# Brined, Buttered and Smoked



## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

A Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on SMF.com

I had a nice 15lb bird just waiting for today and I decided to brine, butter and smoke it.
I also made a wonderful homemade turkey giblet gravy.

The Brine
2gal Water
3C Kosher Salt
1C Brown Sugar
1/2C of my basic rub
Dissolve the salt, then the sugar/rub
Bag the bird/brine and marinade for 12 hours

The Herb Butter
3 sticks of softened butter
1/8C of my basic rub
1/8C Montreal Chicken Spice
2T fresh Rosemary
1T each fresh Thyme and Lemon Thyme
Mix all well and rub under and atop the skin of the bird
Used leftover to baste the bird once during smoking

The Smoke
50:50 Apple/Cherry
275° for the first 1.5 hours
325°+ till finished IT of 170°




























Basting after 1.5 hours










Finished and Resting










Turkey Giblet Gravy
Back, neck and gizzard chopped and well browned with thyme, rosemary and bay leaf
Add chopped onion, carrot, celery & garlic and saute with meat
Add 1 can of chicken stock, 1.5t each Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and Fish sauce, salt & pepper to taste
Simmer for about 45min
Make a roux, 1 stick of butter and add flour till desired consistency, brown to desired color
Strain giblet stock, add roux and cook to desired thickness, add chicken stock if not enough giblet stock





































In the hustle and bustle I failed to get any more pics of the process and final product until plated

Ready to Gobble


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## etrade92 (Jul 30, 2015)

I did one myself, just not as fancy. Happy Turkey Day! 
Dilly Dilly!


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## stc1993 (Nov 23, 2014)

I'd rather have a smoked turkey over a baked or fried. Both look good.


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## halo1 (Oct 4, 2007)

Dang,that looks great!


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## DAWGONIT (Jan 16, 2009)

certainly looks awesome.
sure it was delish!
thanks for sharing.


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## GROUPERKING (Sep 28, 2011)

Well we fried a bunch of turkeys yesterday, but I had one left over. After seeing this post I decided to spatchcock it and smoke it. Almost done.









Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## etrade92 (Jul 30, 2015)

Chile, 

Your gravy looks phenomenal. Did you come up with the recipe yourself?


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

etrade92 said:


> Chile,
> 
> Your gravy looks phenomenal. Did you come up with the recipe yourself?


Thank you.
Not really, I just tweaked what is one of a few pretty standard methods of making gravy, albeit a bit more complicated than the most basic.
But it yields a much more flavorful gravy, very rich in Umami flavor profiles with the Soy, Worcestershire and Fish sauces, combined with de-glazing of the meat dripping and browned bits, and all the butter in the roux.

One of the great things about making it this way is getting to pick the meat off of the back and neck pieces afterwards.
A cook must have his appetizers. :yes:


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

etrade92 said:


> I did one myself, just not as fancy. Happy Turkey Day!
> Dilly Dilly!


Looks great!
What kind of rub and/or wood did you use to get that dark color?


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

GROUPERKING said:


> Well we fried a bunch of turkeys yesterday, but I had one left over. After seeing this post I decided to spatchcock it and smoke it. Almost done.


Looks great, bet it tasted as good as it looks.


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

*My version of Turkey Bacon*
Save all the skin, especially from those oven roasted birds with soggy bottom skin.
Lay it all out and fry it up, no oil or butter, plenty of its own fat to cook in and render out.
The more fat and bits of clinging meat, the better.
Delicious!










*Open Face Turkey Sammiche on Pan Toasted Hawaiian Rolls*


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

WTF?! Why are my pics showing HUGE to me, are they to y'all too?


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## smooth move (Sep 25, 2012)

yes, i was wondering the same thing.


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

There we go, much better.


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## etrade92 (Jul 30, 2015)

ChileRelleno said:


> Looks great!
> What kind of rub and/or wood did you use to get that dark color?


Brined for 24 hours in salt water then smoked at 300 for 3 hours on the egg with lots of Hickory. Rub was just a basic salt and pepper, also no injection. We had some picky eaters so I had to keep it non exotic.


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## CalvinandHobbes (Jan 25, 2014)

I wish I would have seen the post about your turkey bacon! I would have totally done that with some of the skin from my wifes oven made bird.


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