Smoking as a method of cooking requires a steady, controlled, low temperature and indirect heat. Whether you choose to fuel your Smoker with gas or charcoal, it is well-suited to smoking a turkey. As everyone knows, turkey gone wrong usually means dry meat. Smoking, unlike oven roasting, imparts a gentle, moist heat due to the continuous presence of damp wood in the cooking chamber. To ensure a moist and tender turkey, brining before cooking by any method is a simple and essential technique.
Instructions
Putting it all Together
1. Brine your turkey. There are hundreds of variations of brining solutions but a simple and tasty one can be done in a flash using one cup of kosher salt to one gallon of water. To the basic brine, you may add peeled garlic cloves, a chopped white onion, fresh or dried sage leaves, black peppercorns, and a cup of brown sugar. Seal the washed turkey and the brine in two layers of standard kitchen trash bags and store in a cool place for at least four hours.
2. Select the variety or varieties of wood chips you prefer. Measure about two cups of the chips and soak them in water for half an hour or longer.
3. Choose a heat source. The Brinkman All-In-One allows you to cook with charcoal or gas. Either will work well to smoke a turkey but the process is slightly different depending on which fuel you prefer. Regardless of the heat source, you will aim to produce a constant cooking temperature between 225 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Use an instant-read thermometer to monitor the temperature inside your Brinkman All-In-One throughout the cooking process and adjust the fuel supply as necessary. You can also reduce the cooking temperature if needed by removing the cover for a few seconds at a time.
4. Remove the turkey from the brine and discard the liquid. Dry the turkey inside and out and rub it with a generous amount of olive oil or canola oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper and any other seasonings you like in the cavity and on the skin.
5. If cooking with gas: Place a generous handful of damp wood chips in a wood box, available wherever grills are sold. Put the wood box on top of the lava rocks and ignite the burner. Replace the upper compartment and place the turkey inside. If you like, you may use a vertical turkey rack in order better to distribute the juices as the turkey cooks.
6. If cooking with coals: Light about two cups of coals and wait for them to turn mostly white. When they are ready, add a generous handful of damp wood chips directly on top of the coals at this time. Also add some fresh coals. As the hot coals become spent, the newly introduced ones will take over, thus maintaining the low, even heat that is required for smoking. You will have to add both fresh coals and fresh damp wood chips from time to time throughout the process in order to maintain an ideal environment for cooking your turkey.
7. Test that your turkey is done using a standard meat thermometer. A safe internal temperature for turkey is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. You may remove your turkey to rest when the temperature is within 10 degrees of that. It will continue to cook during the half-hour resting period. Start testing a 15-pound turkey after about four hours and expect it to be ready in about six hours.
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