Maple Brined Turkey, the Holidays are right around the corner! For us it means getting together with great friends and wonderful food. We brined this girl in Ken’s famous maple brine and then smoked it until it was done to perfection. This bird was delicious, tender and juicy with a “Kiss” of smoky maple in every bite.

Patti and I have set one night a week just for us. It’s our date night. We usually put something special on one of our Grills or Smokers, but sometimes we cook inside. We always eat outside on our patio where it is very comfortable with a rainforest theme.  Wood Pellet Patio Heater, little lights, candles, lanterns and surround sound. We enjoy a little wine, or strawberry margaritas using frozen strawberries for ice, good food, music and sometimes a dance or two…

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Maple Brined Turkey
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Prep Time: 1 hour with overnight brine
Cook Time: 8 hours at 225* (107c)
Grill: Green Mountain Wood Pellet Grill
Pellets: BBQPelletsOnline

NOTE: You can cut your cook time down by increasing your grill temperature. Looking for an internal temperature of at least 165* (74c). I like 175* (79c) as the meat just flakes apart nicer.

Ingredients: Maple Brined Turkey

• 1 turkey (ours was 13 ¾ lbs.)
• Chef of the Future Orange Ginger Pepper, to taste
• Oil, we used “Duck Fat”

Brine Ingredients: Maple Brined Turkey

• 1 cup Kosher salt
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons peppercorns
• ½ cup Our “Date Night Heat” Add a Little Heat to Your Meat
  
• 1 Tablespoon Onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic powder
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 gallon water (More or less as needed)

Maple Brined Turkey
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Cooking Directions: Maple Brined Turkey

Place the ingredients for the brine in a sauce pan with 2 or 3 cups of water. On the stove top bring your brine up to a low boil as you stir the seasoning to help them melt and blend. About 5 minutes. After it is blended you need to let it cool so it doesn’t melt your brining bag. I add ice cubes to it to speed up the cooling.

Place your turkey into the brining bag and pour the “COOL” brine into the bag. Top off with cool water until your bird is completely covered. Seal the bag getting all the air out of it you can.
Now gently squeeze the bag a few times to mix the brine and water.

Place it into the fridge overnight turning it over a few times until you are ready to cook. Patti always places it in some kind of pan in case it leaks.

When you are ready to grill pull your bird out of the brine and rinse it off inside and out washing away all the salt and pat dry. Just pour the brine down the sink.

Oil your bird (we used “Duck Fat” spray) then generously sprinkle turkey inside and out with Chef of the Future Orange Ginger Pepper. The oil helps with both browning and your seasoning sticking to the bird.

Light your Wedgie and preheat your Grill Grates to 225* (107c) and place your bird directly onto the grill for about 8 hours. But don’t cook by time, cook by internal temperature, of at least 165* (74c). I like 175* (79c) as the meat just flakes apart nicely.

When the bird reaches an internal temperature around 175* (79c) pull it off, cover it and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. U.S.D.A. safe is 165* (74c). Keep in mind that the bird will continue cooking for another 5 to 10 degrees after you pull it off the grill. I use a Maverick ProTemp Instant Read Thermometer for checking meat temps.

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need to follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like. Also you are only smoking at temps less than 250 degrees (122c), anything higher is cooking and there will not be much if any smoke so it does not matter what kind of pellet you are using.

Maple Brined Turkey
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

 

Maple Brined Turkey
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

 

Maple Brined Turkey
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

Maple Brined Turkey
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

 

Maple Brined Turkey
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

Cooking In the Oven: Maple Brined Turkey

We have been getting requests for recipe conversions for the oven. I tell folks all the time that cooking on a Wood Pellet Grill/Smoker is just as easy as cooking in your oven. Just about anyone can do it and do it well. Think about it. You set your control knob to the temp you want, put your meat in and leave it for a set time. It is the same thing, time and temperature is what it is all about. The Grill is just like your oven except it uses wood pellets and has wheels.

Try 350* (174c) for about 4 hours.

Maple Brined Turkey
A Wood Pellet Grill Recipe

About our Recipes

We do our recipes on our patio where we have a lineup of grills, including Monument, Green Mountain, Uuni Wood Fired Pizza Oven, Sawtooth, Louisiana, Royall, Memphis, Traeger pellet grills, Char Griller side box smoker, Saber, Charmglow, Char-Broil, The Big Easy, Lodge Sportsman’s, Brinkman and Weber. I call it our “Wall of Grill”. Our grilling styles are healthy and low fat and will fit pelletheads, gas, natural wood and even charcoal purists. Almost any of our recipes can be done on any kind of good BBQ.

The important thing to keep in mind is TIME & TEMPERATURE. You can do our recipes on any grill, even some of them in the oven or crock pot, but, then you lose all the flavors you get from cooking outdoors. But sometimes it does rain.

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. Take it and run with it….

Live your Passion and Do What You Love,
Ken & Patti

Check Out Our Cookbooks
They are “How To BBQ Picture Books

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