Our Turkey was 12.5 lbs. It had less than 8% solution added.
I brined it for 18 hours in a simple brine of water, 4 bay leaves, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 TBS of cracked peppercorns, 1/4-1/2 cup of honey, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of koshar salt, & 1/4 cup of TQ.
I loosened the skin after brining and applied my own rub to the breast and part of the legs and put back in the frige for 2 hours.
Took out, covered with butter drenched cheese cloth and into the smoker set at 250 with a 4 oz cherry/ apple mix.
This was a 12.5 lb. whole bird. It took only 3 hrs for the breast to hit 165. I had 1 probe in each breast. One said 162, the other said 165. I took a 3rd t-meter, an NSF instant read, and poked each breast and the thighs. This t-meter confirmed my other 2 probes' readings. The thighs were at 165-170.
I pulled the bird and wrapped in foil, rested for 20 minutes, and took it to the folks refrigerator.
Turkey day, while I was hunting, my Pop stuck it in the oven at 250. He was gonna use Zebs maple glaze, but instead covered the breasts with maple bacon and put the foil back on for the 1st hour of reheat.
The turkey turned out great (and thats good because I didnt even see a rabbit or pheasant to shoot at). It was moist, smokey, and by adding the TQ to my brine, It was that "smokey pink" color. It wasn't hammy however because I only used 1/4 cup of TQ.
I did learn a couple things this year though:
#1 According to Pop, who saw this on the Food Network, The thigh and leg meat are safe to eat at 160-165 just like breast. The show he was watching said the only reason they take it to 175 was for appearance of the inner meat. The higher temp does away with the reddness close to the bone.
#2 I finally got smart. At Dollar General I bought a $5.00 roasting pan with one of those nonstick racks that let you sit the roast or turkey up out of the fat dripping in the pan. The pan was a piece of junk for cooking, but it will make a nice drip pan for the smoker. I wont have to buy those foil pans from now on.
The rack is invaluable. It has those nice handles, it fits in my Smokette perfectly, and I dont have to worry about lifting the turkey off the rack when its time to pull.