Confessions of an Executive Restaurant Recruiter

Yesterday I was caught up in the traditional Chapman Family Thanksgiving Day activities of preparing a delicious feast over which we could give thanks. OK, so there was some football watching involved, I admit it. But cooking a turkey the way we do takes just about all day. And for the fifth year in a row, the turkey came out incredibly delicious. So I decided that right here, in this post, I’m going to give away the secret. No charge, no donations, completely free. You may not get a chance to check out the process until next year if you are one of those once a year turkey eaters, but believe me, it will be well worth it.

Two essential elements in the process of cooking "the best turkey you ever ate" are the brining and the smoking. Brining to make the meat tender and juicy and smoking to lock in the flavor and keep the meat moist.

Carl Chapman’s Brine Recipe

2 cups Kosher salt
3 cups brown sugar
1 lb honey
1 tablespoon Rosemary

Add salt to 5 quarts water and bring to a boil.
Add sugar.
Add honey (microwave honey at medium power to allow easy pouring out of container.)
Remove from heat when you are sure that everything has dissolved well.
Add Rosemary (crushing while adding.)
Allow to steep for 10 minutes.

Pour liquid into five gallon bucket lined with food grade plastic bag.
Add enough ice to bring water to room temperature (about 3/4 of standard fridge’s ice bin.)
Place turkey in plastic bag.
Remove air from plastic bag and twist closed, making sure the turkey is covered.
You may wish to weigh the turkey down.
Leave turkey in brine 8 to 18 hours.

Cooking Instructions

Prepare fire in Big Green Egg and get to approx 400 degrees.
Add approx 1 lb of hickory chips (which have soaked in water overnight.)
Place turkey on vertical roaster in a round pan on grill.
Fill pan and keep filled with brine mixture for duration of cooking.
Maintain egg temperature at 275 – 300 degrees
Cook until breast is 165 to 170 degrees (5.5 hours to 7 hours depending upon temp and size of bird.)

Let turkey rest for 30 minutes before carving.

Enjoy!

PS – Our turkey this year was just over 29 lbs, deliciously cooked in 7 hours at 300 degrees.

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