Cross posted from food and spirits, but we know where the real BBQ kings reside…..

Cooking a spatchcocked bird on my son in law's pit for the family Christmas. It will be injected the night before, but any suggestions on rubs or just the general kosher salt/pepper/garlic blend?

Depending on how salty the injection is, I would go light with the salt on the rub if you are making your own.

I season the underside of the bird but not the skin side. I'll use Lawrys Seasoning salt, pepper and garlic powder on the underside. I don't think adding seasoning to the skin does anything for the flavor of the bird at all.

I have been using kosmos dirty bird (regular/hot/sriracha)

Yeah, day of, seasoning the skin side really only helps flavor the skin. But I wouldn't skip seasoning it.

Rub underneath the skin. Stick wooden spoon under skin to aid in lifting it up. Then rub.
Think about brine before injecting.
I will also use 2tablespoons of butter with 2 tables spoons of vegetable oil and rub on bird. Then the dry rub. As far as rubs go I've used chicken sh$t rub.

Not sure if this will help but I have always had good luck with recipes for smoked turkey from this guy:
https://www.smoking-meat.com/

Doesn't matter. Pick any rub. Biggest thing is to Brine that bird, and it will be moist.

My biggest complaint about Turkey is it gets too dry. Brine is the only answer I've found.

I like this one quite a bit:

I use Meat Church Honey Hog on my spatchcocked turkey.

Whatever you use, be sure to semi melt a stick of butter (melted but still solid) and then add some of your rub to that, and then rub it on the breast between the meat and the skin. That will help the flavor get into the meat as well.

Rudy's Turkey rub has been fantastic in my experience.

When I do this with the goal of more of a traditional/Thanksgiving flavor, I do something like these (they include herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage).

https://hildaskitchenblog.com/recipe/traeger-smoked-turkey-breast/
https://sipbitego.com/smoked-turkey-breast/

You've got time.

Do a brine.

Then oil, S&P on the skin.

Anything by Texas BBQ Rub: http://www.texasbbqrub.com/

He's also got a 2 video set specifically over smoking a turkey:

Agreed brine 2-3 days is the only way to keep a turkey moist

Happygilmore20 said:

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Agreed brine 2-3 days is the only way to keep a turkey moist

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2-3 days?

You're gonna end up with a pretty salty bird if you brine for 2-3 days. 24 hours is my max.

B-1 83 said:

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Happygilmore20 said:

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Agreed brine 2-3 days is the only way to keep a turkey moist

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2-3 days?

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I dry brine turkey with kosher salt for 2 days. I pull it out of the fridge after the first night and dab it with paper towels and reapply a layer of kosher salt. The morning of the cook I'll pull the turkey out and dab it with paper towels again. By that time, the skin almost has a pink color. Before I put it in the pit I'll apply some coarse ground pepper only. I smoke at 275-300 degrees and pull when it hits 150 in the breast.

I tried many methods until I settled on this one several years ago and it turns out great every time.

Big fan of all the Meat Church seasonings, and they are still my go to. Having said that, i've used the HEB True Texas BBQ Sweet Tx Heat rub on a couple pork butts and turkey breast, and its really dang good. Definitely worth a try if in TX and near an HEB.

drthoop said:

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You're gonna end up with a pretty salty bird if you brine for 2-3 days. 24 hours is my max.

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Depends on the strength of the brine I suppose, and what you're going after.

I've brined them for 4-5 days, basically like a ham. Meat comes out seasoned, but I wouldn't say salty.

Belton Ag said:

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B-1 83 said:

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Happygilmore20 said:

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Agreed brine 2-3 days is the only way to keep a turkey moist

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2-3 days?

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I dry brine turkey with kosher salt for 2 days. I pull it out of the fridge after the first night and dab it with paper towels and reapply a layer of kosher salt. The morning of the cook I'll pull the turkey out and dab it with paper towels again. By that time, the skin almost has a pink color. Before I put it in the pit I'll apply some coarse ground pepper only. I smoke at 275-300 degrees and pull when it hits 150 in the breast.

I tried many methods until I settled on this one several years ago and it turns out great every time.

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Belton Ag is spot on. Dry brine all the way, see serious eats.com for full breakdown. A bird in a wet brine for any time increases the moisture content inside the bird which in turn dilutes the true flavor of a turkey. If you say that is why you season it with all these concoctions, then just cook something you actually like the flavor of. Besides salt and pepper, and perhaps some salted butter under the skin, you can increase your flavor profile by cooking with fruit woods. I used applewood over Thanksgiving with basically the same method above and it came out good.

All these injections and rubs sounds like folks are trying to make crawfish taste good. If you have a job, get out of the roadside ditch and eat shrimp instead.

I just rub Tony C's, with canola oil on the outside, and put it in the Big Easy. Folks like it.

For our oven turkey, with stuffing, I use Alton Browns wet brine recipe.
Always a hit. But, we love stuffing...

Probably wouldn't taking cooking/eating advice from someone who doesn't like crawfish, just sayin.

showtime said:

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Rudy's Turkey rub has been fantastic in my experience.

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Agreed. I use it on chicken too (although Belt Buster's Clucker Dust is my absolute favorite on chicken).

smstork1007 said:

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Big fan of all the Meat Church seasonings, and they are still my go to. Having said that, i've used the HEB True Texas BBQ Sweet Tx Heat rub on a couple pork butts and turkey breast, and its really dang good. Definitely worth a try if in TX and near an HEB.

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I use the HEB salt & pepper blend for briskets. Good stuff.

Fair enough, wise choice, coonass cookery not my jam

I use a creole injection then creole seasoning under the skin with black pepper on the skin. I smoke for 3-4 hours, so I use a hot and fast method. Perfect and tasty.

I never brine and my turkeys are always moist juicy and tender:
-Roast/ stuffed at 325 till it probes 170 in the thigh ~ 15 min per lb
-Smoked at 250 till it probes 170 in the thigh ~ 30 min per lb
Either way I rub with butter, duck fat or olive oil and sprinkle with Tony's and place into a paper grocery bag before it goes into the oven/ smoker.

Unless you are buying a "fresh" or natural bird pretty much every grocery store bird (butterball, etc) is already pre-brined with an 8%+ salt solution.

It is easy to overdo it if you brine it again yourself.

I've found it is hard to beat Tony Chachere and peanut oil -- either on the Weber bullet smoker or the CHarbroil Big Easy oilless fryer.

I used meat church holy voodoo on our bird for thanksgiving. We all really liked it

Trinity Ag said:

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Unless you are buying a "fresh" or natural bird pretty much every grocery store bird (butterball, etc) is already pre-brined with an 8%+ salt solution.

It is easy to overdo it if you brine it again yourself.

I've found it is hard to beat Tony Chachere and peanut oil -- either on the Weber bullet smoker or the CHarbroil Big Easy oilless fryer.

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ttt for this issue.

Every turkey I've seen does have this "pre-brine". Wouldn't additional dry brining make it too salty? I was sure leaning that way, but do t want a 14# ball of salt.

B-1 83 said:

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Trinity Ag said:

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Unless you are buying a "fresh" or natural bird pretty much every grocery store bird (butterball, etc) is already pre-brined with an 8%+ salt solution.

It is easy to overdo it if you brine it again yourself.

I've found it is hard to beat Tony Chachere and peanut oil -- either on the Weber bullet smoker or the CHarbroil Big Easy oilless fryer.

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ttt for this issue.

Every turkey I've seen does have this "pre-brine". Wouldn't additional dry brining make it too salty? I was sure leaning that way, but do t want a 14# ball of salt.

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If it is not natural I would go light on the salt. Spices/honey and don't leave in there too long.

I've found with a butterball or any pre-injected turkey that a rub and spices in the cavity are plenty

B-1 83 said:

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Trinity Ag said:

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Unless you are buying a "fresh" or natural bird pretty much every grocery store bird (butterball, etc) is already pre-brined with an 8%+ salt solution.

It is easy to overdo it if you brine it again yourself.

I've found it is hard to beat Tony Chachere and peanut oil -- either on the Weber bullet smoker or the CHarbroil Big Easy oilless fryer.

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ttt for this issue.

Every turkey I've seen does have this "pre-brine". Wouldn't additional dry brining make it too salty? I was sure leaning that way, but do t want a 14# ball of salt.

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I've never had it get too salty after dry brining an injected turkey.

Rudy's Turkey Rub is pretty dang good. I've also used Killen's Texas BBQ Rub, Meat Church The Gospel Rub, & Texas Swine Shine Chicken.

My buddy's from Burnet/Bertram do Texas Swine Swine Rubs. They big on the BBQ circuit



https://www.txswineshine.com/shop