Smoking Chicken & Turkey?

I am going to smoke a couple chickens and/or a turkey this week or weekend.

Do I need to brine them before or just dry them with a paper towel as much as I can before seasoning and smoking? I have heard about brining them then I have also heard not to.

I smoke 3-5 turkeys a summer and never brine them. I just rub the outside of the bird with a melted butter and vegetable oil mixture. Then rub it with whatever rub you prefer (I use a cajun rub!). Comes out of the smoker looking like a turkey right out of Martha Stewarts oven! Golden Brown! …RR

You smelled to one on my grill, didn’t you Wade? I’m not sure why more folks don’t do this, it is fairly easy and has great results. I’ve brined before, but really didn’t see a huge difference, why mess with a good thing as is? I do them on a weber, coal baskets either side (indirect), apple wood chips (or hickory, oak, etc). As far as bird prep goes, the one going now has loosely stuffed oranges in the hole along with fresh herbs, a few blade length slits under the breast skin (stick a knife under the skin to make a pocket) with Johny’s water poured in (season salt), then rubbed with olive oil and grilled chicken season and sage and whatever else sounds good. Go slow and do NOT push it, a few coals in either basket to keep the coals going, handful of chips when you do coals, it usually takes 5-7 hours depending on bird size. As an example, the bird I put on last night is around 15 lbs, went on at 6PM or so, last coal tend was 10PM or so. Looks good this AM and my charcoal is wet, so it will go in the oven at 200-225 or so for a couple hours when I get home and that should be good. Big things are to not push it, do not tight stuff the cavity (NO dressing!), and go slow. Easiest way to do a bird imho, best tasting juicy good!

I’ve got a bit of a different opinion, I’ll brine the bird overnight. While the coals are getting hot, using a kitchen shears cut the back bone out, and cut the wishbone, open the cavity up and press down till it is laying flat. coat with olive oil, then season with your favorite seasonings. Stay away from the salty seasonings, the salt was in the brine. The biggest problem I had was when the breast was done the dark meat wasn’t, and if you wanted the dark meat done, the breast was starting to dry out. Tasty, but dry. To me this is the easiest way to not mess up. The results are out of this world. Oh, and stick to an apple or fruit wood, (apricot is awesome!)tends not to get a salty taste.

Brine a turkey for sure, last one I did was ridiculously juicy, anyway you look at it it’s super easy cheap and there isn’t a single downside to brining a turkey.

Either way works out fine but when you do “slow” make sure you do not hold the internal temp below 140 degrees for more than 4 hours. A lot of nasty things can grow in poultry when it has been kept below that temp for more than 4 hours.