enhanced birds are all i can find!!!

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early mornin' smokin'

is Blowin Smoke!
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What the fark! Only enhanced birds, 4 different supermarkets. Nothing. Local turkey farmer wants $4lb and he cant get me the bird til weds. Birds goin in the brine tomorrow night either way. I got the lowest one i could find, 6% of some mystery solution of salt, flavoring and spices, whatever that means. Anybody gonna try and talk me outta this, i was thinking just going with a lower overall salt content in the brine, more just to pump up the flavors and add a little more juiceness(def not a word).

Def gonna do 20 minutes of ice on the breast before it goes in the smoker thou, worked like a charm last year.

Finally one last question, did it in the performer with the rotis ring last year and made everyone very happy, Dual sided fire brick mod. Was thinking about using the hanger from my turkey fryer and letting her hang in the pro-q with a nice pan of white wine and veggies underneath it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
I was gonna buy a 50$ turkey all natural tell i saw the .79cents per pound norbest turky with 8% solution of water and salt brine. But it was frozen so if i can do it right ill take it out of the bag and then there will be no solution. HAHA... My bird is 23.5 pounds.. I have never smoked a turkey BUT i know that the enhanced turkey tastes good done in our oven.
 
from what ive heard, thats a pretty big bird for a smoker. I know most say try to keep it under 16lbs, but im sure it'll turn out just fine.
 
early mornin' smokin' said:
from what ive heard, thats a pretty big bird for a smoker. I know most say try to keep it under 16lbs, but im sure it'll turn out just fine.
Click to expand...
Yup, thats why im roastin it in the oven. But it is enhanced. For you i dont know if enhanced will taste good smoked. Never had smoked turkey. The salt might pick up smoke more or something and cause it to taste like ham. LOL that would suck..
 
Improvise, adapt, and overcome. I'm skipping the brine and going with an enhanced bird, and just injecting the crap out of it, adding some rub, and a little TLC. It's worked in the past when I was pressed for time.
 
Got one of those 12.5# brined Trader Joe's birds. The wrapper says "MAY CONTAIN GIBLETS". For the sake of my gravey I sure hope it do.:confused:
 
I found one that was only 3% enhanced, so I thought I would cut down on the brine time from 12 to 8 hours.. I hope it's not going to be too salty.
 
I agree with Jorge. No sense getting stressed . Fix it up, throw it in the cooker!
Lesson learned...Next time, buy what you want early!
 
Check out the birds in King Kullen. They are "all natural, minimally processed". I believe that is what you need to brine. Those are the only non-self basting birds I've found on LI except fot the really pricey fresh ones. It's their store brand and if you buy $50 worth of groceries they are only .29 per pound (.99 / lb if you don't drop half a c note). They had plenty of birds in the Middle Island store the other day and that's not too far from you. I just rubbed one in salt tonight for a dry brine. Gonna cook it on the drum with a turkey cannon.
 
I have never had a fresh Turkey. I have cooked many Butterballs and find that if cooked properly they come out great. I use a heavy Butter slather with seasoning's and no stuffing. Someday I will need to try a fresh one. I heard Costco had fresh Turkeys for .79 LB. Should be there tomorrow and will check that out.
 
Blackened said:
I found one that was only 3% enhanced, so I thought I would cut down on the brine time from 12 to 8 hours.. I hope it's not going to be too salty.
Click to expand...

I just posted in another thread.

The bird will attempt to achieve a state of equilibrium with the % of salt in the brine. What that means is that the brine and salt in the bird don't create an "additive" effect, it's not adding salt as much as it's trying to achieve a state of equilbrium.

Use a normal brine and normal time for 12% enhanced birds or less

Russ
Author Brining 101
 
thanks okie, answered my question perfectly.....now if i can just decide whether to hang it in the pro-q or put it in a roasting pan in the performer....decisions decisions
 
I have 64 pounds of 8% enhanced birds in a cooler loaded with brine at a ratio of 1 cup salt and 1 cup sugar per gallon of water right now. Russ nailed it, these will be the same as if I had put non-enhanced bird in the same brine. It balances out to the strength of your brine.
 
I always get Honeysuckle turkey breasts from Sam's. I believe they in a 15% solution. I just thaw, rinse and cook. They always turn out delicious.
 
Uncle Guiseppes on 111 has Bell N Evans all natural. No solution.

about 2.25$/lb. The ones I saw yesterday ran 30$ and up.
 
you the man phil! think im just gonna throw the one i have in the brine tonite and give it a whirl. Worse case scenario is i just go eat at the girlfriends house, we're only doing lunch.
 
You NY guys, the next time you want fresh (or frozen) non-enhanced birds let me know, I'll ship you some from the plant (or if you really wanted it, from the field). Just let me know what state you want them from. I can always get you one from VA or WV, the other big states it will depend on where I am at the time (MN, IA, NC, PA, and MO are all big turkey states too).
I can cooler pack them and overnight if you need.
 
My local Costco has Foster Farms minimally processed turkeys for $.89/lb. Says no hormones or additives with some (I forgot) retained water from processing.
 
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