The “I’m ready for Thanksgiving” thread and all the references to Alton Brown’s Good Eats Roast Turkey convinced me I should try this.
However, before I started considering brining, I was thinking of smoking a turkey on the Weber grill.
So, would brining AND smoking be anathema? Or gilding the lily? (Weather may end up being a determining factor. If it’s icky, sleety, nasty, nobody’s going to want to be dealing with a turkey on the grill.)
I’ve done both, separately. Personally I think doing both would be overkill.
Why? Brining keeps the turkey moist during the hours it would take to smoke . . . with applewood and maple chunks. That’s what one of my Thanksgiving breast will be. mmmmmmmmm
Dude, do both and you will never look back.
I have been doing all my turkeys on the Weber or my green egg for the last 20 years or so. About 5-6 years ago I started brining. What a combo!
A couple of years ago I did two 20 pounders for my sister’s get together. She had 32 people attend. Every single one of them told me it was the best turkey they had ever had.
Look in the other thread for a link to my mods to AB’s basic recipe. Use the bag of ice on the breast before cooking and the breast and dark meat will be done at exactly the same time.
Cook the bird indirect I start with 25 briquets (or an equivalent amount of lump charcoal) with a drip pan in the center. Each hour add five briquets (or equiv). I use apple wood for the smoke. An unstuffed bird will take about 9-11 minutes per lb. Don’t over cook it! Use a meat thermometer and cook the breast to 161F.
The only down side is some people (my wife) think the pan drippings are too smokey for use in gravy. These people are nuts. Let them make a batch out of an envelope if they choose.
If you have any questions about the procedure feel free to drop me an IM or an email.
Q: Does it have to be kosher salt, or can I just use regular table salt?
Rick: Just so you know, if it turns out bad I am giving my wife your e-mail…
Does a smoked turkey include stuffing? Hate to think of turkey without stuffing.
When cooking it on the grill I always make the stuffing separate.
That would be Dudess, thank you, 
but great info, Rick! I’ll check out the link the in the AB thread and contact you if I have questions. And I think smoky turkey drippings would make wonderful gravy.
BrainGlutton, I grew up in a “stuffing baked separately” tradition, so there will be stuffing. Or maybe it’s dressing if it’s not stuffed in the turkey. Whatever. Lots-o-cornbready-oniony-sagey-celeryy goodness.
Rick, from your aforementioned post:
“About 20 minutes take a 1 gallon Ziploc bag full of ice and a little water and lay it on the breast of the bird. You want the breast to cool off and start at a lower temp then the thighs.”
Is that 20 minutes before putting the bird on the grill?
Well I guess you could do it after but when the bag melts it might put out the fire. 
Mmmm! Brined smoked turkey basted in melted plastic! Yum!
Seals in the juices. I have had really good success with the turkey oven bags. The bags will probably not give you a smoky bird though.
I have had good success with a recipe similar to what Rick describes. I used lump mesquite. I brined the bird for that. The main difference was that the bird was in a roasting pan on vegetables with chicken stock.
I brine and smoke chickens all the time. I would think you’d definitely want to brine a turkey before you smoke it.
Some claim the anti-caking agents and potassiom iodide in iodized table salt give a off-taste.
Listen to Rick. Smoking and brining turkey are a match made in heaven. I don’t usually brine anything when I smoke (because I generally smoke pork shoulder and ribs, which have plenty of fat/collagen/moisture), but for a relatively lean meat like turkey (specifically, the breast), brining works wonders.
As for the kosher salt question. Makes no difference. I use kosher salt where I want bigger granules of salt. A brine would not be one of these applications. You can use any old salt you have lying around, table salt, kosher salt, pickling salt, whatever. Both kosher salt and pickling salt also do not contain iodine. I personally cannot taste the supposedly slightly metallic flavor of regular table salt but I suppose if you do, you may have a preference to using kosher or pickling salt. Pickling salt also does not contain anti-caking agents, so it won’t turn your liquid cloudy. Once again, in a brining application like this, that’s not a concern. So use any salt you wish.
My ex-wife taught me the joys of stuffing cooked outside the turkey. Nice loose stuffing soaks up the (smoked dripping) gravy real nice.
Peace,
mangeorge
It is just possible that dudes could taste the iodine*, so use un-iodized salt. No need to spring for expensive salts for brining.
*certainly dudes can if the salt is tasted straight.
What’s the point of Turkey Day without a giant vat of boiling oil?
NB I have flight to France on the 21st
I am told that some people can taste the iodine in table salt so I always use kosher salt. I have never tried a side by side comparison, so I can’t tell you if I can or not. But being of the take no chances camp, I use kosher salt.
As far as the bag o ice is concerned the breast meat is done at 160, the dark meat is done at 180. If you cook a turkey till the breast is juicy the dark meat is under done. If you cook the turkey until the dark meat is done the breasts are over done. If in a half an hour or so before you put the bird on the grill, you place a ziplock bag of ice on the breast, it will cool the breast down so that it starts at 15-20 degrees cooler than the dark meat. Then the entire bird gets done at the same time. Yes you remove the bag before you put it on the grill. Melted plastic is not really something that contributes to the taste of turkey. 
As far as stuffing goes, I have done the birds both ways. I generally cook them unstuffed now as there seems to be some controversy as to the safety of cooking stuffing inside the bird. If you cook it stuffed, it will take somewhat longer to cook. 13-15 minutes per lb is what I am remembering. I’m in a hotel room in Toronto, so I don’t have my cookbooks here, so this is from memory. (yeah I know, piss poor planning on my part)
Pay attention to those cooking times, the bird seems to cook faster on a grill than it does in the oven. Use a digital thermometer stuck in the thickest part of the breast. I would add on note to the times. If you are cooking in high winds, or rain or snow, you will need to adjust the cooking times as weber grill won’t get or stay as hot as long as it does in still air.