER TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• In a large pot, combine apple cider, water, orange juice, kosher salt, pepper, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, garlic and onion. Bring to a simmer over high heat. You do not need to rapidly boil the liquid; just whisk to make sure that the salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow the brine to cool completely (this can take quite a few hours).
• Add turkey to cool brine, cover and refrigerate for 12-14 hours (or up to 24 hours).
• Before removing turkey from brine, adjust oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place a rack in a large roasting pan. You can line the roasting pan with foil first, for easy cleanup. Place 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
• Remove turkey from brine and rinse under cool water. Pat inside and outside of the turkey dry with paper towels. Tie legs with kitchen twine, and tuck wing tips behind back. Brush outside of the turkey with melted butter. Set turkey breast-side up on the rack in the roasting pan.
• Roast turkey, uncovered, until thickest part of the breast registers 165 degrees and thickest part of thigh registers 170 to 175 degrees on instant-read thermometer. Keep a close eye on the turkey after the first 30-60 minutes of roasting - the skin will get dark quickly. Once the skin is nicely browned to your liking, tent the turkey with foil (shiny side up) to prevent burning while it finishes cooking.
• The total cooking time will vary depending on the size of your turkey, on how cold your turkey is when it goes in the oven, and on your individual oven. The following cooking times are only estimates. If your turkey is not close to room temperature when it goes in the oven, it will take longer to cook. If it is at room temp, it may take less time to cook. So check the temperature early. A brined 12 -14 lb. turkey needs about 2 ½ - 3 hours in a 350 degree F oven, while a 15-16 lb. turkey will likely require closer to 3 - 3 ½ hours. Again, I've had a brined 15-lb. turkey cook in as little as about 2 ½ hours, so it's always best to check the temperature of the meat early.
• Transfer turkey to a cutting board and allow to rest for 30-40 minutes. Carve and serve.

BRINED SMOKED TURKEY

Steps:

• Mix salt, brown sugar, vegetable stock, apple cider vinegar, pickling spice, onion, carrot, peppercorns and bay leaves in a stockpot and bring to a boil until sugar and salt is well dissolved. Remove from heat and cool. In large pot or ice chest, add stockpot mixture to ice and cold water. Submerge turkey. Brine for 4 to 6 hours.
• Remove turkey from brine and dry well. Combine Worcestershire sauce and kitchen bouquet browning sauce together and brush on skin of turkey. Rub salt, pepper and paprika onto turkey skin. Stuff inside of turkey with orange quarters and tie legs together.
• Smoke turkey in smoker set to 250 degrees for about 7 hours. Checking internal temperature to be 170 degrees. Remove and let rest for 45 minutes.

BEST APPLE CIDER BRINED TURKEY

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine cider, vinegar, salt, and sugar; stir to dissolve salt and sugar.
• Bring to a low boil over medium heat; Add in peppercorns, sage, garlic, thyme and shallots.
• On low heat simmer for 5 minutes; remove from heat, add ice to brine mixture and set aside to cool.
• Remove the turkey from the wrapping, remove neck and giblets (set aside for giblet gravy), rinse and prepare bird by patting down with paper towels.
• Make a collar of the top of cooking bags (helps keep bags open), and slip bird inside, stand it upright (legs pointing up), and unfold the top of the bag.
• Once the brine is cooled to room temperature or less, pour the cooled brine over the bird, and add an additional cold water until bird is submerged in liquid.
• Squeeze out as much air as possible and secure with a twist-tie.
• Place the turkey, breast side down, in a roasting pan and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning over every 6-8 hours.
• Just prior to roasting, remove the turkey from the brine; discard the bags, brine, and all cured herbs, spices, and oranges remaining in the bird.
• Rinse the turkey under cold water and pat dry with paper toweling.
• The turkey is now ready to be roasted. See cooking times for Brined turkey as it will be less than typical cooking time.
• Before cooking the bird, I typically use a rub with olive oil or melted butter/margarine. I quarter an apple and stuff inside the cavity for cooking, tenting the bird until the last hour. This will be the BEST roasted turkey you've had, hands down! I even prefer this over deep fried turkey as it is about as moist and has much more flavor to it. I compliment this turkey by serving giblet gravy, sautéed herbed mushrooms and Apple Wine Stuffing.

APPLE CIDER TURKEY BRINE

Steps:

• Remove the Instant Pot lid and turn on the sauté setting for 30 minutes. (30 minutes is the most you can sauté, so you'll add more time when this time is up.)
• Add the water, apples, and brown sugar to the stainless-steel inner pot with the lid off.
• Place the cloves, ginger, cinnamon sticks, pomegranate, and orange into the strainer bag, tighten the bag's strings, and place the strainer in the inner pot.
• Allow the cider to simmer.
• When the 30 minutes is up, turn on the sauté setting for an additional 10 minutes.
• When the cooking time is finished, remove the straining bag and scoop out the apples.
• Transfer the apple cider turkey brine to a deep-dish roasting pan with the turkey.
• Then oven-roast your turkey in the apple cider brine, basting the turkey with the brine pan juices every 20-30 minutes.
• You can garnish apple cider brined turkey with fresh thyme sprigs, fresh rosemary, or parsley.

EASY APPLE CIDER BRINE RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large stock pot, add your salt, peppercorns, BBQ seasoning, and bay leaves.
• Pour in your water, beer, and smoked cider.
• Over medium high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling reduce the heat and allow it to fully cool.
• Pour over your turkey, chicken, or pork into an appropriate container that will fully submerge the protein. Place in the fridge for 24 hours (minimum) and follow regular cooking instructions after brining.