Do you Brine and inject your turkey

[Propwashed]

I plan on wet brining my bird overnight and then injecting it with a combo garlic and butter injection, finally i will rub it with dirty bird . anybody think its over the top.

 

[Manannan]

For turkey wet brine yes, rub yes, injecting no which for me is a step too far!

 

[RayClem]

I hope to do my turkey on the Traeger again this year. I will plan to brine it for 24 hours before cooking, but I do not plan to inject it. The turkey is a Butterball which is supposed to be injected at the factory. If I were doing another brand of turkey, I might inject it.

Right before cooking, I will dry the turkey inside and out, rub it with soft butter to make the skin crispy and then apply seasoning inside and out. I have some sprigs of rosemary, thyme and oregano that I will place inside the turkey along with pieces of onion and apple.

I plan to smoke it at 225F for a couple of hours and then boost the grill temp to 325F to finish the bird off at an internal temp of 165F. I have a bag of pecan blend pellets that I will probably use to fuel the Traeger.

 

[traeger860]

I will probably just inject and rub mine this year. I've done brine a few times and don't really notice a difference. I always just end up making a mess with it.

 

[Propwashed]

For turkey wet brine yes, rub yes, injecting no which for me is a step too far!

I will let you know how it turns out, The last time i did it this way my temp monitor on my pro was corroded from creosote or smoke and gave off bad temp readings , and the bird was pulled early . with the new timberland I proofed the temp reading and feel confident in the readings. thank you guys for your input.

 

[RayClem]

I will let you know how it turns out, The last time i did it this way my temp monitor on my pro was corroded from creosote or smoke and gave off bad temp readings , and the bird was pulled early . with the new timberland I proofed the temp reading and feel confident in the readings. thank you guys for your input.

Always do your final temp measurements with a instant read thermometer to insure accuracy.

I hope you finished off the turkey in your kitchen oven since you pulled it off the Traeger early.

 

[traeger860]

Smoke-fried is the best. Start it on the Traeger and finish it in the deep fryer.

 

[Propwashed]

Smoke-fried is the best. Start it on the Traeger and finish it in the deep fryer.

That sounds delicious Ill turn my crab pot cooker into a deep frier next year

 

[matto]

Properly brined, you should not need to inject the turkey as well. If you do decide to do both, you may wish to use unsalted butter for the injection.

 

[primeone]

I’m planning to smoke two turkey breasts this year. Would you recommend brining them for 24 hours? I’ve never tried it before, but I’m thinking about giving it a shot!

 

[Manannan]

I did a 12-14lb boneless turkey crown (i.e. two breasts ) for the first time on Christmas Day last year, always done whole turkey in the Traeger before that. Used the orange brine mix that comes with the Traeger turkey pellets and it worked a treat brining for 24 hours.

If the crown had been significantly smaller say < 8-10 lb I would have probably knocked the brining back to around 16 hours.

 

[RayClem]

Since brine can access the turkey from both the inside cavity and the outside, 24 hours should be plenty of time to saturate the meat.

When brining mine, I made the mistake of using too much salt. The meat is juicy, but a little salty. It is best to err on the side of less salt.