Step 1

First, make the brine

Step 2

Maple Turkey Brine Recipe: 1 gallons water, 1 cup of kosher salt (coarse), 12 oz of real maple syrup, 2 TBS of Jeff’s Rub

Step 3

Place a quart of the water in a pot over medium heat and add the maple syrup and rub to the water to help it melt and mix together better.

Step 4

Stir for about 3-4 minutes then remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature..

Step 5

Put the 3 quarts of cool, unheated water into a gallon sized pitcher and mix in the salt. Stir until the salt has completely dissolved.

Step 6

Add the heated mixture to the salted water

Step 7

You need a food safe plastic/glass or other non-reactive container large enough to hold the turkey and enough brine to cover.

Step 8

Remove the turkey from it’s packaging and remove any “gifts” that are stuffed down inside of the cavity.

Step 9

Place the turkey in the brining container

Step 10

Pour enough brine over the turkey to cover it. If the turkey tries to float, put a heavy plate on top of it to hold it under the water.

Step 11

I recommend using a smaller container if possible and placing the container in the fridge for optimum cooling. Add a bag or two of ice to help keep the water at less than 40°F if it will not fit in the fridge.

Step 12

Leave the turkey in the brine for 10-12 hours or overnight.

Step 13

When the turkey is finished brining, rinse it well under cold water to remove any residual salt on the surface of the meat.

Step 14

Since we are going with a maple theme this year, it only seems fitting to use maple syrup as our base to help the rub to stick.

Step 15

I placed the turkey in a baking pan to catch the mess.. yep, I don’t like cleanup!

Step 16

Pour the maple syrup all over the turkey.

Step 17

Use a silicon brush or your hands to get it all over.

Step 18

Sprinkle Jeff’s rub all over the turkey

Step 19

For a little extra flavor, work your hands down under the skin of the turkey and try to get some maple syrup and rub in there.

Step 20

At this point the turkey is ready to go in the smoker.

Step 21

You can use practically any smoker (even the grill) to cook the Thanksgiving turkey this year as long as you can maintain a range between about 220 and 250°F using indirect heat.

Step 22

Preheat the smoker/grill and once it is maintaining about 240°F , you are ready to smoke!

Step 23

Place the turkey directly on the grate breast side up, or if you want to keep the smoker a little cleaner, you can leave the turkey on the baking sheet.

Step 24

If you are using a smoker that has multiple levels, you can place the turkey on a Bradley rack to make it easy to transport it to the smoker and then back into the house once it’s finished. Multiple levels allow you to place a pan on a lower rack to catch the syrup and turkey juices.

Step 25

I used pecan wood for this turkey but almost any fruit wood or a mix of pecan and fruit wood such as apple, plum, or cherry, would be great.

Step 26

Let the turkey smoke for about 2 hours without touching it.

Step 27

At the 3 hour mark begin mopping the bird with the maple barbecue mop sauce every hour

Step 28

Maple Barbecue Mop Sauce: 6 oz maple syrup, 2 heaping TBS of Jeff’s original rub

Step 29

Heat the maple syrup in the microwave then add the rub. Mix well then continuously mix while using.

Step 30

Use a silicon brush or basting mop to apply the mop sauce to the top, sides, legs and wings of the turkey.

Step 31

I highly recommend using a good digital probe meat thermometer to monitor the temperature of the turkey while it cooks.

Step 32

Turkey breast which is white meat cooks a little differently than the darker meat found in the legs and wings and it is important to find the happy medium between getting the two meats perfectly done.

Step 33

I usually go with the breast temperature and as long as both the white breast meat and the legs are at least 165°F , I call the turkey done.

Step 34

I recommend 165°F simply because I believe that’s the optimum temperature based on my experience.

Step 35

I recommend allowing the turkey to rest after it is done cooking. During this time, the juices settle back down in the meat and are less prone to spurt out when you cut into it.

Step 36

When I go out to get the finished turkey, I usually take a large roasting pan lined with foil and a lid. The turkey goes from the smoker into the roasting pan and the lid is quickly placed on top to preserve the heat.

Step 37

When I get it into the house, I allow it to sit on the cabinet for about 20-30 minutes before removing/carving the meat.

Step 38

I start by removing the legs and wings.This gives me good access to cut slices of the breast meat.

Step 39

I recommend placing the dark meat and white meat in separate piles so folks can get what they want without having to dig around for it.

Step 40

Why breast side up? I sometimes cook the turkey breast side down for a short time then flip it over for the rest of the time, breast side up. This is not as important in smokers where the heat is really even and the heat is not moving from the bottom of the smoker to the top. In my experience, breast side up keeps the delicate breast meat the furthest from the heat and helps it to get done without any unintended blasts of heat. This also gives me the best access to mop and baste the meat with the maple barbecue mop sauce. All in all, I don’t think either way is a deal breaker. If you’ve had success with breast side down the entire time, then go for it.

Step 41

Can I stuff the turkey before smoking it? No. Smoking turkey at low temperatures makes it unsafe to block heat flow into the cavity of the turkey. Wait until the turkey is done then stuff it with the already cooked stuffing for table presentation. It is ok to place a few pieces of onion, apple, carrot, etc into the cavity as long as heat can travel freely into the cavity.

Step 42

How do I reheat the turkey if I cook it ahead of time? It just so happened that I had to reheat the turkey used in this newsletter. It was finished about 4 hours before we were ready to eat so I placed it in a roasting pan with a good fitting lid and put the entire pan in the fridge. About one hour before dinner time, I put the lidded roasting pan with the turkey into the oven preheated to 350°F. Just before closing the oven door, I basted it once again with some leftover maple barbecue mop sauce. After about 45 minutes the turkey was up to 120 °F internal temperature so I turned it down to 250 °F where it stayed for another 30 minutes until we were ready to carve it. It was a good eating temperature and was just as juicy as it ever was.

Step 43

Can I make the turkey ahead of time? Obviously, the best smoked turkey is going to be right out of the smoker the same day but if you have scheduling issues and must cook it ahead of time, you can certainly do that and it will still be the best turkey most folks have ever had. Ideally, you can make it less than 2-3 days before you need it and you can leave it in the fridge and simply reheat it the way that I did in the previous question. If it will be more than 3 days, it must be placed in the freezer. Thawing in the fridge is the best option and will take about 1 day for every 5 pounds of turkey. Once the turkey is thawed, place it in a pan with a lid. Add about 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pan. Make extra maple barbecue mop sauce and baste the turkey liberally just before heating it. Preheat the oven to 350 °F and place the pan of turkey, lid intact, into the oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until it reaches a good eating temperature.

Step 44

How much turkey do I need to smoke? For the bone to meat ratio in smoking size turkeys around 12 lb, you should figure about 2 uncooked lbs per person which will give you a good size helping per person with a few leftovers. For a 12 person thanksgiving dinner, I would make (12 lb turkeys.