Thanksgiving Turkey Smoke Prep 1

Went out and bought the turkey for thanksgiving.  I wanted to make sure that I had enough time to :

Defrost (Tonight)
Brine Overnight (Monday -> Tuesday)
Rub Down + Rest (Tuesday)
Smoke Overnight (Wednesday -> Thursday)

Now that I have my plan down, I am all ready to Smoke the T-day Turkey.
I ended up getting a 14.1 pound turkey because that is the "maximum safe weight" so that during the smoke I don't food poison the family and friends that are coming over.

The part that I am not liking about the defrosting of the turkey, is that I don't have anything big enough to soak the whole frozen bird in.  I'm defrosting it in the Fridge to make sure it stays cold enough to thwart any bacteriological beasties.
Hopefully when it is thawed and I move on to brine it, it will be able to distort enough to fit into my Large Pot aka "The Cauldron."

Turkey Smoking Part 1

I want to smoke a Turkey for Thanksgiving.  First thing being first, I wanted to test everything out before I actually ruined Thanksgiving with a subpar smoked turkey.

After visiting smoker-cooking.com I found what I believed to be a good recipe for a brining soulution.  One change I did make was I used 2T of cayenne because, my wife, trying to hurry up the labor wants things Spicy.  With the turkey sitting in the brine and me thurougly disgusted from peeling skin from breast I wait.  Not wanting to mix up a new rub, I plan on using the rub from all of my previous rib smokes which I found at amazingribs.com.  I thought that I was going to be smoking up the Pre-Turkey today, but I ended up having watch today until 1530.  Hopefully I have tomorrow off so I can get this Turkey party started!