Cajun Smoked Turkey
Cajun Smoked Turkey
Smoked Turkey Recipe with a cajun turkey brine, seasoning and injection smoked on Yoder Pellet Smoker.
For this Cajun Smoked Turkey, I start with a 14lb turkey that I let thaw for 5 days in the refrigerator. Remove the turkey from its package and rinse under cool water. Be sure to remove the neck and the giblet bag located in the cavity. Also toss out the pop-up thermometer located in the breast if it has one. Those things are unreliable.
For the brine, start with 2 quarts of water in a large pot over medium high heat. Add 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of salt, and ½ cup of Cajun seasoning (recipe is below). Bring this mixture to a boil and stir occasionally until the dry ingredients dissolve.
Pour the mixture into a gallon container and add 2 ribs of celery (chopped), 1 medium size onion (chopped), 6 cloves garlic, 1 Tablespoon Black Peppercorns, 4 Bay leaves, 1 bundle of poultry herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage) and the juice of 2 lemons. Top the mixture off with 2 quarts of water and let it steep for an hour at room temp.
Place the turkey in an over-sized zip lock bag; you can find these in the storage container section of Walmart or Lowes. Pour the brine over the turkey and add 2 more quarts of water to completely cover the bird.
Squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible and store the bag in a cooler. Place a couple bags of ice on top and below the turkey to weight it down in the brine and keep it cool.
After 24 hours remove the turkey from the brine and rinse off any excess seasoning. Pat the outside dry with paper towel and stuff the cavity with quartered apples and onions.
Tie the legs together to hold everything in the cavity and inject the turkey with a Cajun Butter injection. I use 14oz chicken broth, ½ cup melted butter, 2 TBS Killer Hogs Hot Sauce, and 1 Table spoon of Cajun seasoning (recipe below). Combine these ingredients into a jar and shake or stir. Shoot the legs, thighs, and breast evenly with the injection mixture.
Spray the skin of the turkey with vegetable cooking spray and sprinkle the outside with the Cajun Seasoning. Let the turkey hang out for a few minutes while the grill comes up to temperature.
I’m using my Yoder pellet smoker for this cook but you can use any smoker set up for indirect heat. Run the pit at 300⁰ and use your favorite wood for smoke, pecan is my favorite on turkey.
Place the turkey on the pit and smoke it for about 3 ½ hours. To keep the skin from drying out and turning too dark, spray the outside every hour with additional cooking spray.
If it does start to turn dark, you can lay a piece of aluminum foil over the turkey. This will shield the heat and stop the browning process.
After 2 hours on the pit, you want to start monitoring the internal temp. I use a DOT thermometer from Thermoworks (you can check out the DOT here: http://www.thermoworks.com/DOT?tw=KIL… ) set for 165⁰ in the breast.
Once the alarm goes off you know the turkey should be done. Verify the temp reading in the opposite breast and the thigh. I use a Thermapen for this – and you can check out these Termapens here: http://www.thermoworks.com/Thermapen-…
Turkey is done when it hits 165 in the breast and 175 in the thigh/leg areas.
Remove the smoked turkey from the pit and cover loosely with foil for 20 minutes before carving.
Source:HowToBBQRight
