Originally posted: 11/01/2000
Last updated: 03/31/2010

Preparing The Brine

Brining is the process of soaking meat in a mixture of water, salt, sugar and seasonings for several hours to several days, depending on the type and size of meat. Brining adds flavor and moisture to turkey and works well with other types of meat, too. You can learn more about the process by visiting the All About Brining page.

The first three steps in brining a whole turkey are:

• finding a non-reactive container large enough to hold the turkey
• making sure the container will fit in your refrigerator
• determining how much brine you must prepare to completely submerge the turkey in the container

For something as large as a turkey, you're looking for a plastic food service container or an ice chest. I bought an 18-quart plastic container at a restaurant supply store that worked well for me. See All About Brining and Food Grade Plastic Containers For Brining for more information.

Keep in mind that the bigger the container you use, the more brine you'll have to make, so try to match the size of the container to the turkey.

To determine how much brine you'll need to prepare, place the turkey into the container and cover with cold water. Remove the turkey from the container and measure the water--that's the amount of brine you'll need.

Since brining does not preserve meat, the turkey must be kept below 40°F throughout the entire brining process. That's why you've got to make sure you've got room in your fridge for the container before you start this process.

Here's the brine recipe:

Picture 1 shows the 11.25 pound Butterball Young Turkey I wanted to brine. Using the method described above, I determined that I needed three gallons of brine to cover the turkey. I didn't have a pot large enough to make three gallons at once, and I didn't want to make three separate batches. My solution was to put 1-1/2 gallons of water in the pot shown in Picture 3 with all the other ingredients necessary for three gallons of brine. I brought the mixture to a boil and then transferred it to my turkey container. I stirred in another 1-1/2 gallons of cool water and allowed the mixture to come to room temperature.

If you're running short on time, you can force the brine to room temperature by placing the container in a sink of ice water.

Preparing And Brining The Turkey

I thawed the frozen turkey according to the instructions on the package. I folded the wings under the body to keep them from flapping around and removed the neck and giblet package. Remember to check both the neck cavity and the body cavity for the neck and giblets included with your turkey. Finally, I rinsed thoroughly inside and out and patted the bird dry with paper towels.

I placed the turkey in the brine solution and put the container in the refrigerator. I put a heavy platter on top of the turkey to keep it submerged in the liquid, since meats tend to float in brining solution.

I brined the turkey in this solution for 12 hours. Shake recommends soaking a whole turkey for 48 hours. My suggestion is that you start with 12-24 hours and see how you like the results. You can always brine longer next time, but there's nothing worse than meat that has been over-brined for your taste.

Getting Things Fired Up

About a hour before I planned to put the turkey in the cooker, I removed the turkey from the brine and let it come to room temperature. I did not rinse the turkey. Picture 1 shows how it looked after brining. You can't see much difference in this picture, but there was a slight change in color of the breast meat visible near the cavity opening.

Around 12:00pm I began the process of firing-up the WSM. I lit one Weber chimney full of Kingsford charcoal briquettes and dumped them into the charcoal ring when they were hot. I spread another chimney full of unlit briquettes over the lit coals. All the coals were good and hot by 1:00pm, at which time I assembled the cooker and added one gallon of cool water to the water pan. I closed all the bottom vents and left the top vent wide open.

I knew that cherry was a great smoke wood to use with poultry, so I chose four small split pieces about 4" long. I did not soak the wood before using it.

Just before 1:30pm I put the turkey on a vertical roasting rack as shown in Picture 3. I applied some olive oil to the skin in the hopes that it would help the skin brown nicely. I did not apply any rub to the turkey, since I wanted to taste the flavor of just the brine.

I pulled the neck skin over the neck cavity and pinned it down using a couple of toothpicks. This sealed-off the neck cavity and made the neck area look a bit neater. I also inserted the legs into the spokes of the vertical rack to keep them in check.

Is That A Turkey In Your WSM, Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

At 1:30pm I put the turkey on the bottom cooking grate of the WSM. You can see in this picture that the vertical stand does a good job of keeping the turkey away from the hot outer edges of the cooker grate. It also allows you to cook a larger turkey than you could otherwise fit directly on the grate.

The cooker measured 300°F, but I knew it would drop quickly with the addition of this large piece of cool meat. I placed the four smoke wood chunks on the hot coals through the access door and kept the bottom vents closed to help bring the temperature down.

My target cooker temperature was 250°F. Poultry can benefit from higher temps in the Weber Bullet, especially in terms of crisping the skin. Some would smoke a turkey in the 325-350°F range, but 250°F was my choice for this one.

I planned to cook the turkey for 5-6 hours until it reached 160-165°F in the breast. Unlike my usual barbecue routine, I would not baste the turkey or replenish the water pan during the cooking process. Outdoor temps were in the mid-80s with clear, calm skies--perfect barbecue weather.

Here's how the cooker temperatures and vent settings went during what turned out to be a five hour cook:

Turkey At The Halftime

Here's how the turkey looked at 4:00pm, halfway into the cooking process. I gave the vertical stand a 1/4 turn to rotate the turkey a bit. I also covered the wings with foil, as they appeared to be cooking faster than the rest of the bird.

At 4:30pm I took a peek through the access door at the smoke wood and noticed that a chunk or two had not caught fire very well. I reached in with a pair of tongs and repositioned them to generate a little more smoke.

I opened up the cooker again at 5:30pm and noticed that the legs were getting a little too brown, but the breast meat was just about right. To prevent these areas from browning further, I covered them with foil, like you would do when cooking a conventional turkey in the oven. 

A Turkey I'd Be Proud To Serve At Thanksgiving

At 6:30pm the turkey had cooked five hours and registered 165°F in the breast meat. I removed it from the WSM and allowed it to cool for 20-30 minutes before carving.

The turkey came out looking great, as you can see in Picture 1. Overall the meat was moist and tender, but the drumsticks were a bit dry. I guess I should have protected them with foil a little sooner.

The brined turkey had a complex flavor that regular oven-roasted turkey would not have had. All the ingredients worked together to produce a taste that was very pleasing. I also noted in my cooking log that the meat was not overly smoky.

If you click on Picture 2 to view the larger image, you can see the pink color imparted to the meat by the Morton's Tender Quick used in the brine. Tender Quick also adds a slight ham-like flavor to the meat, which contributed to the complex flavor noted above. Some people say that Morton's Tender Quick makes everything taste like ham...you'll have to judge that for yourself. If you don't like the taste of ham or can't get any Morton's Tender Quick, just leave it out.

I wrote in my cooking log, "I'd be happy to serve this turkey at Thanksgiving!", and I think you will be, too. Gobble gobble!