Kosmos Turkey kit???

[jjdbike]

Hello pit masters,

It’s coming up on that time again. I need a win after my epic double-fail chili fiasco.

My confidence is down so I’m looking for a plug and play option to keep my OCD at bay.

I suppose I’m a bit of a sucker for a good BBQ product advertising campaign. The Kosmos turkey rub, brine, glaze kit hooked me. I’d like to give it a shot.

The brine has no phosphates, which I had mixed feelings about until I watched the Kosmos promotional YouTube video.

They planned on doing the bird whole and smoking it on a rotisserie, which I do not have, nor do I plan to. I’ll spatchcock to help with faster more even cooking.

In the video, they double the amount of brine mix in their solution, which to me seemed a little iffy. Why wouldn’t a manufacturer suggest using the maximum amount of their product in the original instructions. The other thing that got my attention, after he brined it in the double brine solution, he injected it with some of the brine from the bag. That sounded like a potential contamination risk, but I suppose it’s cooked long and hot enough to pasteurize it. I like the idea of injecting, though injecting and bringing might be overkill, especially with the double solution.

Of course the went VERY heavy with the Dirty Bird rub. Now my over salting alarms are going off.

They smoked at 225 for two hours, then yo-yo 325 to “crisp skin”. They reported 3 hours. It was unclear whether It was 2 low, then additional 3 at higher temp, or 3 hours total.

They used their Cherry Habenero glaze, advertised as sweet heat. I’ve used other sweet heat glazes like apple habenero rib candy and the heat was barely noticeable, just enough so it wasn’t overly sweet. I don’t know about the Kosmos level of heat. I suppose if it’s too hot I could cut it with some honey or brown sugar, or even cherry jelly.

I’m wondering what my fellow pit masters feel about this process with these products.

Has anyone here tried this or any of these Kosmos products?

Best regards!
JD

[Uncle Bob]

Good of you to acknowledge that you have OCD. Thankfully I don't suffer that malady..........though it does bother me that those letters aren't in correct alphabetical order...

[jjdbike]

Another challenge is to find a turkey for a reasonable price that’s not pre brined.
JD

[realdocBBQ]

You won't around here. Period. Unless you get one from some boutique farm. I'm sure there are some around the state, but I've never heard of one here. At all.

[Lynn Dollar]

Hello pit masters,



In the video, they double the amount of brine mix in their solution, which to me seemed a little iffy. Why wouldn’t a manufacturer suggest using the maximum amount of their product in the original instructions. The other thing that got my attention, after he brined it in the double brine solution, he injected it with some of the brine from the bag. That sounded like a potential contamination risk, but I suppose it’s cooked long and hot enough to pasteurize it. I like the idea of injecting, though injecting and bringing might be overkill, especially with the double solution.

Of course the went VERY heavy with the Dirty Bird rub. Now my over salting alarms are going off.

I've had that thought before, that they're just selling product.

But how much product do they sell, if someone follows their instruction and gets something that's not good ? It makes no logical sense they would tell a person to over season and ruin the cook. If that happens, that person is not coming back to buy more.

They want the users of their product to head to forums like this and tell people how good it was, so why would they over season ?

[realdocBBQ]

I've watched Kosmos videos for years and his turkey one I see every year.

First off, I'd bet $1000 it was 3 hours TOTAL cook time. Matter of fact, that actually surprises me it took that long, considering he went 225 for 2 hours. I would never do that for turkey or any poultry, i just don't see a need. Especially if brined. Hot and fast for poultry. Of course he didn't spatchcock his bird, so it took longer. Spatched, that whole bird would be done in two hours, probably less at my house - because I'd be running 350-375. Smaller birds, I've been known to run 400-425. Works great, super juicy brined or not. I will say I also bought some of Kosmos brine mix the other day, so I am going to give it a try, as well.

I also bought some of his peach jalapeno glaze. Now, I would expect the cherry apple habanero to be hotterr - given habaneros are notably hotter than jalapenos. On the label of both, they read the same:



I will say this about the peach jalapeno - it tastes great and it makes a good glaze. On taste testing the glaze alone - it is a mild heat. Subtle but notable, a very nice but very background note. Once on the ribs I glazed with them yesterday, I couldn't really tell. With all the other flavors, I think the hot note got pretty lost. Might not be so bad on a turkey, different rub/flavor profiles, etc, not as heavily smoked, he applied the glaze after it was out of the heat (I applied and kept in the smoker for another 15 minutes). Overall it's a great glaze and I do really like it - but it is NOT hot. I wouldn't even call it medium, I'd call it mild to a "hint". That's just me, and I do like it a bit hotter than my wife does, but I'm not a ghost pepper/reaper kinda guy. As a reference level. It's pretty mild.

I've also never had an oversalted turkey. I can't find non-brined turkey's here and I have gone with full-on rubs to S&P only and I have brined and injected. Now, I don't go CRAZY with the salt, but I've never had one come out too salty, and no one else at my table has EVER complained about it. In fact I pretty consistently get people saying every year, this is the best turkey they've ever had. In fact, lots of people 'put up with' turkey that is overdone, bland and disappointing strictly BECAUSE it is a tradition to have one on Thanksgiving, even if they don't enjoy it. These are the same folks who are blown away by mine and say they never knew turkey could actually be GOOD and something to look forward to. Sad, I know, because a well cooked and properly prepared turkey IS an amazing hunk of meat.

Anyways, my advice is - brine OR inject (one or the other), don't worry about it being a store-bought, prebrined bird, it will come out fine regardless. I usually bring 2 days, then spatchcock and DRY for 2 or 3 days, and then smoke hot and fast, 350-375. I'll do 400 for little chickens, but a turkey, I'll end up with really REALLY dark skin, which can be offputting to some people. It does take longer, I mean look at the size of those breasticles. But a 12-15lb bird at 350-275 will like be done in 2 hours or a hair over. Some folks say never get a 20lber, if you need more turkey do 2 12lbers or something. I did it a couple years ago just because I WANTED to. And it came out just as great as any other bird I've done - but it was a bit harder to deal with. Just from size and floppyness.

I also recommend doing a FULL spatchcock. Not just removing the backbone and pressing it flat. There are more steps and they absolutely DO make it a lot easier to carve the thing when it's serving time. An extra 2-3 minutes prep work on the bird is ALL it takes, and it is a serious improvement, if you ask me. Not in flavor or anything, it might shorten cooking time a hair, but it absolutely DOES make for easier carving if you ask me.

Here's my thread I put up a few years ago talking about the 'full spatch' method, which I use almost every time now when doing a bird - if I'm not hanging it.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/chicken-turkey-and-duck-recipes/1507414-the-full-spatch-spatchcocking-with-a-few-easy-extra-steps-for-a-better-bird#post1507414

[Lynn Dollar]

Kosmos Cherry Apple Habanero glaze is not hot, it hardly has any heat. Mrs Dollar can't tolerate any heat, and she loves that glaze. We use it a lot.

[Lynn Dollar]

I think Huskee has solved the pre-brined puzzle. He says to look at how much sodium is on the nutrition label. Just because it say 9% , doesn't mean its 9% salt.

IIRC , Huskee says if its under 300 mg of sodium its good to go. Higher than that gets iffy. But memory is not my strong point, these days.