Smoked Whole Turkey in a Bag

Name: Smoked Whole Turkey in a Bag
Yield: makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups kosher salt; 3/4 cup sugar; 2 cups bottled smoke; One 12-pound fresh or fully thawed turkey (not kosher); 2 to 3 tablespoons Cheater No-Salt Dry Rub (page 47); Dried oregano, sage, marjoram, and thyme; 3 celery ribs, cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces; 1 medium onion, cut into wedges; 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted; 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

January 24, 2012

One ambitious Thanksgiving eve we gathered family, friends, and neighbors over to the house and deep-fried all their turkeys for the next day. That was fun and exhausting. Of course, keeping with R. B.’s former motto “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” we finished the turkey fry with a big batch of catfish. At least we got our money’s worth out of the peanut oil. For other ambitious Thanksgivings, R. B. has stayed up all night (by himself) nursing Tom Turkey’s fire with a formula of wet hickory chips and Tennessee whiskey. Those were the memorable years when R. B. dozed through Thanksgiving dinner and got along particularly well with everyone. Now that R. B. is in cheater recovery, a wet-smoked turkey in an oven bag leaves him with the single challenge of keeping things light and deferential at the dinner table. The cheater turkey is always moist, tender, and smoky and shows off a golden brown sheen.

Recipe notes

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