SchoonDawg
Well-known member
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. Mostly because my camera’s battery pack was a mess. I have lots of pictures of prep and early cooking but no finished products. As an early Christmas gift to myself I picked up 2 new battery packs and a new charger. Now I’m back in business. This was going to be the first Christmas in 7 years that SWMBO and I would not be travelling or having someone visiting us. We were really looking forward to a quiet Christmas alone. Her family’s Christmas Eve tradition is tourtière and mine is lobster, so we combined the two for a version of surf and turf.
I wanted to do the Christmas turkey on the WSM this year, but didn’t want it overly smokey or “barbecuey'”. I started with a 12lb grain-fed fresh turkey that I dry brined for about 30 hours. I mixed 1 Tbsp of kosher salt for every 5lbs of turkey with my spice mix and rubbed the whole bird down, over and under the skin. I wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge. Here’s the turkey out of the fridge after 30 hour brine
While the turkey skin air dried I mixed up the dressing. We’re both used to sausage dressing and while I was at the deli I found an apple cinnamon spiced sausage meat. I also grabbed some pork and beef sausage to mix with the apple cinnamon, I added sage, thyme, and savoury and formed it into a fatty.
I rubbed the turkey with a little more of the same spice mix that was in the cure and fired up the WSM. My goal was to cook it between 325 and 375. There was a little bit of maple and apple wood in the mix.
With the door propped open I was able to keep the WSM humming along pretty consistently. The new dual probe remote thermometer Santa brought me was a big help in knowing my pit temp and the meat temp. When I was approaching 130 in the leg I put the dressing fatty on. The turkey cooked faster than I expected, was done in just over 2.5 hours. It came off the WSM and went into the oven to
The fatty needed a little longer on the smoker to finish and I pulled it off at 160 internal
My first attempt at carving a full turkey
Plated with green beans, mashed potatoes and squash soup:
I will definitely do the dry brine again, they turkey was very flavourful and moist, although I’ll add less spice mixture to the cure, the flavour was a little bold. The dressing fatty was great, had a lot of apple flavour. Next time I will stuff it with toasted breadcrumbs for a little texture. Merry Christmas everyone!
I wanted to do the Christmas turkey on the WSM this year, but didn’t want it overly smokey or “barbecuey'”. I started with a 12lb grain-fed fresh turkey that I dry brined for about 30 hours. I mixed 1 Tbsp of kosher salt for every 5lbs of turkey with my spice mix and rubbed the whole bird down, over and under the skin. I wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge. Here’s the turkey out of the fridge after 30 hour brine
While the turkey skin air dried I mixed up the dressing. We’re both used to sausage dressing and while I was at the deli I found an apple cinnamon spiced sausage meat. I also grabbed some pork and beef sausage to mix with the apple cinnamon, I added sage, thyme, and savoury and formed it into a fatty.
I rubbed the turkey with a little more of the same spice mix that was in the cure and fired up the WSM. My goal was to cook it between 325 and 375. There was a little bit of maple and apple wood in the mix.
With the door propped open I was able to keep the WSM humming along pretty consistently. The new dual probe remote thermometer Santa brought me was a big help in knowing my pit temp and the meat temp. When I was approaching 130 in the leg I put the dressing fatty on. The turkey cooked faster than I expected, was done in just over 2.5 hours. It came off the WSM and went into the oven to
The fatty needed a little longer on the smoker to finish and I pulled it off at 160 internal
My first attempt at carving a full turkey
Plated with green beans, mashed potatoes and squash soup:
I will definitely do the dry brine again, they turkey was very flavourful and moist, although I’ll add less spice mixture to the cure, the flavour was a little bold. The dressing fatty was great, had a lot of apple flavour. Next time I will stuff it with toasted breadcrumbs for a little texture. Merry Christmas everyone!
