Maple Brined Smoked Turkey with Cranberry Gravy
Turkey. Thanksgiving. Turkey = Thanksgiving, right? Not here. We love turkey all year round. It’s easy to pop a breast in the oven and throw together some stuffing for a quick weeknight meal. However, the absolute best turkey ever is our brined-for-three-days, smoked on the barbeque with cranberry gravy. It’s a significant time investment but absolutely worth it. Make a big turkey so you have a lot of leftovers. You will want them!
Can we digress for a moment, though? Funny story. When Judy was fresh out on her own, living in San Francisco and working retail, she couldn’t make it home for Thanksgiving. So, she invited the family to come to her flat and enjoy a Thanksgiving feast. This was the first time she had ever made a turkey. Everything was wonderful and amazing. Except that she didn’t remove the giblets from the turkey cavity before stuffing the turkey and cooking it. Who leaves that stuff in the turkey? Really? Hello? No giblets in this recipe, we promise.
The key things that make our turkey so perfectly moist and flavorful are the brine and smoking it on the barbecue. We like to use apple or hickory wood chips. Be sure to soak the chips fully submerged in water for at least 30 minutes before using.
Cranberry gravy adds the elegant finishing touch. The cranberries are pureed and add a silky tartness to the gravy. The gravy is good enough to eat all by itself! It’s also delicious on turkey sandwiches the next day.
Burst and puree the cranberries for the gravy.
Maple Brined Smoked Turkey with Cranberry Gravy
For the Brine:
- 2 Cups brown sugar
- 1 cup maple syrup
- ¾ cup coarse salt
- 3 whole heads garlic, cloves separated and bruised
- 6 large bay leaves
- 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped unpeeled fresh ginger
- 2 tsp dried chile flakes
- 1 ½ cups soy sauce
- 3+ quarts water
- Handful fresh thyme sprigs
Bird:
- 12-14 lb fresh turkey
- Olive oil for basting
Combine all brine ingredients in a stock pot and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and cool completely. Remove the neck and giblets from turkey. Submerge turkey in cool brine in large stock pot. Add enough water to completely cover the turkey and refrigerate. Brine for 2-4 days, turning the bird in the brine twice daily.
When ready to cook, remove the bird from the brine and pat dry inside and out. Stuff bird if desired – we like to use our Sourdough Stuffing recipe. Prepare an outdoor charcoal grill by lighting about 30 pieces of charcoal. When the coals are hot, separate into two piles with a disposable foil roasting pan in the center. Put ½ cup or so of wet wood chips in a double layer of foil and set on top of the hot coals. Center the turkey breast side up on a rack over the drip pan and baste with olive oil. Cover the grill and partially open the air vents. Regulate the charcoal and vents to keep the wood chips smoking and coals burning slowly. Check every 25 minutes, basting with olive oil, adding charcoal as needed and replacing the wood chips from time to time to keep the smoke going for about 2 hours. The temperature in the grill should be maintained between 275 and 325. Remove the chips and continue without smoke until the bird reaches 155. Total cooking time should be about 15-20 minutes per pound. Remove the turkey from the grill, tent with foil and let rest at least 30 minutes before carving. Remove drip pan from grill and reserve contents for gravy.
*Turkey and brine recipe adapted from Fine Cooking
For the gravy:
- 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries, picked over
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 3 TBS all-purpose flour
- 4 cups turkey or chicken stock
In a saucepan cook cranberries and sugar over moderate heat, stirring frequently until sugar is melted and cranberries burst. In a blender or food processor, puree the mixture until smooth. Transfer to a bowl or covered container. Cranberry mixture can be made one day in advance and chilled. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.
Skim fat from pan juces, reserving 3 tablespoons. And deglaze the drip pan with water over moderate heat, scraping up any brown bits. Simmer pan juices for 3 minutes. Stirring, and reserve off heat. In a saucepan, whisk together reserved fat and flour and cook roux over moderately low heat, whisking constantly about 3 minutes. Add pan juices and stock, then cranberry mixture, whisking to incorporate. Bring to a boil, whisking occasionally until reduced to about 5 cups, 15-20 minutes. Strain through fine mesh sieve into a saucepan. Eason with salt and pepper and keep warm until ready to serve.
**Gravy recipe adapted from Epicurious