For today, it's time we look at Turkey.
Turkey is one of those meals we often reserve for Thanksgiving and Christmas and that's about it. My questions is, WHY?!?!?!?! This bird is GOOD and good birds deserve to be eaten many times!!
With that being said, this recipe puts a new twist on a traditional, dry bird.
To begin, any BBQ enthusiast knows that just because you paid a lot for a cut of meat, doesn't mean that meat will be better than if you just gave a cheaper cut of meat some love . . . Often times turkeys sell for $2.50+ per LB and are priced that way as they are "deep-basted" - essentially they are pumped full of salt so the breast meat doesn't dry out. This recipe will save you some money, and help you control what goes into the bird.
Pictured below is the desired bird. I got this one on sale for $0.99 per LB. Often times you may find, what are called, "utility turkeys" on sale for this price as well - just be advised they may be missing a wing (but who really eats the wing anyway).
Step 1. The day before you want to eat, unwrap the bird. Here, we can see that this bird comes "trussed" which means I don't need to get out the butcher's twine and truss the bird myself
Step 2. Prepare the Brine.Brining is how we are going to do our own deep-baste.
The brine pictured above consists of:
- One can of Orange Juice Concentrate
- 6 liters of water
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1.5 cups of Kosher Salt
- A few bay leaves
Step 3. Put the turkey and the brine in a large zip lock bag in a roasting pan and refrigerate overnight.
Step 4. 4 hours before you want to eat, remove the bird and rinse with cold water. Then dry off with paper towel.
Step 5. Remove the tips of the wings with a heavy knife. The tips will only burn so there is no need for them to be there.
Step 6. Tie the wings to the bird. Above, I mentioned this bird was already trussed . . . well, I did this recipe in April and now it is July . . . a lot of time has gone by. Regardless, you don't need a full truss, rather simply tying the wings around the body will do - all we want to ensure is the wings don't come loose during the turning.
Step 7. Prepare charcoal for the BBQ. Here we can see I have a full chimney of charcoal briquettes. You can tell the charcoal is ready when white ash appears on the top.
Step 8. Prepare a 2-zone fire with a drip pan (filled with water) in the middle. The water will help regulate the heat as well as prevent any flare-ups from the turkey drippings.
Step 9. Put the rotisserie skewer on the turkey and affix to the rotisserie unit on your BBQ . . . obviously you will need a rotisserie unit for your charcoal bbq (don't worry, Weber has them)
Step 10. Cover the turkey and set it and forget it. After 45 mins, this is how the bird looks. At this time, you will want to add a handful of new charcoal as well.
After 2 hours, this is how we look . . .
Ensure that when you are not checking on your bird, that the BBQ remains covered
Step 11. After the bird reaches the desired temperature for doneness (165 degrees in the thickest part of the breast) you can remove from the rotisserie and let it rest for 15 mins. This should take 3-4 hours, depending on the heat from your BBQ
Step 12. Carve . . . eat . . . enjoy
I was very pleased at the way this turned out. There was a slight sweetness from the brown sugar and orange juice brine, however the flavour of the coals really stands out as well. I would definitely make this again.
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