Maple & Chipotle Smoked Turkey | Recipe from "The Bearded Butchers"
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Ok I confess, I have a bromance with The Bearded Butchers off Youtube. They know their meats & they know their cuts & I’ve been dying to do this recipe since I watched the tutorial. This is their recipe for maple & chipotle smoked turkey (Click HERE for the link with a full tutorial). The seasoning, injector & sauce mop were all ordered from Amazon Prime. Look for free range, farm fresh turkey with no additives (no added salt solution) as this turkey will be brined. Begin a day ahead for brine time. This recipe is more sweet & smoky then it is hot, the chipotle seasoning is on the mild side making it suitable for most pallets.
1 free range, fresh turkey
Brine.
1 lb. salt to each gallon of water (sea salt is what they use or kosher)
Maple Injection.
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup pure maple syrup
Dry Rub.
2-3 Tbsp. Bearded Butchers Chipotle Seasoning
1.) Remove giblets from turkey cavity. Place turkey in a large plastic bucket (or a turkey bag). Use a 1lb. salt/1 gallon of water ratio to make enough brine to immerse the bird completely. Brine 12 hours.
2.) Next day, preheat your smoker to 275f-300f. Remove turkey from brine & pat dry. Place the bird on a roasting rack then place in a heat proof baking dish. Mix the melted butter, maple & 4 Tbsp. chipotle seasoning. Fill syringe & inject the turkey with solution in various places, reserving 1/2 cup of solution for basting.
3.) Season the bird with 2-3 Tbsp. of chipotle seasoning (depending on the size of the turkey). Roast in a smoker using special turkey blend wood chips (or pellets) maintaining a temperature between 275f-300f. After two hours, baste bird with maple solution. Check temperature in another two hours then baste again. Our turkey took a total of five hours. Finish bird to 160f (it should rise to a carry over temperature of 165f after resting) remove from smoker & allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.
The Smoker.
We have two smokers, a Nexgrill-side by side & a Master Forge upright propane smoker. We played around with both smokers the day before just to see which one held a steadier temperature since we would be smoking a large bird that would need consistent heat. The Nexgrill side by side smoker has a small chamber for the coals that rest beside the main chamber (third image below). In the colder weather this smoker really struggled to maintain a consistent heat and we could not get it above 200f. Whereas the Master Forge upright propane smoker kept a nice steady heat with the heat source rising from beneath. One smoker not being better than the other, just different purposes. The side by side (Nexgrill) is a gentile process imparting a more delicate smoke flavor. Whereas the upright was a little more aggressive heat and smoke which fit the bill for our turkey. We used pellets in the smoking tray because that was all that was available but the preference was cherry wood chunks. I had the dial turned all the way up but any temperature above 300f ignited the pellets, I added water to the tray to alleviate this issue and turned down the dial a little bit.
Recipe review.
Being a savory, sweet guy, I thought the maple injected meat with a sweet chipotle dry rub was spot on! My wife on the other hand, who is a savory girl, thought it was overtly sweet. The rest of the family thought it was a delightful recipe with juicy meat & a beautiful exterior.