brining a turkey with smoked salt- need advice ASAP

[njchowgal]

I am bringing a turkey to a pot luck after-thanksgiving party tomorrow, and I plan on brining the turkey tonight. Here is my question- do you think this recipe will work? Has anyone tried this?

1/2 cup Spanish smoked salt
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup dk brown sugar
palmfull of peppercorns
4-6 cloves of garlic
water
sage/rosemary/thyme (are these necessary or will the flavor be overpowered by the smokey flavor?)

I am going for a sweet, slightly smokey flavor, but I also want the flavor of the turkey to shine through

[njchowgal]

update: i used 1/4 cup smoked salt and 3/4 cup kosher, along with all the other ingredients. the turkey did not end up tasting smoky at all, but it was moist and delicious, as usual. i did notice a difference in the flavor of the gravy made from the drippings- it was delicious! (if a bit salty) i have a suspicion that my turkey was pre-brined when i bought it (package said may contain up to 10% solution). the only change i would make to the recipe is to add low-sodium turkey broth to the gravy to thin out the salt a bit

[almansa]

I use smoked paprika in my brines. I think if you added 1/2 cup molasses to yours, you'd have what you're looking for.

[mrsmegawatt]

I used a recipe very similar to that. I used 1 cup of Kosher salt though. I personally don't like smoked meats. If that's what you're going for then I think it will be fine. On a side note, I brined mine in a doubled turkey oven roasting bag. I put the turkey in the bags, put it in the bottom drawer of my fridge, poured in the brine and closed it with a twist tie. It worked perfectly without having to put a huge bucket in the fridge. I was able to draw up the brine around the turkey when closing the bag. It was fabulous!

[njchowgal]

thanks for the reply. i'm not a big fan of smoked meats, either, but i love the smoked salt. it tastes more like a smoked paprika than the smoke found in meat. this is going to be an experiment. since there is another "normal" turkey there, now is the time to try it. my main concern is the volume of smoked salt i am using- is it too much or not enough?

[mrsmegawatt]

I'm hoping someone else will answer you on that one. My bird was tender and extremely moist. It didn't taste salty at all. Anyone else have a guess?