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Home > Recipes > Recipe

Maple-Brined, Wood Smoked Grilled Turkey

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Source: Fine Cooking - Issue No. 24
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Active Time:  15 Minutes
Total Time:  51 Hours 35 Minutes
Yield:  Serves 12
Allow a total of 4 to 4 1/2 hours to start the fire, cook the turkey, and let it rest. Have a full bag of charcoal on hand, as you'll need to add coals as the bird cooks.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS
For the Brine:
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup coarse salt
3 whole heads garlic, cloves separated (but not peeled) and bruised
6 large bay leaves
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped unpeeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
3 quarts water
Handful fresh thyme sprigs
For the Turkey:
olive oil for brushing
12- to 14-pounds fresh turkey
Maple-Brined, Wood Smoked Grilled Turkey Recipe at Cooking.com
DIRECTIONS
TO BRINE THE TURKEY: Combine all the brine ingredients in an enamel or stainless-steel pot big enough to hold the brine and turkey. Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat, and let cool completely. Remove the neck and giblets, rinse the turkey well, and put it in the cold brine; add water if the brine doesn't cover the bird. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 days, turning the bird twice a day.

TO COOK THE TURKEY: Remove the bird from the brine, pat it dry, lightly brush it with olive oil, and set aside. Prepare the grill by lighting about 30 charcoal briquettes or small pieces of hardwood charcoal, preferably in a chimney starter. When the coals are hot and spotted gray, put an aluminum-foil drip pan that's at least 1 inch deep in the middle of the grill. Arrange half the coals on one side of the pan and half on the other. Put 1/2 cup or so of wood chips in a double layer of aluminum foil and set them on the hot coals.

Put the upper rack of the grill in place and center the turkey, breast side up, on the rack over the drip pan. Cover the grill and partially close the air vents. Regulate the vents to keep the wood chips smoking and the coals burning slowly, checking every 25 min. or so. Add charcoal periodically. Keep the temperature in the grill between 275 and 325 degrees.

Add more wood chips as you need them. Keep the smoke going for 1 1/2 to 2 hours; then remove the chips and continue cooking without smoke until the bird is done. The total cooking time for a 12- to 14-lb. bird is about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Test the turkey with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh or breast. You can also cut a small incision at the leg-thigh joint to see that the juices run clear. When the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees, remove the turkey from the grill. Let it rest at least 20 minutes before carving.

Recipe reprinted by permission of Fine Cooking Magazine. All rights reserved.
Date Added: 01/01/2008
Nutrition Facts per Serving
Yield: Serves 12
Calories: 277
Fat. Total: 8g
Protein: 41g
Carbohydrates, Total: 8g
Sodium: 1649mg
% Cal. from Fat: 26%
Cholesterol: 148mg
Spotlight Recipe Review See all 5 reviews »

Rating:
by: Greg Reviewed: 11/16/2009
Excellent Turkey Recipe See all of Greg's reviews »
Used this recipe to great success for Thanksgiving 2008. Eagerly awaiting TG 2009 so I can do it again. I've never had turkey that tasted this good. No dry, bland turkey here. And the process to make it was pretty simple. I brined the turkey in the fridge for 4 days. While grilling I just kept adding charcoal and covering with olive oil every 30 minutes or so.
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