BBQ Whole Brined Turkey

The best way to get flavorful poultry, regardless of how it is prepared, is to start with a brine.  Brining adds moisture and flavor to poultry and helps keep it from drying out.

A good guideline to properly brine a turkey is one hour per pound.  If you do not have that much time then at a minimum you should brine the turkey for 7-8 hours.

This is a basic brine with only a few seasonings.  You can add just about any spices you wish but you should not use spines that are salty.

The Brine

• 1 gallon Vegetable Broth
• 1 tablespoon Sage
• 1 tablespoon Ground Rosemary
• 1 tablespoon Allspice
• 1 tablespoon Thyme
• 1 1/2 cups Kosher Salt

Brine Ingredients

Combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to boil.  You want the salt to dissolve completely.  Stir occasionally to mix the solution thoroughly and help to dissolve the salt.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Prepare the turkey by removing the innards.  The turkey should be fully thawed so plan ahead!  It can take days to thaw a frozen turkey.  Thoroughly rinse the turkey including the cavity.

A 5 gallon bucket is ideal for soaking the turkey in the brine solution

I use a 5 gallon bucket to soak the turkey in the brine solution.  Pour the brine solution into the bucket and add ice water (and ice).  Place the turkey into the solution and ensure that the cavity is filled with solution.  I like to plunge the bird up and down to completely immerse it into the solution and ensure that solution fills the cavity.  Add ice and water to completely cover the turkey.

Place the bucket in a refrigerator overnight.  If you can’t do that and you have to leave it out then check every few hours and add more ice.  You want to keep the turkey cold.

Remember: You want to soak the turkey for 1 hour per pound.

Remove the turkey and discard the brine solution.  Rinse the turkey and pat dry.  Start the BBQ!  I prefer my weber charcoal gril which takes about 45 minutes to get ready.

Prepare the BBQ

Meanwhile, season the turkey with whatever seasonings you like. Here I lightly coat the turkey with olive oil then sprinkle with Poultry Seasoning and Ground Rosemary. You can use pepper or just about anything. Don’t use anything that contains salt, though.

Final Seasoning brefore putting the turkey on the bbq

Cook over indirect heat.  I place a small drip pan in the bottom of the weber grill and then pour the hot coals on either side of the pan.  A brined turkey will cook 30 minutes faster than a non brined turkey so keep an eye on it check the temperature.  Place the turkey breast side up and keep the lid closed as much as possible.  Each time you lift the lid you lose heat.

Here I am cooking a 15 pound turkey which took right around 2 hours.  Check the temperature in the thigh (do not touch the bone!) and remove the turkey when it reaches 165 degrees.  I check both thighs.

Grill over indirect heat

Once the turkey has reached 165 degrees, remove it, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let set for 15 minutes.  The turkey will continue to cook.

It is ready!  Carve it up and serve.  You’ll find that there is a great flavor and that the meat is most throughout.  Even though the brine solution contains 1 1/2 cups salt and that seems like a lot, the turkey will not be salty at all.

Give it a try the next time you cook a turkey.  Brining is a perfect way to get that most, flavorful turkey.