Smoked Italian Turkey
Brined & Smoked Turkey with Italian Flair
This turkey gets brined then smoked, two technics for instilling deep flavor that permeates throughout the meat. Rather than rely on the traditional butter & sage we called upon a Mediterranean pallet; olive oil, rosemary, lemon, garlic & Soffritto. Basting half way through with rendered bacon fat contributes beautifully to the smoky finish.
1 15-18 lb. organic turkey
Brine
2 lemons quartered
3 sprigs of rosemary
1/2 cup salt
1/2 Turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp. whole pepper corns
3-4 qts. water
Seasoning
1/2 cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
3 sprigs of rosemary
3 crushed cloves of garlic
2 lemons ( punctured with a fork)
2 cup of white wine
1/2 cup rendered bacon fat (or more olive oil)
Soffritto Seasoning (If you can not find Soffritto you may substitute your favorite Italian blend, I found mine at Trader Joe’s)
2 whole bulbs of garlic, top cut off & exposed cloves drizzled with olive oil
1/2 cup flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped
1.) Remove giblets & neck from cavity, rinse bird & place in a turkey bag (you can smoke the neck to add to stock if desired) along with lemons & rosemary. Combine salt, sugar, bay & pepper corns with 2 cups hot water, whisk until most of the salt is dissolved. Add 1 quart of cold water & pour over the turkey, add enough additional water to immerse turkey. Tie off bag & place in shallow dish & brine overnight. Alternately, you can brine turkey in a large bucket with a fitted lid, topped off with a few inches of ice & stored in a cool place overnight to brine.
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, pour wine into the baking dish. Rub the bird down with olive oil then season inside & out with salt & pepper, at this point season only the inside of the bird with the Soffritto. Place 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary & the 2 punctured lemons inside the cavity. Tuck the wing tips under & secure the legs with twine.
3.) Roast in a smoker using special turkey blend wood chips (or pellets) maintaining a temperature between 200f-300f. Add pellets or wood chips as often as is necessary. Since every smoker is different, go by the manufactures instructions but for our smoker, we dumped out spent pellets & put in fresh every hour & a half or so. You can tell that the pellets are spent when you see little or no smoke coming out. (See chef notes below.) We have two smokers for this project we used our upright propane smoker as it maintains a higher heat level then the side by side.
4.) Baste bird after 4 hours of smoking with rendered bacon fat, at this point season the outside of the bird with Soffritto seasoning. Smoke garlic by placing the bulbs beside the turkey (or in the roasting pan beneath) & continue to cook until bird reaches 165f. This will take between 5-7 hours total depending on the type of smoker, the size of the bird & outside temperatures. Remove from smoker & allow to rest for 20-30 minutes before carving. Keep the drippings/pan juices warm, either in a warm oven or on a very low burner setting. As you carve, place the pieces back into the pan juices to absorb more flavor. Garnish with chopped parsley, serve in pan juices with roasted garlic.
Chef Notes: You are looking for a nice white smoke, not black. This is achieved through the smoking of your pellets or wood chips, that being said, you want them smoking not on fire. If your pellets or wood chips ignite, simply pour a bit of water in the smoking chamber.
Twice Baked Purple Yam | Roasted Butternut Squash with Brown Butter & Crispy Sage Leaves