I want to brine and cure a turkey for smoking. Does anyone out there have a good brine/cure recipe that will give the Turkey that "Ham" texture and look when I am done? We used to eat those when I was a kid. Thanks!
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I can't say I've ever seen or heard of anyone 'curing' a turkey or fowl. Brining for a couple of days, yes - curing with pink curing salt - no.
Not sure how that would be... anyone? -
I never heard of such a thing, but apparently its out there:
Here is one:
And here is another, on a smoker website:
Looks like the premade cure mix they use on that page, which has the sodium nitrite in it (Prague Powder #1), requires at least a 7 day cure. He also refers to making your own cure and links to the Amazing Ribs curing calculator!!!! But he incorrectly says to use Insta Cure #1, but he really should say Prague Powder #1, as I think Insta Cure might be something else.
Anyway, I think this will take a week of the bird swimming in the cure, in a fridge that is below 40F. Preferably down around 32-34F for safety. Not sure I trust a fully thawed bird that long in the fridge, but I guess the sodium nitrite is what makes that safe?
Cure time is based on thickness of meat, and for a turkey, probably is the thickness from the inside of the cavity to the surface of the breast. I would think that would be 4-5 inches maybe?Comment
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