The Turkey part 1

Obviously Thanksgiving is tomorrow so the Turkey prep started a little over 24 hours ago. This is my first post from the iPad so it may not be as pretty as my other posts.

Currently there is a 20# tom turkey in my fridge enjoying a nice brine bath, recipe down below. I like  to let my turkey's brine for at least 24 hours before cooking, since this bird is so big I opted for longer rather than shorter, I'm not getting up at 6am to make a brine and then again to cook. 

Brine;

2 quarts orange juice

2 quarts apple juice

1 gallon cool water

3 cups kosher or coarse salt (2 cups if using table salt)

1/2 cup brown sugar

10-15 whole cloves

1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

4-6 decent sized garlic cloves quartered

5-6 bay leaves

Mix everything but the water in a big (I mean huge, big enough for all this and the turkey if you can) pot. Bring to a slow boil mixing until the salt is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool, add the water. Once the mixture is room temp plop the turkey in, breast side down. Make sure your turkey is covered, or really close to it.

If you don't have a pot big enough they make brine bags, but I have a big cheap pot that I also use to boil hops for home brews, it works great buy one.

 If you brine for 24 hours make sure you flip your bird somewhere around 8 hours before cooking. If you do more or less time, just make sure you flip at some point.

At least 1 hour before you cook (I do closer to 90 minutes) you will want to take the bird out of the brine and give it a nice wash, inside and out, then pat it dry with paper towels. After drying I light my grill, big mistake number 1 is not letting the bird warm up to room temp before cooking. Stuff the bird full of onions, apples, garlic, any flavor you want to help cook into the bird. I will not cook a turkey full of stuffing, read the link below about safe turkey cooking. I don't want to be the one to kill my whole family over undercooked stuffing I don't even like to eat. Coat outside the bird, on and under the skin, with butter and other seasonings of your choice. My butter recipe is at the bottom.

Since I smoke my turkey, I use a drip pan to catch the grease, but also put a little beer or apple juice in there, helps keep the moisture in the air and provides a little extra flavor; also makes clean up easier :).

This year I'm using mainly apple wood with a couple of cherry chips thrown in for excitement.

Butter mixture;

2 sticks softened butter

1 clove minced garlic (1/8 teaspoon garlic powder if you're lazy like me)

2 teaspoons chopped rosemary

2 teaspoons chopped sage

2 teaspoons chopped thyme

Safe turkey handling and cooking http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/types/turkey/