Smoked Turkey with Bacon Bourbon Butter
Servings: 1 turkey
Equipment
- Smoker
- Bradley Rack
Ingredients
- 1 whole turkey intestines removed, spatchcocked
- 4 sticks butter room temperature
- ½ cup bourbon
- koshering salt to taste
- herbs and spices to taste
- 1 gallon buttermilk
- 1 cup koshering salt
- bacon slices
- Edwin's rib rub (recipe on this site: see below)
- garlic cloves
- brown sugar
Instructions
- Unwrap the turkey, remove giblets, neck, strings, plastic hardware holding the legs together, everything.Place the turkey on a cutting board with the backbone facing up and the neck towards you.Using the heaviest kitchen shears you can find, cut along both sides of the backbone to the butt end opening of the turkey so you can remove the backbone completely from the turkey. Add it to the giblets and neck for the sauce.Turn the turkey breast side up and press down with both hands to flatten it. If the turkey is large, you may have to score the breast bone from the other side, inside the cavity.
- Make a brine of 1 gallon liquid (I use buttermilk) and 1 cup of koshering salt. Pour the salt into the liquid and stir until it dissolves.Place the turkey in a container you can close, pour enough brine in to cover the turkey, and put it in the fridge at least overnight.
- Pour off and discard the brine, and rinse the turkey really well under cold water.Dry the inside and outside of the turkey with paper towels.Combine 6 parts koshering salt with 1 part baking powder (you’re likely going to need 4 tablespoons koshering salt and 2 teaspoons of baking powder) and rub the skin with it
- Put the turkey uncovered for 2 hours in the fridge.This dries the skin and the dry brine of the salt and baking powder will let the skin brown nicely and give a nice crispy feel.
- Clear enough space in the main smoking chamber to hold the turkey, and preheat it to bring the temperature up to 240F. Pecan or hickory are best, though any hardwood would do too.
- Combine butter, salt, pepper, raw bacon, rub, garlic cloves in a food processor and blend until smooth (you may want to put the bacon 30 minutes in the freezer before processing to make it easier). Add bourbon (and brown sugar) to taste, and process until smooth.
- Use your hands to separate the skin from the meat all along the breast, wings, and legs. The skin stretches but can tear, so be careful. Once you have the skin all loosened, spread the soft bacon bourbon butter all under the skin, push it down all the nooks and crannies and down into the legs.Melt the remaining butter so it can be brushed on.
- Take a half cookie sheat, put a drying rack on it, and lay out the turkey sideways, breast up, legs and wings spread out to the side.Brush the skin all over with the melted bacon bourbon butter.Season the turkey by sprinkling rub over it.
- Smoke the turkey for about 4 hours: measure the meat in the thickest part of the breast. Once it reaches 158-160F remove it from the smoker.
- Tent the turkey with tin foil and let it rest until the carryover cooking will bring the temperature in the thickest part of the breast up to 163-165F.
- To carve a turkey, leave it breast up.Take the leg, pull it aside, slice through the skin between leg and breast, pull the leg aside until the joint is exposed, cut through it, and remove the leg. With your fingers feel for the joint in the leg between drumstick and thigh. and cut through it. Leave the drumstick and cut the meat off of the thigh by making a lengthwise cut and debone the thigh. Repeat with the other leg.Take the wing, pull it aside, slice through the skin between wing and breast, pull the wing aside until the joint is exposed, cut through the joint and any skin. Repeat with the other wing.Cut lengthwise down the breast bone with the tip of your knife, then follow the bones of the ribcage with the tip, pulling the meat from the bones with your fingers. Lay the breast down and cut thick slices on the bias.