Favorite Turkey?

[Gclyde28]

Whats everyone's favorite way to cook a turkey? Fried? Smoked? Roasted?

You prefer light meat or dark meat?


I ain't picky, but if I get to pick, I like it fried and I want the dark meat.

[Rubi513]

I prefer it fried as well.
I like the white meat better.
I will be smoking one this week.

[freerhunter]

Smoked/dark meat

[Big Lee]

Fried.

Smoked is a solid 2nd.

If the turkey is baked. I likely will pass it up. Lol

[Dale Moser]

Ham.

[tpack]

Ham.

https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1071655&stc=1&d=1637782741

[tpack]

Even though I prefer Ham as stated above, I am smoking a 11 lb. breast in my REC TEC 590. I have it in a brine and have great expectations for my first smoked turkey. I`m going to rub it down with a good coating of Dukes Mayonnaise and use a rub that I use on all of my smoked pork meats(Squeal like a pig recipe). If we don`t like the turkey , we`re gonna add Vodka to the brine and get wasted. Win Win !!


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[curtintex]

I prefer mine smoked and like both the white and dark meat.

No matter how you cook your turkey, they're always better if you brine them before hand. I brine all fowl before cooking them, even if it's boneless chicken breast on the grill. However, I have a brine that I use for my turkeys before I smoke them that leaves them juicy and tasteful. This year, I'm smoking three turkeys, so I placed all three turkeys in a 65qt cooler and added:
Cover turkeys with Water
2 gals of Orange Juice
6 Shiner Bock Beers
6 chopped large onions
6 halved and squeezed lemons
2 cups of salt
1 cup of Pepper
1 cup of Tony's
1 cup of Garlic Powder
2 cups Brown Sugar

Brine for 36-48hrs keeping ice on the turkeys. When you take them out of the brine, rinse them and dry them well and then inject and season to taste. Smoke or fry or roast as you prefer and you'll notice the difference in a brined bird.

[Gclyde28]

I prefer mine smoked and like both the white and dark meat.

No matter how you cook your turkey, they're always better if you brine them before hand. I brine all fowl before cooking them, even if it's boneless chicken breast on the grill. However, I have a brine that I use for my turkeys before I smoke them that leaves them juicy and tasteful. This year, I'm smoking three turkeys, so I placed all three turkeys in a 65qt cooler and added:
Cover turkeys with Water
2 gals of Orange Juice
6 Shiner Bock Beers
6 chopped large onions
6 halved and squeezed lemons
2 cups of salt
1 cup of Pepper
1 cup of Tony's
1 cup of Garlic Powder

Brine for 36-48hrs keeping ice on the turkeys. When you take them out of the brine, rinse them and dry them well and then inject and season to taste. Smoke or fry or roast as you prefer and you'll notice the difference in a brined bird.

Never done this but you have my attention.

What kind of difference will I notice. More moisture kept in the bird? The reason I prefer dark meat is that breast meat dries out too much.

[ladybluearm]

Grew up on Mom oven baking a Butterball. That’s the only brand she would buy. Same for me and my family. Prefer white meat.

[curtintex]

Never done this but you have my attention.

What kind of difference will I notice. More moisture kept in the bird? The reason I prefer dark meat is that breast meat dries out too much.

Yes. It'll be more moist. My turkey breast are juicy and flavorful and I attribute that to the brining process. Also, I believe the acid in the citrus juices helps break down the bird and make the meat more tender. I honestly don't know HOW it works, but I know that it does. I also inject my birds before smoking.

1 Shiner Bock Beer
1 Stick of Salted Butter
2 Tbs of Ragin' Blaze (or similar cajun spice)
2 Tbs of Garlic Powder

I add all ingredients to a sauce pan and boil it until the butter is melted and the spices are mostly dissolved. I then use a large injector on the breast, thighs, wings and legs. Whatever is left of the mixture is poured over the turkey and put on the smoker.

[Gumbo Man]

Dead is my only preference and the butt and wings are my favorite. Don’t hate me for being easy.

[Jcjohnson]

Fried and dark

[Kelmat]

My FIL marinates his in Italian dressing and smokes them. I love it way more than baked. I like fried but they don't seem to be very good as left overs.

[Smart]

Favorite Turkey?

I like it in the oven (done right with plenty of seasoning and injection) or on a fryer. I am not a fan of smoked turkey with all the soul food sides. They just don't go together in my mind….. I love smoked turkey but not on Thanksgiving if I’m cooking