Whole Smoked Turkey Texas Style Southwest Recipes

SMOKED WHOLE TURKEY

Steps:

• Add 2 gallons water, the fine salt, molasses, sugar, Worcestershire, garlic, bay leaves and 1 tablespoon pepper to a large pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar, and then remove from the heat. Cool the brine completely.
• Pour the brine into a large bucket and add the turkey, making sure it is completely submerged. Brine for 12 to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
• Pour the bourbon and 4 cups water over the wood chips and soak overnight.
• The next day, remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.
• Rub the turkey with the oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Load an electric smoker with the soaked wood chips and place the turkey inside. Set the smoker to 225 degrees F and smoke until the internal temperature is 160 to 165 degrees F, 5 to 6 hours.
• Rest the turkey for 20 minutes before carving.

TURKEY IN A SMOKER

Steps:

• Preheat smoker to 225 to 250 degrees F (110 to 120 degrees C).
• Rinse turkey under cold water, and pat dry. Rub the crushed garlic over the outside of the bird, and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Place in a disposable roasting pan. Fill turkey cavity with butter, cola, apple, onion, garlic powder, salt, and ground black pepper. Cover loosely with foil.
• Smoke at 225 to 250 degrees F (110 to 120 degrees C) for 10 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) when measured in the thickest part of the thigh. Baste the bird every 1 to 2 hours with the juices from the bottom of the roasting pan.

WHOLE SMOKED TURKEY (TEXAS STYLE) (SOUTHWEST)

Steps:

• 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.

SMOKED WHOLE TURKEY

Steps:

• Pat the turkey dry. Put 2 tablespoons salt, 2 teaspoons pepper, the sugar, paprika, rosemary and orange zest in a food processor and pulse until combined. Carefully loosen the skin from the breast and legs with your fingers; rub the salt mixture under the skin, inside the cavity and all over the turkey. Let stand at room temperature while you prepare the grill, 30 to 60 minutes.
• Soak 2 to 3 cups apple, cherry and/or pecan wood chips in water for at least 30 minutes; drain. Heat a grill to 325˚ F to 350˚ F and prepare for indirect cooking: On a charcoal grill, bank the coals to the sides of the grill; on a gas grill, turn off half the burners. Place a large drip pan under the grates on the cooler side of the grill.
• Gently drizzle and pat the vegetable oil all over the turkey. If using a charcoal grill, scatter about half of the wood chips over the coals; for a gas grill, fill a smoker box with the wood chips and use according to the manufacturer's directions. When the wood chips start to smoke, place the turkey, breast-side up, over indirect heat so that the legs are closest to direct heat.
• Cover the grill and smoke the turkey until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165˚ F, 3 to 4 hours, adding the remaining wood chips to the grill about halfway through; add more charcoal or adjust the vents as needed to maintain the temperature.
• Carefully move the turkey to direct heat and grill, uncovered, until the bottom of the turkey crisps up a bit, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the turkey to a cutting board and let rest 30 to 45 minutes before carving.

REAL TEXAS BRISKET (SMOKED) (SOUTHWEST)

Steps:

• Trim brisket leaving 1/2" layer of fat on top. Determine the direction of the grain of the meet and cut off a slice across the grain. This way when the meet is done, and covered with a dark brown crust, you'll be able to see which direction you should slice.
• Brush with 1/4 cup of lemon juice (bottle juice is fine).
• In a bowl, combine lemon pepper, oregano, celery salt, garlic salt, and seasoned salt.
• Rub brisket with 1/2 of this mixture, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
• Remove brisket and let it come to room temp before cooking. Putting a cold piece of meat in a smoker is a sure fire recipe for disaster--the meet will be very bitter.
• Prepare your smoker according to the manufacturer's direction. Heat the smoker to 225°F at the cooking level.
• Place the brisket in the smoker, fat side up.
• Keep the temperature as close to 200°F as you can for the first 2-3 hours by adjusting the air intake, and adding small pieces of wood every 30 minutes. Do not adjust the out vent, it should always remain full open. You know your cooking properly when there is very little smoke coming out of the smoker, and the hot air coming out of the top vent is clear for the first foot, then it turns to a grayish white smoke. If smoke is billowing out of every opening, the smoke is cold and the air flow is too low--your brisket will taste like tar. You can let the temperature creep up to 225°F , but not much over that.
• In a small bowl, combine the Worcestershire sauce, and remaining lemon juice and rub mixture.
• Mop on the sauce every hour as you turn the meat. Be sure to turn the meat over and also rotate to ensure even cooking. This should be the only time you open the cooking area.
• Smoke 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours per pound, until the internal temperature is 190°F . If you go much past that, your brisket will not slice up, and you'll have pulled beef.
• Remove and wrap in aluminum foil. Let the meat rest for about 1 hour.
• Cut the point (the pyramid shaped portion) off following a natural fat layer between the point and the flat.
• Trim off excess fat.
• Slice the brisket across the grain, using the starter slice you should have done at the beginning as a guide. Slices should be 1/4" thick. If a portion of brisket is falling apart rather than slicing, don't despair. Save the shredded portions and the burnt ends. They will make the best BBQ beef sandwiches later, when chopped and mixed with BBQ sauce.