Turkey's Not Just For Thanksgiving

  Nearly a month has passed since the big turkey day, but if the texture of a dried out oven bird or cost of

three gallons of peanut oil for the turkey fryer has left a bad taste in your mouth, then here is the recipe for you.

I smoked my first turkey a couple of years ago for Thanksgiving at my house when I ran out of poultry cooking options. I have of course made the classic oven roasted bird and dabbled in the turkey deep fryer, but it was time to try something else so I decided to break out the orange home depot bucket I use for brining and fire up the smoker for my first smoked turkey.
Going out of town this past Thanksgiving I had a frozen leftover turkey in my fridge, so once the food coma wore off from a weekend long face stuffing session I decided to replicate my famous smoked turkey and here's the recipe!




Turkey Brine

6 qts. hot water
1 pound kosher salt
1 pound dark brown sugar
5 pounds of ice

   Combine the water, salt, and brown sugar in a clean five gallon bucket, Gatorade type drink cooler, or ice chest. Stir the liquid until all of the salt and sugar is dissolved and then add the ice to cool down the mixture. Once the brine has cooled down place the turkey in the brine, making sure it is completely submerged. Place the bucket in a cool place for 10-12 hours.

Smoked Turkey

12-14 pound turkey with giblets removed
olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon ground sage
1 tablespoon dried thyme
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 onion
apple & hickory wood chunks (soaked in water)

Fire up your smoker to 250 degrees and place your wood chunks in to start the smoking. While your smoker is heating up dry off your turkey and then rub liberally with olive oil and spices to cover the entire bird and place quartered onion and rosemary inside the cavity. Cover the tips of the wings with foil to prevent them from burning while cooking.

Place your turkey in the smoker over the drip pan containing your vegetables for the gravy. After about 2 hours check your bird to make sure it is not getting too dark in color. If it is getting too dark loosely cover the entire bird with foil for the remainder of the cooking process.

Smoke your turkey for about 4-6 hours at 250 degrees or until you reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Let the turkey rest for 30 minutes once removed from the smoker and then carve as you would any other turkey and serve with the gravy (recipe below).

Apple Gravy (optional)

2 onions

3 celery ribs

3 carrots

1 lemon
3 sprigs of rosemary
turkey giblets (neck, gizzard)
1/2 cup apple juice
2 cans chicken stock
1/4 cup flour
salt & pepper to taste

Roughly chop all of the vegetables and place in an aluminum turkey pan with the giblets, apple juice, and chicken stock. Place the pan under the turkey in the smoker to catch the drippings and cook the vegetables. When the turkey is finished, strain out all of the vegetables and solids from the pan and pour the liquid into a saucepan over medium heat to reduce. Slowly add the flour and whisk to thicken the sauce. When desired thickness is reached remove from the heat and serve with the turkey.