Rubbed & Smoked Fowl (Smoked turkey on the Grill)

Rubbed and Smoked Fowl

Smoked turkey on the Grill

Sometimes you just need a BIG MEAT.  Smoked turkey on the Grill is perfect for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and there are no sloppy seconds.   As with our Bad A$$ Mutha Cluckers (wings), this turkey recipe gets a good RUB. (Everything starts with a good rub, am I right?) Starting with a warm smokey rub full of chili powder, cumin, rosemary, and thyme.

In this iteration, since this was for a Cuss Kitchen® Appetizer recipe, I added an extra chipotle powder as the turkey was going in B*tchin Barb’s Hot Brown Casserole for her annual Kentucky Derby Party.

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Brining the Turkey

The turkey prep does take a bit of pre-planning. We start with a brine the night before the cook. The brine is easy, start with heating up some water, add in salt until it’s dissolved, and remove it from the heat. Then add in the smashed garlic cloves, cumin, red pepper flakes, and sliced jalapenos (seeds and all). Add in the cold water and drop in the Gobbler for a nice overnight soak in the fridge.

For those of you who are virgins of spicy cooking, don’t be afraid, it won’t hurt a bit. The poultry will pull in all the warmth of the spices but not the heat. Trust me.

IMPORTANT!  If you are using this brine – DO NOT start with a pre-brined turkey like Butterball.  It will be super salty.

2 hours before you want to start cooking, pull the turkey out of the brine and rinse, completely removing all the red pepper flakes and jalapeno seeds. Dry the bird off and apply the smoked poultry seasoning below.

If you are lazy – I admit it I can be very lazy, especially when I’m sippin’ on Easy B*tch Margaritas or Lusty Lillys. I’ve found Fresh Market’s Poultry Rub to be a suitable short cut. Make sure you apply the rub inside the cavity as well as a nice fondle on under the breast skin.

Whether you plan to cook this in the oven or on a smoker (Big Green Egg is our choice of pleasure), Low and Slow is the secret. It makes for the most pleasurable meat. As you can see from this prep, I decided to spatchcock the turkey. This makes for an even cook on all the meat – keeping both the white and dark meats juicy.

How to Spatchcock a Bird

Starting the Cook

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees / Your Big Green Egg (or other smoker) to 250 degrees.

If you are using a smoker or a Big Green Egg, when building the fire add in either apple or other fruit wood chips for the smoke element. Make sure you have a drip pan with some chicken stock & water (or I like to use some left over brine) to help with the moisture in the smoker and catch the fat drippings. Cook until the breasts are at an internal temp of 155 degrees. Take the bird out and let it rest for 30 mins. It will continue to cook and reach the necessary 165 degrees. (Thighs will be higher but that is ok – they will not dry out).

Check out B*tchin Barb’s Hot Brown!

Time for a Good Rub

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5 from 3 votes

Smoked Poultry Rub

warm spices of cumin, chili powder, and chipotle with rosemary and thyme

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bbq rub, chicken rub, turkey rub

Materials

• 2 Tbsp Chili Powder
• 2 tsp Cumin
• 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp Dry Rosemary
• 1 tsp Dry Thyme
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Dark Brown Sugar
• ½ tsp Chipotle (optional)

Instructions

• Combine the ingredients.

  Store in an air-tight container.

Notes

Perfect for grilling chicken, turkey, or shrimp.

Reduce the spicy by eliminating the chipotle.

Brine for Smoked turkey on the Grill

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5 from 3 votes

Soaka de C*ck / Gobbler

smokey brine perfect for large roasters or turkey

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Resting / brine time8 hours hrs

Total Time8 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Southern

Keyword: brine, chicken rub, jalapenos, Turkey

Equipment

• large stock pot

Materials

• 1 cup Kosher Salt
• ½ cup Crushed Red Pepper
• 2-3 cloves Garlic - mashed
• 2 Sliced Jalapenos - for less spice, removed seeds
• 2 QT hot water
• 6 QT cold water

Instructions

• Heat 2 QT water in a stockpot
• Add salt and dissolve
• Take off the heat, add in the remaining ingredients
• Submerge fowl and cover
• Let it rest in the fridge for at least 8 hrs to overnight.

The Full Monty- Smoked turkey on the Grill

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5 from 2 votes

Fowl Smoke

Smoked or oven baked turkey (chicken) with a chili powder & cumin based poultry rub

Prep Time12 hours hrs

Active Time2 hours hrs

Resting Time20 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Southern

Keyword: BBQ, bbq rub, Big Green Egg, chicken rub, Turkey

Yield: 12

Author: The Fowl Ham

Materials

Smokey Fowl Rub

• 2 Tbsp Chili Powder
• 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt
• 2 tsp Black Pepper
• 2½ tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Dry Rosemary
• 1 tsp Dry Thyme
• 1 tsp Dark Brown Sugar
• ½ tsp Ground Chipotle Pepper - optional

The Fowl Brine

• 1 cup Kosher salt
• ½ cup Crushed Red-Pepper Flakes
• 2-3 cloves Garlic - mashed
• 2 Sliced Jalapenos - remove seeds for less heat
• 2 QT Hot Water
• 6 QT Cold Water

The Fowl Prep

• 10-13 lbs Turkey - not a pre-brined turkey
• Spray olive oil

Instructions

The Fowl Prep

• Make the smoked poultry rub. Combine all ingredients. Set aside.
• Spatchcock bird. This is not necessary but does promote even cooking and reduction in cook time.
• Prepare the brine In a stock pot by warming 2 QT water to dissolve the salt.
• Remove pot from heat and add remaining ingredients.
• Add the turkey to the roaster, making sure the brine is covering the bird.
• Place in fridge for a minimum of 8 hrs to overnight.
• 2 hrs before you want to cook, rinse and dry the bird. If you don't want a spicy bird, make sure you rinse off all the jalapeno seeds and red pepper flakes.
• Save a cup or 2 of the brine for the steam element of the cook.
• Using the poultry rub, generously apply rub to the bird including the cavity and under the breast skin.
• Let the bird get happy in the fridge until you are ready to cook.
• Use a light spray of olive oil right before cooking.

Smoke that Fowl

• Set the smoker up for indirect heat, using some fruit wood with your normal fuel.
• Bring smoker up to 250° - 275 °
• Place a drip pan of some of the brine under the grate. This will catch the drippings as well as add some flavored steam to the cook.
  
• When breast meat reaches 155°, remove from smoker and let the bird rest for 20-30mins

Bake the Bird

• Preheat oven to 300°
• Place turkey in the roasting pan with a small tin of brine (or apple juice) in the oven
• Bake for 2.5 - 3 hrs, remove from oven when breast temp is 155 - 160°
• Rest for 20 minutes

Notes

This method is perfect for a turkey or larger size roaster (chicken).  We've even tried it on duck!

If you forget or don't want to use the brine for the steam, apple juice or chicken stock works well.

That’s one Mutha-Cluckin’ Gobbler!

And don’t forget after all the delish meat is picked off the bones to make a turkey bone stock.  No extra seasoning is needed!

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Perfect Pairings for Smoked Turkey on the Grill:

Imagine this beautiful Gobbler with Bourbon Bread Pudding,                                                                                                                         Butter my Bourbon and Smoke my Pudding   In this Bourbon Bread pudding recipe, there are two kinds of chocolate, pecans, challah bread, and BOURBON!!!! With ingredients like these how can you not scream with pleasure! And you will notice there are NO raisins.  Apparently that’s a thing.

Spiced Bacon Crack-er  You will love these buttery crackers with sweet, salty, chipotle, jalapeno, and thick cut bacon.  The combination of sweet and spicy makes these appetizers irresistible -crispy, crunchy, sweet & savory.   This is the simple grilled appetizer you have been looking for.

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