Whole Smoked Turkey (Texas Style) (Southwest)
4
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I always cook up two birds for Thanksgiving. One cooked in the oven (see my aluminum football recipe) and one either smoked or fried. This is my smoked recipe. It's not easy, but smoking turkeys is not for the faint of heart. Prep time does not include time spent in the brine. Unless you want turkey jerky, please don't attempt this recipe without brining the bird first--it will be very, very dry.
- Ready In:
- 9hrs
- Serves:
- Units:
4
People talking
ingredients
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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
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Turkey Prep
- 10 ounces cajun injection marinade
- 1⁄4 cup olive oil
- 1⁄4 cup cajun seasoning
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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
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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.
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RECIPE MADE WITH LOVE BY
@Pokey in San Antonio
Contributor
@Pokey in San Antonio
Contributor
"I always cook up two birds for Thanksgiving. One cooked in the oven (see my aluminum football recipe) and one either smoked or fried. This is my smoked recipe. It's not easy, but smoking turkeys is not for the faint of heart. Prep time does not include time spent in the brine. Unless you want turkey jerky, please don't attempt this recipe without brining the bird first--it will be very, very dry."
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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!Reply
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Replies 1
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Thank You for your recipe. I never follow exact ,nor take notes. Thus a one ship pass never duplicated. Used apple sauce and a wing all sauce to inject. Used apple juice for water and apple chip/little hickory. Incredible!! , no mop, just apple juice and vinegar mister.1Reply
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How about using the brine in the smoker instead of plain water?Replies 1
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