Smoked Turkey With Bacon Butter Recipe 465

Steps:

• Over the years, I have come up with several really good brines and I have included the recipes below. You do have options! My personal favorite is the buttermilk brine but the cranberry brine is also very good. If you just want something really simple to make sure the turkey is moist and flavorful, then the traditional brine might be for you. ​Pour the water into a large plastic foodsafe container. Add the salt and stir until it is completely dissolved. Then add the brown sugar and rub and stir until it dissolved as much as possible. If you do not have a container large enough to handle 2 gallons, you can mix it up 1 gallon at a time by halving ​Pour the buttermilk and water into a large plastic food-safe container. Add the salt and stir until it is completely dissolved. Then add the rub and stir until it is dissolved as much as possible. If you do not have a container large enough to handle 2 gallons, you can mix it up 1 gallon at a time by halving the recipe. Pour the juice into a large plastic food-safe container. Add the salt and stir until it is completely dissolved. Then add the rub and stir until it is dissolved as much as possible. If you do not have a container large enough to handle 2 gallons, you can mix it up 1 gallon at a time by halving the recipe. Put the turkey into a very large brining bag, a clean empty cooler or a large plastic food-safe bucket and pour the brine over the turkey until it is completely submerged. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and run it until the butter is smooth. You may be able to use a blender for this if you don't have a food processor but I have not tried it and I don't know how well it would puree that bacon. Stop occasionally and scrape down the sides to make sure the end product is well blended and smooth. You could make this ahead of time if you wanted, form it into a log then store it in the fridge until you needed it. I simply made mine while the turkey was brining. You can use ANY smoker to turn out a great turkey. Some smokers are easier than others but it all comes down to heat plus smoke for a prescribed amount of time. I usually smoke the turkey breast side down for a couple of hours and then flip it over to breast side up to make sure it does not get too much heat and dry out but, for this one, I left it breast side down the entire time. I wanted the turkey to be as high and away from the heat as I could get it which was the 3rd rack from the bottom. To get that really nice mahogany color and more good flavor on the outside of the skin, I mixed up some butter, rub and chopped parsley and brushed that onto the outside of the turkey a couple of times during the last hour or so. Melt the butter in the microwave then mix in the rub and the parsley. Brush onto the turkey generously. Does brining make the turkey salty? I don't care as much about injecting as I do brining but, then, that is a personal thing. If you do decide to inject, add as much as you can at about 1 inch intervals on the breast, legs and thighs. I just inject at a 45 degree angle slowly pulling out the needle as the plunger goes in. Some of it will come out but much of it also stays in there and does it good. Be sure to wear an apron and face mask and watch out for geysers. Yes, the turkey must be kept below 40 degrees during the brining process to prevent spoilage. This can be accomplished by refrigeration or by adding ice to the brine. Use a thermometer to ensure proper temperatures are being maintained. How long do I need to keep adding smoke to the turkey? Make the dressing on the side and stuff it in the turkey just before serving if you want to stuff the turkey. When the turkey is finished cooking (165 degrees F) wrap in foil then double wrap with thick towels. Place the wrapped turkey down into an empty ice cooler. Fill in any remaining space with more towels, throw pillows, newspaper, etc. to further insulate it. This should keep the turkey above 140 degrees F for 3-4 hours. Be sure to use a digital probe meat thermometer attached to the turkey to ensure that proper temperatures are maintained during travel time. Be sure to give yourself some padding when cooking the turkey. It is easy to wrap and keep hot if it gets done a little early so figure your time then give yourself an extra 60 to 90 minutes. Figure the time to cook a turkey at about 30 to 35 minutes per pound at 240°F. Consider explaining to folks that they might see a pink tint to the meat and that this is a result of the smoke on the meat and not undercooked meat. This is better than leaving folks wondering about it.

Steps:

• If you have time the day before, salt the turkey. Make the salt mix by grinding the salt with the thyme leaves and pepper in a spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar. Sit the turkey in a roasting tin and season all over, inside and out, using about two-thirds of the salt. Leave the turkey in the tin, breast-side up, cover with cling film and put in the fridge for up to 24 hrs. If you don't have time, or there is no room in the fridge, simply prepare the salt and season the turkey generously before roasting.
• To make the bacon butter, gently cook the bacon in a dry frying pan for about 10 mins, stirring occasionally, until the fat has seeped into the pan and is sizzling gently, and the bacon is crisp. Take off the heat and leave to cool slightly. Scrape the bacon and the fat into a food processor with the butter and maple syrup. Blitz to combine, scraping down the sides of the processor from time to time. Roll up the butter in cling film to form a log and place in the fridge. Can be made a few days ahead or frozen for 1 month.
• Remove the turkey from the fridge an hour or so before you want to cook it. Remove the bacon butter from the fridge to soften up. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Calculate your cooking time based on 40 mins per kg for the first 4kg of the turkey, plus 45 mins for every kg after that.
• Gently push your fingers under the skin of the turkey, starting from the neck, until you can push your whole hand in down the length of the breast. Take care not to tear the skin. Use your hands to spread the bacon butter under the skin so that it covers the entire breast area, and there is butter in the crevice between the thigh and the main body. Pop a sprig of thyme under the skin of each breast, then smooth the skin over with your buttery hands. Place the onion, lemon, bay leaves and garlic in the cavity.
• Cover the tin loosely with foil and roast for the calculated cooking time - 30 mins before the end of cooking, increase the oven temperature to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, remove the foil, baste the turkey and return to the oven. When the turkey is beautifully brown and cooked through, remove from the oven and leave to rest on a warm platter covered in foil for up to 1 hr.
• Pour the fat away from the roasting tin, leaving just the juices. If your tin is flameproof, pour in the Sticky Port gravy (see 'Goes well with', right) to reheat with the juices; if not, tip them both into a saucepan and reheat. Serve the remaining salt mix as a seasoning alongside the rest of the meal.

Steps:

• Add 2 cups water to pan. Roast, uncovered, until bacon is lightly browned, 25-30 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 350°. Bake until a thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reads 170°-175°, about 90 minutes longer. Cover loosely with foil if bacon browns too quickly., Remove from oven. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

Steps:

• Set up an outdoor grill for indirect grilling, placing a large foil drip pan in center. (If using a smoker, light and set it up according to manufacturer's instructions and heat to 275 degrees. In a smoker, you will need to cook bird longer, 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours.)
• Drain bird. Blot dry inside and out and truss if desired. Place in center of grill grate, over drip pan and between mounds of natural lump charcoal. Toss 1/2 cup of soaked wood chops on each mound of coals. Place lid on grill. Adjust vents to keep temperature between 325 and 350 degrees.
• Grill turkey until darkly browned and cooked through, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Baste turkey with melted butter after first hour and every hour thereafter. If skin starts to brown too much, loosely tent bird with foil. Use an instant-read thermometer to test for doneness; turkey is ready when internal temperature of the thigh is 180 degrees. Replenish charcoal every hour, adding 8 to 10 lumps of charcoal to each mound of coals and leaving grill uncovered for a few minutes to allow charcoal to light. After 1 hour, add 1 1/2 cups of soaked wood chips.
• Transfer turkey to a platter, loosely tent with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before carving. Reserve any drippings in drip pan for gravy.

Steps:

• For bacon, dijon, and herb butter:
• Blend all ingredients in processor until bacon is finely chopped. Transfer to sheet of plastic wrap. Using plastic wrap as aid, roll butter mixture into 2-inch-diameter log; chill until firm. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.
• For cider gravy base:
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine turkey neck, 1/4 cup turkey fat, and turkey leg in heavy large ovenproof pot. Place in oven; roast uncovered until turkey parts are deep, dark brown, turning once, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain, reserving fat from pot. Reserve 1/4 cup fat for gravy; return 1 tablespoon fat to pot. Return turkey parts to pot; stir in celery, onions, thyme sprigs, and peppercorns. Return pot to oven; roast uncovered 10 minutes. Add apple cider and vinegar; roast 10 minutes longer. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Add 8 cups stock and sage to pot; cook in oven uncovered 1 1/2 hours. Strain gravy base through fine strainer; discard solids in strainer (there will be about 5 cups gravy base). DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.
• For turkey:
• Cut bacon butter into 1/4-inch-thick rounds and let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry. Starting at neck end, carefully slide hand between skin and breast meat, then slide hand between skin and thigh meat. Carefully slide butter slices between skin and leg, thigh, and breast meat to cover (there will be a generous amount of butter mixture). Sprinkle 1 teaspoon coarse salt and 1 teaspoon pepper over turkey, and 1 teaspoon coarse salt and 1 teaspoon pepper in main cavity of turkey. Place turkey on rimmed baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap or foil; chill at least 1 day. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
• Set rack at lowest position in oven; preheat to 350°F. Mix onions, celery, fennel, carrots, apples, oil, and bay leaves in large roasting pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place turkey atop vegetable mixture. Tuck wings under; tie legs together loosely to hold shape. Place turkey in oven; roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 170°F, basting with pan drippings every 30 minutes and tenting loosely with foil if browning too quickly, about 4 hours total. Transfer turkey to platter (internal temperature of turkey will increase 5 to 10 degrees).
• Pour vegetable mixture and pan drippings into large strainer set over large bowl; press on solids to extract liquid. Discard solids in strainer. Spoon off fat from pan drippings; discard (there will be a large amount of fat in pan drippings). Reserve degreased pan drippings for gravy (about 1 cup). Remove fat from surface of gravy base; reserve 1/4 cup fat. Rewarm cider gravy base.
• Melt reserved 1/4 cup fat in large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour; stir 3 minutes. Gradually add warm cider gravy base and degreased pan drippings. Simmer until smooth, thickened, and reduced to 51/2 cups, whisking frequently, about 5 minutes. Season gravy with salt and pepper.
• Serve turkey with gravy.