Boatboy24
No longer a newbie, but still clueless.
The brine is apple juice, oranges, ginger, garlic and other stuff (salt and water, obviously). A typical turkey would go into the brine for ~24 hours, then air dry in the fridge for another 12-24 (to prevent the skin from getting rubbery). I cook them on my smoker (Weber Smokey Mountain) and simply try to keep temps above 300 so the skin crisps a little. I'm typically running between 300 and 350. I use a small amount of apple and/or cherry wood for smoke - not too much though. The bird is done when it's done, but this one was 13 lbs and took about 3 hours. I usually take the turkey out of the fridge about an hour before putting it on. During that time, I keep a ziplock bag of ice on the breasts. This keeps their temp down and helps with getting the dark meat and white meat to de done at the same time. Details on the recipe and cooking method can be found at the link below. It is geared toward the Weber, but any cooker at these temps will work. It's great doing this for Thanksgiving - not only does it turn out delicious, but you free up precious oven space.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/turkey6.html
Ribs were a little simpler. I often make my own rubs/sauce, but went store bought for this one. The ribs were put into Stubbs beef marinade for about 6 hours (I would have gone longer if I had thought to do so). When they came out, one rack was rubbed with Dizzy Pig's "Cow Lick" rub, the other with just salt and pepper (less spicy for the kids). I went high heat with these on the smoker, running about 300 for most of the cook. I used two chunks of cherry wood. About 15 minutes before I took them off, I basted them with Weber's molasses BBQ sauce (http://www.weberseasonings.com/product-detail?id=95).
