Turkey Day 08

So I was asked to smoke a turkey and a duck for this wonderful day with family. First time for both in the smoker so let the fun begin.

14 Lb Turkey
5lb Duck

For the turkey I did use a injection, creole butter. I also rubbed it with Tony Chachere's creole seasoning. On the duck I just used the seasoning.





Into the smoker set at 250 degrees with hickory/apple smoke for 3 hours of smoke. I started at 4am. I wanted to get the turkey to 160IT and the duck to 155IT. Close to the end I moved the turkey into the oven at 325 as we were almost running out of time. The duck was done in about 5 hours. To keep the duck hot I used the FTC method. It was still warm when we got to our destination 2 hours later.



Sorry I didnt get a chance to get a after shot of the duck. When we arrived at our destination I unwrapped the turkey and duck. They both looked and smelled awesome. How did they taste? Great. Everyone raved about the turkey and duck. I have had duck in the past. Usually greasy. But this was not and still very moist. The turkey was tender and moist. Both had great smoke taste. I was told that I am now the Turkey Day smoker. Like my mother said "If they didnt like it they would have ask to just bring the rolls and pickle tray next year." :)

No I didn't put my new niece Lila into the smoker. She wasnt able to try any of the duck or turkey this year, maybe next time.

Hot Smoked Salmon

I picked up some Atlantic Salmon filets. About 4 LB's worth. I then cut then up and placed them into a brine for 24 hours. This used the hot smoke method. You can cold smoke the salmon but I may have to wait for it to get a little colder here as to be truly cold smoked the temp cant get above 80 degrees. There are some ways to get around this being creative with the smoke generator and cooking cabinet.

1/2 gallon water

1 cup brown sugar
honey
1/2 cup kosher salt

Out of the brine and onto racks and let dry in the frig for 24 hours and let the salmon dry.

I smoked only with no heat for 2 hours using alder. Next I then increased the temp to 140 for 2 1/2 hours then 180 for 2 hours. I then brought them out and let them sit for 30 mins.

I have to say this was pretty dare good. I kept a couple in the frig and froze the rest for another day. Took a piece to work a day or two later and it was even better. I checked out some prices online for smoked salmon found a couple of places that had it for $20/lb. Not bad for $4/lb I paid for the filets.

Smoke a turkey

I picked up a bone-in turkey breast. I took some creole butter marinade and injected the turkey breast a little bit. I then took some Tony Chacheres spice rub and put in under the skin and a little on the skin. I then put it in the smoker at 250 degrees, smoked for 2 hours using cherry and continued until it hit 165 IT. It turned out really good. I think next time I will inject it then overnight in the frig as the injection was just in concentrated in spots and not more spread out in the bird.

First Brisket

I was invited to go to Lake LBJ for the weekend and I thought it would be a good idea if I brought a brisket for dinner on Friday. I had one in the freezer so I was ready to go.

Here it is before the smoke.

The brisket was around 9lbs. It was a packer cut untrimmed. I did do just a tad bit of fat trimming before I applied the rub. I did cheat on the rub and just picked up some brisket rub from the store. Next time I will create my own. I applied the rub and placed it in a big bag and placed it into the fridge for a rest.

On Thursday I got home from work and took the brisket out of the fridge. I then fired up the BDS. I put in 4 hours worth of smoke, a mixture of hickory and mesquite. Once the BDS was pre-heated I put the brisket in. I set the BDS for 210 degrees. This was around 5pm. After the 4 hours of smoke I then emptied out the drip bowl and refilled with hot water. I went to bed.

When I got up to check the BDS around 7am the IT was around 170. IT reached 185 around 11am. I then used the FTC method(Foil,Towl,Cooler). We left town around 1pm. We got to the lake around 6pm. When it was dinner time a little later I opened up the brisket. It was still warm.

I let the brisket rest for a little bit, and it was ready for slicing.

The crowd was pleased. One reviewer said "Best brisket I have had." Not bad for the first time.

Tri-Tip...well sort of

I went to a restaurant called Texas Land and Cattle. They have a smoked sirloin there that was pretty good. They dont say what cut of beef it is and I havent been there in awhile to ask so I did some research and it sounds like it is a tri-tip. Since then I have been on the search to find a tri-tip. These are not a easy cuts to locate in the stores. There are only 2 cuts on a whole cow. My search took me to a lot of various stores. I ended up at Whole Foods, which is really where I should have started. They have a great quality of meat. I asked the butcher there. He said that he could get a tri-tip cut but it would need to be specially cut, he did however say that he has a top sirloin that would be pretty dare close. I opted to go with that. There is a old style meat market in Lewisville that I am going to try next or just go back to Whole Foods and have them make a special request cut for the true tri-tip.

It was about 2 1/2 Lbs I just put some cracked pepper and dried thyme on the top and that was it. Pretty simple.




I smoked it for about 1 1/2 hours at a temp of 210-220 using hickory. When it reached IT of 135, I like mine med rare, I took it out. After a good rest I cut it open.





It was mighty tasty. I sliced it up pretty thin and enjoyed. I would have liked some more smoke flavor to it, but since it didnt stay in the smoker long enough that is why. Next time I will try to lower the temp of the smoker a little bit to prolong the smoke.

This weekend I am going to Lake LBJ, its close to Austin. I plan on smoking a brisket starting on Thursday night and take it for everyone to enjoy. This will be my first attempt with a brisket and also first time for a crowd so kind of nervous. I am sure it will be fine...:)

Smokin a Fatty!!

Well thats what they call them.

1LB Ground Chuck

1LB Hot Jimmy Dean Sausage

onion

musrooms

garlic powder

ground pepper

paprika
cayenne

shredded sharp chedder cheese

Started out by chopping the onions and mushrooms and then sautee them with EVOO. Set these aside. Next mix up the ground chuck and sausage. Flatten the meat out, I did this on some plastic wrap. Next I sprinkled on the garlic powder,ground pepper, paprika, and cayenne. I then placed the mushrooms,onions and cheese in the middle of the meat.

Next I rolled this up. I used the plastic wrap to assist in this process. I finished it off by wrapping it with bacon.

Placed this into the smoker at 220. I used some mesquite for this. I let it smoke for 3 hours or until the IT hit 160. I also put in some ABT's in a little later so they werent done yet so I took the fatty out and wrapped it in foil until the ABT's were done. The ABT's were a little different this time. I halved the jalapenos and keep the halves together. I then placed the cream cheese mixture with cut up sausage links in one half and then topped it with the matching half wrapped in bacon put it in the smoker.

Here is the fatty cut in half.

Heres dinner. What a plate!!

First Smoke

7-2-08


My wonderful girlfriend surprised me with a Bradley Digital Smoker for my Birthday. Is she a keeper? I think so.I think she is now regretting getting me the smoker..:) I cant stop talking about it.

I decided for the first smoke to create some ABT's (Atomic Buffalo Turds) Not sure where the name came from. Basically you can take a jalapeno and put whatever you want in it and its good.My First Try:

10 Jalapenos (Halved lengthwise)

10 strips of bacon

1 pkg cream cheese (soften)

1/2 bag of shredded cheese blend 4-cheese

breakfast sausage links

garlic powder

onion powder

honey

Halve jalapenos lengthwise. If you dont want the kick clean out the jalapenos(seeds and rib)Mix up the cream cheese,cheese,garlic,onion,honeyTake mixture and place into half of jalapenosTake a breakfast link and put into the jalapenosTake a piece of bacon and wrap around jalapeno and secure with toothpickContinue until all are used

I started by preheating the BDS at around 300. Once preheated I placed1 hour worth of Apple into the smoker and let it go. Checked on the ABT's after 1 hour and left them on for another 15 minutes.I am going to take these to the girlfriends parents for the 4th. Not sure how they will stand up to a reheat. I tried one after it cooled down. Not too bad. Maybe less garlic next time. May try more smoke and a little lower heat.

Next up on Sunday..Pulled Pork

Nice Butt

So here it is. My 2nd smoke. The rub and vinegar sauce I found on some of the smokin forums. I did however adjust the rub to replace Kosher salt with the celery salt. I might not have mentioned this in the previous post but I did pick up a remote wireless temperature probe. This is a must have. The outside unit has a probe that goes into the meat. The indoor unit displays the temp, so you dont have to open up the smoker every time you want to check it. This only has one probe though, there is another one out on the market that has dual probes, one for the cabinet temp and one for the meat. Or two for the meat.

Pulled Pork Rub

1C Paprika
2 1/2 TBS ground black pepper
2 1/2 TBS celery salt
2 1/2 TBS chili powder
1 1/2 TBS garlic powder
1 1/2 TBS onion powder
1 tsp cayenne powder
7 1/2 pound Boston Butt Pork (From Albertsons)

The night before I prepared the butt by taking some EVOO and spreading it on the butt. I then sprinkled the rub on the butt and then rubbed the butt. I wrapped it up in plastic wrap and placed it in the fridge over night.

5am Loaded 4 hours worth of Apple pucks into the BDS and preheated to 220. Took the butt of of the fridge and unwrapped it. Applied more rub.

5:30am Loaded the butt into the BDS and started the smoke

10:15am Checked IT 145

12:30pm Checked IT 159

4pm Checked IT 170

8pm IT was at 190

Went to the BDS and opened up. Wow what a site. The smell was awesome, I had to suffer smelling this smoke/cook all day. I checked temp of the rest of the butt and it was good. Pulled the butt out and wrapped it in foil to rest. Very hard to resist, the smell was intense.
Let it rest 30 mins which was hard to do as we were ready to eat. We pulled the meat apart. Man it was awesome. Just fell right apart. Just used a couple of forks and got the job done.


I created a Vinegar based sauce earlier it went something like this:

1C white vinegar
1C cider vinegar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 tsp cayenne
1TBS red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Finished:
































I prepared my pulled pork on a bun covered with some cole slaw and some of the sauce. My girlfriend put a little bit of honey BBQ sauce on hers without the bun. It would have been GTG without anything to tell you the truth.

All in all awesome, I think. The girlfriend said "Quite tasty!!" I asked her if she would say anything else and she said "I would have said it needs a little work or not bad."

I am hooked on smokin now. It took a while, but I knew from what I have read that if you want to produce good results its got to be low and slow. Nothing good is going to happen fast.

Went to Tom Thumb last night. They had brisket on sale for .99/LB. Got a nice size brisket and put it in the freezer.

I think I am going to try some smoked salmon or chicken next.

Lets Try Chicken!!

7-13-08

In being fair to all of the food groups(Pork,Beef,Chicken,Beer), I thought it would be a good to try some chicken out in the smoker. I found this recipe on one of the smoker forums and it looked too good to pass up.

4 skin on chicken thighs

1 stick unsalted butter

7 cloves garlic this might have been a little much..:)

chopped basil leaves

I mixed the softened butter, chopped garlic, and chopped basil up in a small bowl. I let this set for a little bit for the flavors to get happy.

I then took the thighs and gently lifted up the skin on one end and placed a spoon full of the butter mixture under the skin. Next I smooshed this all around under the skin being careful not to break the skin. I then took a piece of bacon and wrapped up the open end of the chicken and secured it with a toothpick. On the piece that I was claimed I also tucked some chopped jalepenos under the skin and put a little hot sauce on it.

I preheated the smoker to 220 and placed 2 hours worth of mesquite in. When the smoker was preheated I put the chicken in. Cooked until the IT was safe, this took about 2 hours.

I took them out of the smoker. To really crisp up the skin and bacon I put them in the oven on broil for 3 minutes on each side.

Oh yeah to go along with the chicken I made up some roasted potatoes (Thanks to Stan the man). Took some red new potatoes chopped them in half, red onions not really chopped just cut in large chucks, and a few garlic cloves. Put these on a baking sheet drizzled with EVOO and dried parsley. Mixed them around on the sheet and placed the potatoes cut side down. I then placed them into the oven for about 45 mins at 425.

Ok so on to the results.