Christmas Turkey

Here's the Boondoggle Family Christmas Turkey!

I brined this for about 40 hours - 3/4 cup salt, 1 cup brown sugar, 3 quartered oranges, 4 quartered lemons, sprinkle of sage, rosemary and tarragon leaves and a shot of Jack. Then it was rubbed with Plowboy Yardbird and put back in the refridge for about 4 hours before smoking.

Stuffed it with more orange and lemon slices and cooked in an FEC using pecan pellets at about 300* until it reached 170* in the breast. Took about four hours (I think) - the first two uncovered directly on the rack, the second two in a pan and covered with foil (we didn't want it heavily smoked).

Frankly, this was probably the moistest and best turkey we have ever had for a family meal. Along with a spiral ham (oven cooked) the family ate off of it all weekend seemed quit happy and the compliments kept coming.

No the skin was not crispy. I didn't worry about the skin cause I know most were going to discard it anyway. I ate some just to test it and it was rubbery. But the breast was very moist and tender even the next day after warming it up.

The shot of Jack ended up in the brine - maybe I should have had one myself too.