OK, here we go, I guess i should post this in the receipe section, but i wil cut & paste later.
I have 2 brines in the receipe, herbal, and honey maple. Both are good, herbal is great at thanksgiving. Make the herbal tea as I call it.... make some extra, about 2 cups additional to be used for injecting. But DONT!! add salt to the stuff you'll use for injecting!! When the tea is done, and before you dissolve the salt, remove the two cups and set aside for tomorrow, then add the salt and dump the rest in the brining solution with all the herbs and fruits. Make sure your brine is very cold and brine at least overnight, 24-36 hrs is better. Remove from the brine and rinse the bird real good inside & out with cold water an pat it dry.
Seperate the skin from the breast, be careful not to tear it. Put some garlic and a few sprigs of thyme under the skin. Put some garlic, thyme, rosemary and sage in the cavity with a sliced onion. Add a few pats of butter inside the breast portion and spread it around bushing it into the breast bones and ribs.
Add 2-3 sticks of butter to the concentrated tea and melt it down. Bring it down in temp so your not injecting the turkey with anything very hot, but keep it warm enough to keep the butter liquid. Inject the bird all over with the herbal concentrate/butter solution. Inject all over the place, but use a single entry hole in each general area(breast thighs & legs), once the needle is in, dont pull it all the way out and make another hole, but instead pull the needle half way out and then put it back in at a different angle to get the injection distributed, but not poking lots of holes all over the bird, cause the stuff leaks out.
Get the Bandera up to 350-400 and put the bird in breast down. It should remain breast down for 1/2 - 3/4 of the estimated cooking time at 1:15/per lb at 250-260. We all know the bandera wont maintain 350-400 for long, so let the temp start dropping slowly till ya get to 250-260 and then maintain that. The 350-400, will sear it a litte and get it cooking.
Spray often with whatever you like to spray with, but add a few tablespoons olive oil to the spray to help even the browning. When I do the herbal brine, I boil some herbs in apple juice, strain it, and use that as a spray.
Between the 1/2-3/4 to completion mark flip the bird over onto its back. (Ignore the funky grill lines, they will plump back out ) and finish cooking. I use the handshake test, but i think the temperatures should be 180 in the thigh or 165-170 in the breast. Should double check that.
