Spice Rubbed Smoked Turkey Recipes

SPICE-RUBBED TURKEY

Steps:

• In a small bowl combine the first five ingredients. With fingers, carefully loosen skin from the turkey; rub half the spice mixture under the skin., Brush turkey with oil. Rub remaining spice mixture over turkey. Place lemons inside the neck and body cavity. Tuck wings under turkey; tie drumsticks together., Arrange onions in a shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Place turkey, breast side up, over onions., Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until a thermometer inserted in thigh reads 180°, basting occasionally with pan drippings. Cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes before carving., Remove lemons from cavity. When cool enough to handle, halve lemons and squeeze juice over turkey if desired. Discard onions.

SWEET AND SPICY SMOKED TURKEY WITH SMOKED GRAVY

Steps:

• Rub the Sweet BBQ Rub all over both sides of the turkey. Transfer to a disposable aluminum pan breast-side up and refrigerate overnight, uncovered, to dry brine.
• The day of roasting, let the turkey sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Add the carrots and peppers to the pan and put the turkey on a wire rack above the vegetables.
• Preheat a gas grill, charcoal grill or smoker to 350 degrees F. If using a gas or charcoal grill, set up a smoke box or small disposable aluminum pan with fruit wood chips. Once the smoke is rolling, put the turkey and vegetables on the grill in the pan, close the lid and smoke for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour, rotate the turkey and add the stock to the pan to deglaze. Continue smoking until the breast meat registers 160 degrees F and the thighs hit 165 degrees F, another 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Let the turkey rest 45 minutes to an hour while you make the gravy. Remove the carrots and peppers from the pan and set aside. Strain the drippings from the pan using a fat separator.
• To make the gravy, melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk well to make a roux. Slowly add the strained drippings and whisk. Let simmer to reduce to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• Slice the turkey and serve over a medley of the smoked carrots and peppers with the gravy on the side.
• Combine the turbinado sugar, granulated sugar, salt, chili powder, paprika, granulated garlic, onion powder, cayenne, cumin and pepper in a bowl. Store in an airtight container.

BUTTERMILK-BRINED SPICE-RUBBED TURKEY

Steps:

• Brine the turkey: Bring 2 cups water, the salt, brown sugar, 1 halved garlic head and 10 thyme sprigs to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove from the heat and add 6 cups cold water; let cool to room temperature. Whisk the buttermilk, hot sauce, mustard and sliced onion in a large bowl, then whisk in the salt-sugar mixture. Place the turkey in a brining bag or extra-large pot. Pour the brine over the turkey, seal or cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Position a rack in the lowest part of the oven; remove the other racks and preheat to 350˚. Set a rack in a large roasting pan. Remove the turkey from the brine, letting the excess drip off as much as possible, and transfer, breast-side up, to the rack. Pat the turkey dry. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes.
• Combine the paprika, onion powder, granulated garlic, cayenne and 1 teaspoon black pepper in a small bowl. Stuff the turkey cavity with the remaining 1 halved garlic head and 10 thyme sprigs and the quartered onion; tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Tuck the wings under the body. Season the turkey all over with salt and brush with the melted butter. Coat the turkey with the spice mixture.
• Roast the turkey 1 1/2 hours, then baste with the pan drippings. (Add 1/4 cup water to the roasting pan if it's too dry.) Continue to roast, basting every 30 minutes, until the skin is crisp and a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165˚, 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and let rest 30 minutes before carving.

SPICE-RUBBED SMOKED TURKEY

Steps:

• Remove and discard giblets and neck from turkey. Trim excess fat, then rinse turkey with cold water and pat dry. Loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Lift wing tips up and over back, and tuck under turkey. Place turkey on a jelly-roll pan. Combine the brown sugar and the next 7 ingredients (brown sugar through coriander). Rub seasoning mixture over and under skin. Cover turkey with plastic wrap; refrigerate 8 hours.
• Soak wood chunks in water 1 hour, and drain well. Place a large, disposable aluminum-foil pan in center of bottom grill rack. Place 25 charcoal briquettes on each side of the pan; ignite briquettes. Place wood chunks over hot coals. Coat top grill rack with cooking spray; place over foil pan and hot coals. Uncover the turkey; remove from jelly-roll pan. Place on top rack over aluminum-foil pan. Insert a meat thermometer into meaty part of thigh, making sure not to touch bone. Cover and smoke turkey 2 1/2 hours or until meat thermometer registers 180°, adding 8 additional briquettes to each side of drip pan every hour.
• (Cover the turkey loosely with foil if it becomes too brown. Turkey should be a deep mahogany brown when done. Closely monitor the grill to make sure the coals burn steadily, with continuous smoke, although don't check too often as lifting the grill lid decreases the inside temperature significantly).
• Serve with Roasted-Pear Stuffing (Recipe #194583) and Cranberry Syrup (Recipe #194648).

HOMEMADE TURKEY SEASONING

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months. To use on whole turkey, rub under skin, over skin and in body and neck cavities before roasting.

SWEET AND SPICY TURKEY RUB

Steps:

• Combine brown sugar, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, onion powder, salt, and cumin together in a bowl; stir until well mixed.

SPICE-RUBBED TURKEY

Steps:

• Using a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds until fragrant, about 2 minutes. In a spice grinder, grind the oregano, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, Anaheim chiles, red chiles, paprika, salt, and peppercorns into a powder. Transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
• Rinse turkey with cold water, making sure to clean neck and main cavity thoroughly. Pat inside and outside of bird dry with paper towels. The outside of bird must be dry for spice rub to adhere to skin.
• Wearing rubber gloves, rub spice mixture thoroughly over entire bird. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Spices may be applied up to 1 day ahead. Allow bird to come to room temperature before stuffing.
• Place rack in lower third of oven, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Stuff neck cavity with 3 to 4 cups of Spicy Cornbread Stuffing. Fold neck flap down, and secure to underside of turkey using stainless-steel trussing pins or wooden skewers. Stuff larger cavity with remaining stuffing.
• Cut a piece of kitchen twine to twice the length of the turkey. Fold twine in two, and, starting at neck, bring twine forward around body of turkey ending at legs. Tie twine to secure wings and legs to body of bird. Cross turkey's legs, and tie together. Place trussed bird in a V-rack in a large roasting pan.
• Transfer turkey to oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees. After the first hour, rotate pan every 30 minutes until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Remove from oven, and set aside for 30 minutes before carving.

SPICE RUB ROASTED THANKSGIVING TURKEY

Steps:

• Combine garlic powder, paprika, cumin, basil, salt, and pepper in a zip-top bag. Close and shake spice rub until well mixed.
• Cut small slits into the skin of the turkey. Use a palmful of spice rub at a time to rub all over turkey-on top, sides, bottom, inside cavity, and into the slits in the skin. Stuff the cavity with cilantro, onion, and garlic. Place in a roasting pan, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
• Remove turkey from the refrigerator. Baste with melted butter. Pour 1/2 of the chicken broth inside the pan. Cover with foil.
• Roast in the preheated oven, for 3 hours. Remove foil and baste with remaining chicken broth. Continue to roast until turkey is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 2 1/2 hours longer. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 180 degrees F (82 degrees C).