Skip the brine and keep the flavor. This no brine thanksgiving turkey uses compound butter, a simple dry rub, and smoke for a juicy, golden Thanksgiving bird.
No Brine Thanksgiving Turkey: Skip the brine, keep the moisture.
If there is one thing I hate, it’s planning ahead. Preparing brines or marinades, clearing space in the fridge for a giant bag of meat or a bucket full of brine, starting days in advance. This is mental death for me. So, let’s find a better way to keep our turkeys nice and moist. Because, let’s face it, turkey can be an easy thing to dry out, if you aren’t careful.
The method that I finally landed on for this year’s Thanksgiving turkey is really a combination of methods. Inject the meat, compound butter under the skin, simple seasoning on the exterior, and hourly brushing with more butter. With these tactics, along with actually cooking it properly, this Thanksgiving turkey is going to be a show stopper.
First step: The Injection
This is where most of our moisture and flavor is going to be locked in. An injection of buttery, brothy goodness, directly into the flesh of this bird. Big, boring, bland turkey breasts transform into juicy, delicious slices of joy after slipping it the needle.
For the injection, melt together some butter, chicken broth, salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice. This is the key to bringing that brine-level juiciness, without the struggle of finding space in your fridge for a 5-gallon bucket of salt water. The butter also adds some much needed fat (flavor) to the lean meat, as well as some brightness from the lemon. The salt, obviously, plays a big role in amplifying the flavors as well.
Layering in the flavor: The Compound Butter
This is another crucial step in adding more flavor to this no brine Thanksgiving Turkey. For this butter, we mix in fresh herbs, salt, lemon zest, garlic, and some Santa Maria style seasoning. If you are unfamiliar with Santa Maria seasoning, it’s basically smoked paprika, garlic, onion, black pepper, salt, and rosemary. A fantastic flavor combo for this turkey. This particular seasoning blend comes from my friends at Kairos Artisan Blends. I have partnered with them on this recipe. But, if buying commercial spice blends isn’t your thing, I will include a recipe for a similar blend below. However, if our relationship means anything to you, you will go buy a jar or two and help fund my extravagant lifestyle of being a homeschool dad who never leaves home (and also get a discount for yourself). Go grab a bottle HERE and make me a happy man.
Bringing a Bit of Thanksgiving Crispness
The last major method that we will employ is getting a crisp and brown exterior. We are going to employ a couple different strategies to obtain the golden, crusty skin of your dreams. This first step is to keep the exterior seasoning simple. We are going to use nothing but salt and coarse-ground black pepper on the skin. This will provide a couple of benefits. Salt is obviously the first ingredient in building flavor. It amplifies all other flavors, while also imparting it’s own flavor. The second role that salt plays is in helping to remove moisture form the turkey skin. Moisture is the enemy of browning. The more moisture we can pull out of the skin, the better the crispy factor will be in the final product. Along with salt, we add black pepper. The pepper gives a beautiful look to the bird, absorbs more smoke flavor, and also adds it’s own florally-spice to the skin. The black pepper reminds me a lot of Texas style barbecue, like brisket or Texas-style turkey breast. Don’t skimp on the pepper!
The second method of crisping the skin is the baste. We are going to make a mixture of butter, honey, and lemon juice to baste the exterior of the turkey every 45 minutes to an hour. This mixture of butter and sugar from the honey will also help us get a nice color on the skin. The butter will help with the heat transfer and crisping the skin. The honey will aid in caramelization. The lemon juice also plays a role in balancing the flavors, controlling the browning, and amplifying the salt and smoke flavors.
Actually Cooking it Correctly- The No Brine Thanksgiving Turkey Comes to Life
The last factor in getting a juicy, no brine Thanksgiving turkey really boils down to how you cook it. You can do all the fancy brines or injections, but at the end of the day, an over-cooked bird is still an over-cooked bird. For this cook, we are starting in a pellet smoker at 275 degrees. This temperature will slowly raise the internal temperature of the turkey, while beginning to get some good, controlled color on the exterior. Once the internal temperature hits about 150 degrees, then we will raise the cooking temperature to 325 degrees to begin the final crisping of the skin, while getting the internal temperature up to 160 degrees. This is the point at which all of our hard work pays off. This is the temperature at which the turkey is removed from the smoker for a short rest before being carved up. This 30 minute rest will allow for the internal temperature to continue to climb another 5 degrees to our final temperature of 165 degrees in the breast and 175 in the thigh. Then the temperature will slowly begin to lower, allowing for the juices to begin redistributing into the meat. If you were to cut into it prematurely, the turkey’s hot, tense muscles would squeeze all of their juices out onto the cutting board, rather than staying in the meat and, ultimately, your mouth. Rest your meat. Be patient.
What will you need for this No Brine Thanksgiving Turkey?
- Smoker or oven: I use a Pitboss Austin XL. It’s a WalMart special and serves me well. But, you can get an equivalent model HERE.
- Syringe for Injection: This looks like a good one.
- Roasting Pan: I used this one from Made In. No affiliate link (yet), just a good brand.
- Basting Brush
- 10-12 Pound Turkey
- Fresh Herbs: Rosemary and Thyme
- Chicken Stock
- Butter: Salted and Unsalted
- Honey
- Salt and Coarse Ground Black Pepper:
- Fresh Lemons for Zest and Juice
- Santa Maria Rub from Kairos (or DIY seasoning blend below): I have an affiliate link for Kairos if you want to get a nice discount and help me feed my family. Grab a bottle HERE.
- Fresh Garlic
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: I use Graza most of the time. I also have an affiliate marketing link where you can get a nice discount and I can get paid a little. Grab a bottle HERE. It’s a great product that I’ve used daily for quite some time now.
- Microplane: For lemon zest and grating garlic. I use this one.
The DIY Santa Maria Rub (For those who don’t want commercial rubs)
- 2 Tablespoons Sea Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Smoked Paprika
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Granulated Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Rosemary
- 2 Teaspoons Onion Powder
Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey (No Brine)
Ingredients
Injection
- 1 Cup Chicken Stock
- 4 Tbsp Butter
- 1½ Tsp Kosher Salt
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Compound Butter
- 1/2 Cup Butter
- 1 Each Lemon, Zest
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Tsp Fresh Rosemary
- 1 Tsp Fresh Thyme
- 2 Tsp Kairos, Santa Maria Rub or DIY Version
- 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
Butter Mop/Basting Butter
- 1/2 Cup Butter
- 1/2 Tbsp Honey
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar
Turkey
- 1 Each 10-12 Pound, Whole Turkey
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil I used Graza. Use code OAKANDBLADE at checkout for 10% off your purchase and help me out as well
- Salt and Coarse Black Pepper for exterior seasoning
Instructions
Injection
- Combine the butter, chicken broth, salt, and lemon juice in a sauce pan. Melt and whisk together to combine. No need to get this too hot. We just want to melt the butter into the broth.
- Remove from heat and, if you got it a little too hot, allow to cool to room temperature. Don't cool in the fridge, as this could cause the butter to solidify and not properly inject.
- Give the mixture a good whisking and then begin injecting into the turkey with a food grade syringe. Make sure to hit the breast really well, all over. Also, give some attention to the thighs and legs.
Compound Butter
- Combine room temperature butter with lemon zest, garlic (also grated on microplane, after zesting lemon), rosemary, thyme, Kairos Santa Maria rub, and salt
- Smash all ingredients together with a fork. Mix thoroughly, until all ingredients are evenly distributed into the butter.
- Now, let's prep the turkey for the compound butter. From the end of the breasts, just above the chest cavity opening between the legs, insert your fingers between the breast meat and the skin. Carefully work your fingers in towards the neck area, separating the skin from the breasts as you go. Try not to tear the skin. We want to create a void where we can place the compound butter.
- Once the skin has been loosed, begin taking pinches of the butter and work it up under the skin. Try to evenly disperse the butter across all of the breast meat and maybe even into the leg and thigh area, if you can. The breasts are the most important to coat with the butter. As the butter melts, it will run down and begin coating the lower meat zones.
- Once the butter and injections are complete, take a good amount of paper towel and pat the turkey's exterior dry. We want to remove as much moisture from the exterior of the skin as possible to help with browning.
Exterior Seasoning
- After patting the skin dry, rub it with a little extra virgin olive oil. Then, season it all over with a few pinches of sea salt and an even coating of coarse black pepper.
Butter Mop/Basting Butter
- In a small sauce pot, combine butter, lemon juice, and honey. Melt to combine. Keep warm and ready for basting the turkey as it smokes. The butter will solidify, so just make sure to melt it before it's time to baste the bird.
Bringing it all together: THE COOK
- Preheat your smoker to 275°. Place your Turkey in a roasting pan or directly on the grate. I like a roasting pan with a wire rack, that way I can collect all of the turkey drippings and use for gravy or flavoring other dishes.
- We are going to cook at 275° for roughly 2-3 hours. The goal is to get the internal temperature of the breasts up to 150°. This time will vary, depending on actual size of your turkey, as well as the cooking conditions in your smoker. (if using an oven, it may cook quicker)
- During this time, every 45-60 minutes, baste the skin of the turkey with the butter honey mixture. If using a basting brush, be gentle….we don't want to knock all of our beautiful black pepper off in the process. Just a light, even coating. This will help with browning the skin.
- Once the turkey hits 150° in the thickest part of the breast, turn your cooking temperature up to 325°. This will push us to the final internal temperature of 160° in the breast and 170° in the thighs. It will also help lock in that nice brown skin on the exterior.
- Once your turkey reaches the desired internal temperature, remove it from the smoke/oven and allow the rest for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the internal temperature to continue to rise by another 5°. After the final rise in temperature, the bird will begin cooling and allowing the juices to redistribute into the meat. The rest period is IMPORTANT. Do not skip. It could mean the difference between a juicy piece of meat, OR a juicy cutting board and some dry meat.
- After the turkey is fully rested, it's time to carve it up and enjoy!
