I'm putting this in the poultry forum instead of Outdoor Cooking because I'm sure it would be excellent for roasted turkey, too.
A bbq acquaintance, Jim Slotterback, posted on Facebook about pickle brining whole turkey and I was intrigued. I make a dozen pickled eggs for my father every other month, but never have enough pickle juice. Jim said he buys gallon jugs of pickle juice on Amazon, so I did that, solving two problems.
I put the turkey breast meat side down in a pot that just fit in my fridge and covered most of it with the pickle juice. Left it in the fridge overnight for about 12 hours. When I took the breast out, I saw that the juice had not reached the section of breast that had been sitting on the bottom of the pot. Will have to figure out a better way next time.
I patted the breast dry, sprinkled it all over with a rub (McCormick's Montreal Chicken Seasoning), sprayed with Pam, and put it on the smoker at 250 degrees until the meat reached 165 degrees internal. About 2 hours, no wood.
After resting, I cut the meat from the bones and chopped up some samples to give to a couple of neighbors sitting in my yard. LOVED it! The very best smoked turkey I've ever made! Does not taste pickle-y, just moist without being dripping wet.
I will definitely try this again, both in the smoker and in my oven!
Lee
A bbq acquaintance, Jim Slotterback, posted on Facebook about pickle brining whole turkey and I was intrigued. I make a dozen pickled eggs for my father every other month, but never have enough pickle juice. Jim said he buys gallon jugs of pickle juice on Amazon, so I did that, solving two problems.
I put the turkey breast meat side down in a pot that just fit in my fridge and covered most of it with the pickle juice. Left it in the fridge overnight for about 12 hours. When I took the breast out, I saw that the juice had not reached the section of breast that had been sitting on the bottom of the pot. Will have to figure out a better way next time.
I patted the breast dry, sprinkled it all over with a rub (McCormick's Montreal Chicken Seasoning), sprayed with Pam, and put it on the smoker at 250 degrees until the meat reached 165 degrees internal. About 2 hours, no wood.
After resting, I cut the meat from the bones and chopped up some samples to give to a couple of neighbors sitting in my yard. LOVED it! The very best smoked turkey I've ever made! Does not taste pickle-y, just moist without being dripping wet.
I will definitely try this again, both in the smoker and in my oven!
Lee