How to Prepare a Wild Turkey - Step 1

My little brother, the Navy officer-in-training, is home for a few weeks before leaving for the next step in his education (Knot Tying 101). Tomorrow night, we're celebrating his homecoming by making his favorite meal: our Maple and Pepper Smoked Wild Turkey.

Warning: picture of raw meat coming up!

My hunting honey goes out twice a year to bag a gobbler. Although we usually have our turkey dinner the day after the big hunt, this spring we stored the bird in the freezer awaiting my brother's arrival. Now that he's here, it's turkey time.

We found this recipe for wild turkey in a Field & Stream magazine a few years ago and have made it the same way ever since. The secret? BRINE.

Brine is basically salt water. You can soak any poultry in brine. All that salt water soaks into the meat, and you're guaranteed to get a moist bird. This is important for this gobbler, since 1) it's a wild turkey, which makes it a little tougher/drier than Butterballs, and 2) we're smokin' the sucker. For a turkey, you'll need a big container, so we use this cooler:

Our brine is 1 cup salt, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 cup black pepper. Mix it in with enough water to cover and soak overnight.

Steps 2 & 3 coming tomorrow....