SUGAR CURED WILD TURKEY

You have two ways of cooking your Bird

YOU WILL NEED:
1 wild turkey (domestic may be substituted)
cleaned, skinned and thawed out
1 large disposable plastic bag (large
enough to hold a 10 - 12 lb. turkey and 1-
1/2 gallons of water)
1 basting brush
Texas Gourmet’s Sweet Chipotle
Season All
Texas Gourmet’s Riverbed Steak
Seasoning
Cheesecloth (4 layers 10” x 10” for the
oven and 6” - 10” x 6’ for the pit)
1 pint sugar
1 pint kosher salt

BASTE FOR TURKEY
3 sticks butter or margarine
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup of olive oil
2 tbs crushed dried rosemary leaves
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp dried Thyme leaves
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Heat ingredients to a boil. Use this to
baste the turkey.

OVEN INSTRUCTIONS
Place the bird on a rack over a bakingpan-breast side up. Place 4 layers of cheesecloth
over the breast. Place bird in preheated oven at 325 degrees, bake for 3-1/2 - 4 hours or until meat thermometer inserted into fleshy part of inner thigh (not touching
bone) reaches 180 degrees. Remove from oven, discard the cheesecloth, and drape a
piece of foil loosely over the bird and allow it 25 - 30 minutes to rest before carving. Serve with Texas Gourmet’s Black Bean Pico de Gallo and your favorite sides.
PIT INSTRUCTIONS
Wrap the entire bird with 4 to 5 layers of cheesecloth (this will keep out excessive
smoke and allow the baste to keep the bird moist during smoking). Use about 5 lbs. of
charcoal to start, then add pecan & hickory wood, or a combination of them. Preheat the pit to about 300 degrees. Place the bird, breast side up on the pit on the far end from the firebox, baste with basting sauce every 45 minutes, smoke at 275 - 300 degrees for 5 - 6 hours or until meat thermometer inserted into fleshy part of inner thigh (not touching bone) reaches 180 degrees. Remove from pit, and drape a piece of foil over the bird for 30-40 minutes to rest the meat. Then remove and discard the cheesecloth, carve and serve with Texas Gourmet’s Black Bean Pico de Gallo and your favorite sides

Bon appetit,

Bryan F. Slaven
The Texas Gourmet