| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 18 hr 50 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 12 servings |
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 18 hr 50 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup fine salt
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 5 cloves smashed garlic
- 2 dried bay leaves
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- One 12-pound turkey
- 2 cups bourbon
- Canola oil, for coating
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- 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.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 798 |
| Total Fat | 31 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 15 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 84 g |
| Cholesterol | 278 mg |
| Sodium | 1446 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 798 |
| Total Fat | 31 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 15 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 84 g |
| Cholesterol | 278 mg |
| Sodium | 1446 mg |
Reviews
It’s from Thanksgiving.
Tried this recipe as a dry run for Thanksgiving. It was great! Very flavorful and juicy! 10/10 would recommend
I made this almost exactly as written except I substituted juniper berries for the bay leaves in the brine mixture. We used a 12 lb turkey and the smoking time total was just under 6 hours, it was perfection!
The whole family raved over the taste and tenderness. This will be the way we serve turkey from now on!
The whole family raved over the taste and tenderness. This will be the way we serve turkey from now on!
I tried my hand at brining a turkey for the first time, smoking any type of meat and using my new electric smoker this past Thanksgiving. My huge family LOVED it so much that I bought another turkey to do this again for Easter tomorrow. I might NEVER cook another turkey a different way! This is an excellent recipe, with easy to follow instructions. There are so many flavor profiles packed into each bite of this moist and delicious smoked turkey! All I had to do was set my timer to keep adding wood chips every 30 minutes and the rest is history. I highly recommend giving this a try!
I made this for Thanksgiving dinner and received rave reviews for it. I had a 22 pound turkey, so I doubled the ingredients in the brine and I also cooked it for a total of 15 hours, the last 3 were uncovered so it would brown the skin. I don’t have a smoker, so I made a makeshift one in my oven out of a huge roaster, a broiler pan and some aluminum foil and it worked perfectly. It’s a little stressful but if you follow the instructions, it turns out well and your guests will love it.