Dry Brine, Still Moist Turkey: Dub Shack BBQ Presents Dry-Brined Turkey

I needed room in the refrigerator that the briner bucket wouldn't allow for. Also due to the fact I have had only two days off from work this month means that bird prep was going a different route.

INGREDIENTS

Turkey, 12-15 lbs (mine weighed 13 lbs.)

Meat Church's Honey Hog BBQ Rub

Tony Chacere's creole style butter

Kosher salt

STEP ONE. Thaw out the turkey for however long it needs to bust loose in the refrigerator. As a general rule of thumb, think three pounds per day with the big bird. Because my turkey weighed thirteen pounds, I went a little over four days before taking it out of the packaging.

STEP TWO. Once the turkey was taken out of its packaging, pat it nice and dry before you do anything else. Inside of the cavity are the turkey neck and a small bag of giblets: I'd tell you to save the neck and backbone that has been spatchcocked for stock along with the giblet bag for gravy but more often than not, I'll smoke the neck with the bird itself and throw the rest of the stuff away. Sidebar: For the purposes of this cook, I only kept the turkey itself. With the scents coming from my trash can, I'm really going to hate it for the sanitation crew when they come through next week.

STEP THREE. Unlike most years, I diverged from my normal wet brine path to first spatchcocking and then laying a pretty stout seasoning of kosher salt and Meat Church's Honey Hog BBQ Rub liberally on both sides, in the nooks and crannies, and anywhere good taste would touch the bird. Set the turkey on a wire rack and leave it alone in the refrigerator for the next 24-48 hours as the "curing" time afforded by the appliance's air dries out the skin making it crispy for the cook.

STEP FOUR. Two days later, a small miracle of time has elapsed and the turkey is ready for smoke. As a booster, I injected creole butter all over to ensure a moist turkey worth eating and reminiscing about until the next cookout. 

Wanna see the weapon I chose to use this year? It's my favorite - the PK!

Light the chimney with either briquettes or lump charcoal and if you didn't forget, have a water pan underneath the turkey. (I failed to pick up one but that one solid pecan wood log which served double duty as both a heat shield and flavor infuser were sufficient enough.)

STEP FIVE. Like brisket, turkey is another protein that can get away from you if you're inclined to set it and forget it. As the grill cooks at/around 325, make sure to check on it once an hour for both color and temperature. Turkey is done in the breast at 165, and the dark meat is super tasty at 175 degrees. Pro tip: Once you get the desired color, use aluminum foil to tent over the skin so it still looks golden brown. My bird below got a bit darker but the same tasty elements were already there. 

STEP SIX. Man, I've gone into some detail. Allow the turkey to rest about thirty minutes and enjoy!

The reasons why I did not post this one Thanksgiving Day are 1)most of us ate roughly the same thing, and 2)I didn't have the written content ready as I spent the week battling flu and exhaustion from my night job. Hope your Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving Day festivities were great even as the things that can and often divide us such as politics, worldview, or not cheering for the Cowboys mean little in the grand scheme of it all. Now that I'm getting back to normal, y'all know what I am about to say. Thank you for reading this post. Try this one out sometime before the cold weather ends up conquering our ambitions and goals of great barbecue on an every day basis. Be blessed, be safe, be good to each other, and tell everyone that every day is a GREAT day for Dub Shack BBQ!