(Note, Bob got his Lil Tex a couple of months ago and is having a blast cooking up a storm. See his emails in our "Happy Customer's" section. Here's his first recipe submission to our website!)
1. Select a fresh or
thawed turkey, about 15 pounds in size. Be sure to remove the giblets and cut
off excess skin in front of the turkey breast. DO NOT BUY A SELF-BASTING TURKEY – ONLY FRESH
2.
Prepare the following brine mixture in a large tub or bowl. This is for 1gal. of water. It may take 2gal to submerge the turkey.
1 cup Kosher Salt or
Pickling Salt
1gal. Water (no
chlorine)
½ cup Brown Sugar
¼ cup Course Black
Pepper
¼ cup Crushed Red
Pepper
½ cup Tony Cachere’s “More
Spice” Cajun Seasoning
½ cup Apple Cider
Vinegar
2 tsp. Arizona Gunslinger Hot Sauce
Heat up half the
water. Mix the rub and water
thoroughly. Let water cool and then pour
in rest of water. Place turkey in
brining bag and put in cooler. Pour in
brining mixture to completely submerge the turkey into the brine
mixture. Close brining bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. Cover with ice and store overnight.
3.
Remove turkey from brine and rinse thoroughly. Pat dry inside and out. Put a light coating of olive oil on the skin.
This will help it brown up nicely. Fire
up your Traeger grill and operate on "high" for twenty (20) minutes,
then set on "Smoke". Place turkey on center of the cooking grid,
breast side up. I put the turkey in a wire “easy lifter”. Close lid and smoke for 3 - 4 hours. Be sure
to check your grill once per hour to make sure it is still smoking and spray
with a mixture of:
1 cup whiskey
1 cup apple cider
2 tsp. Arizona Gunslinger Hot Sauce
4. After the "smoke
session", switch your grill to "High" to finish smoking the turkey.
Do this for approximately 2 hours (see
chart), until it has reached the proper
internal temperature for breast meat is 170 degrees F. and 180 degrees F. for
thigh meat. Continue to spray every
hour.
5. Remove bird from grill,
allow to "rest" for approximately 15 minutes.
|
Weight
|
Post
"Smoke Session" cook on high for:
|
|
10
- 13 lbs.
|
1
1/2 to 2 hours
|
|
14
- 23 lbs.
|
2
to 3 hours
|
|
24
- 27 lbs.
|
3
to 3 1/2 hours
|
|
28
- 30 lbs.
|
3
1/2 to 4 1/2 hours
|
|
REMEMBER:
Cooking times are approximate averages. Your cooking time could vary
depending on the outside temperature, size of turkey you are cooking, and how
hot your grill cooks at the Medium and High settings and your altitude.
|
Options
1. Cook the bird the day
before and refrigerate overnight. Refrigeration sets the "smoke" more
deeply into the meat. On Thanksgiving day, reheat the bird on the
"smoke" setting. Internal breast temperature should reach 160 degrees
F.
2.
For an
"exotic" taste, stuff the cavity of the bird with orange, lemon and
lime peels. The combination of citrus and smoke is delicious.
