We love turkey salad made with smoked turkey and there was a turkey in the freezer I wanted to use so I put it in the fridge towards the end of last week and then forgot about it til Monday. On Monday, it was warm . . comfortable outside in short sleeves, so I asked Vince if he would get the smoker ready (scrub the grates, put fresh foil in the bottom, etc.) so he did. I planned to smoke the turkey on Tuesday. Monday I was going to put it on to brine but when I went down to get it, it was still frozen – not solid but enough that I doubted it would be ready to cook on Tuesday. I could have put it in water but I was canning the roasts and ground beef so I had my hands kinda full. I told Vince I would leave it in the fridge another day, stick it in the brine on Tuesday morning and then smoke it on Wednesday.
Yesterday morning, it was 12 – 15 degrees til noon and being out dealing with the smoker was a bit cold but I got it going.
It was done before we were ready to eat so it looks like it’s been attacked by a buzzard but it was quite delicious. But, now it’s leftovers and I’m not crazy about leftover turkey unless I can disguise it a bit. I will make turkey salad for sandwiches. I will make broth with the bones. I like to add just a bit of smoked broth to my gumbo. I am going to make a pot of gumbo Friday so we’ll have that to eat downstairs next week, along with turkey salad and a few other things I hope.
By the time we ate, I was hardly hungry because we had ham sandwiches for lunch not long before. We had dressing from a bag – kinda like Stove Top but a different brand. It wasn’t bad but I’ve always liked Stove Top.
The turkey was small – 12-1/2 pounds I think. We had planned on frying it but lately I had been wanting smoked turkey salad so . . that’s done and another thing out of the freezer!
Cindy F says
After Christmas and Thanksgiving I found a couple of frozen turkeys for 48 cents a pound so I bought several. I have one thawing in fridge right now! It always seems to take a week for them to thaw (about 14 lbs each) in our extra fridge. I might think about smoking it having see this…lol My husband is the one who smokes things but if it’s not too cold maybe I’ll brave it. What do you put in your brine?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I use whatever I have handy to brine. Salt for sure, black pepper, fresh rosemary because I always have that growing. Apple juice or even a bit of apple cider vinegar or a bottle/can of beer. Really, it’s never the same – just whatever I see first.
Linda+Garcia says
Turkeys take up a lot of room in the freezer, so that was good to get out of your freezer!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Very good! This week I used up or canned one turkey, 20 pounds of ground beef, 7 roasts, 3 packages of chicken breasts and 1 package of chicken thighs. Lots of work but glad to have all that out of the freezer.