I see absolutely no issue with having Turkey, Ham, and Beef for Thanksgiving, and for Easter. Christmas also.
Turkey on thanksgiving, ham christmas and easter. Going to try and hijack the christmas dinner and make a double smoked ham from this thread. Sounds incredible.
Turkey and enchiladas for Thanksgiving, turkey and ham for Xmas, marinated chuck steaks with beans for Easter. It's weird, I know, but we're Mexican and Anglo.
I honestly haven't but I do see that it is a thing. Maybe it is regional but when I think Christmas I think standing rib roast, prime rib, beef tenderloin, Beef Stroganoff or my personal tradition is that it is the one time of year I go to the trouble of making Beef Bourguignon.
Just a regular bone-in spiral cut ham you find in your grocery store. You are basically just using your smoker instead of the oven and stepping up the glaze game a few notches. I went around 250 degrees, but I've read anywhere from 225 to 275 depending on the time you have.
Nah, I dry brine when I smoke. At a lower temperature I never have issues with moisture, and dry brining helps crisp the skin.
It's called twice smoked. It's already smoked when you buy it, you just prep it and smoke that motherfucker again 3-4 hrs. Glaze 3 to 4 times in the last hour
dry brining simply means to salt the skin and let the bird sit in the fridge overnight to dry out the exterior a little - which speeds up the crisping process when the bird is on the smoke. I feel that a wet brine moistens the skin to a point that a level of crispiness isn't achievable. I also have doubts as to the effectiveness of wet brining. I read somewhere that only 6% of the liquid penetrates the meat, and very little spices, as they are too large to have any real affect on taste.
Turkey for thanksgiving, pork tenderloin for Christmas, ham for Easter. I'm smoking turkey quarters for thanksgiving for the first time this year in addition to the radiant fried turkey. Dry brine is the go to?
I have some wild Canada goose in my freezer that I've cooked a bit of. Obviously it's not the same as a domestic goose but pretty much the only way to do the breast is to pan sear it and keep it rare. I'd image it would get extremely tough if you cook it for any prolonged amount of time.
Thanksgiving we go down to the wife's family get together, 40+ people will show up and we'll have pretty much every meat you can think of. My wife gets a 12lb ham sent to her from consultants so we usually just buy a 3lb turkey breast for Christmas. I'm more of team ham though
Yep. Salt and leave in fridge uncovered overnight. A few hours before smoking, apply a wet rub of olive oil and herbs. Whole process is below
If you want to read into the process in more detail - I took it directly from here: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/chicken_turkey_duck/ultimate_smoked_turkey.html Best advice is to prep the gravy and make the wet rub a day in advance.
Also - from the above link is what I have found to be the best way to carve a turkey (in spoiler because long and pics etc) Spoiler 1) Hone the knife with a honing steel. A sharp knife has a razor thin edge, and with use that edge can bend. A honing steel can straighten it out. A honing steel is a rod that has a sandpaper like surface. I know you've see TV chefs hone knives by crossing the steel and knife in front of them and zip zop, they're done. Don't try it. It's not accurate and it's a good way to add your bodily fluids to the gravy. Begin by placing the tip of the rod on a table and hold it vertical, perpendicular to the table. Hold the knife by the handle firmly in your other hand. Rest the part of the knife closest to your hand against the top of the steel and tilt it to a 45° angle. Then roll your wrist so it is halfway between 45° and the steel, about 22.5°. Draw the knife slowly towards your body gently sliding it downward towards the table at the same time. Hone the entire blade, right to the tip. Repeat the process on the other side of the blade. Hone each side alternatively about 3 or 4 times. 2) No need to rest the bird, just start hacking away fresh from the cooker. You will need a cutting board with gutters to catch the ample juices, and a serving platter or 2. Let's start with the dark meat. Take a paper towel and grab the top of a drumstick and bend it until the joint between it and the thigh is visible. Flex it back and forth until you have a good clear shot at the knee from behind. Sever the meat around the joint, and then cut between the ball and socket to remove the leg. 3) You can serve the drumstick whole for the cavemen like me, or you can stand it on the meaty end and slice downward, removing the meat. I usually carve one and leave one whole. 4) Now pull out those pieces of stiff tendon with your fingers. Repeat the process with the other leg. 5) Now hold the thigh and cut through the skin that connects it to the body. Bend the thigh back to find the hip joint. Cut through the ball joint removing the thigh. 6) You can serve the thigh whole, but then the choicest pieces of dark meat go to only 2 guests. If you have more people who want thigh meat, you need to remove the bone so you can slice the meat. To do this, flip the thigh skin side down, and run the knife around the bone and under it until you can lift it out. 7) Now turn the thigh skin side up and cut it into slices across the grain. Repeat with the other thigh. 8) Now grabbing a wing, bend it back to locate the shoulder joint and cut through the tendons holding together the ball and socket. 9) Now for the breasts. The old fashioned method was to cut slices off the breasts while they were still attached to the carcass. There are several things wrong with this approach. First of all, it is awkward. It is hard to get even slices especially as your knife approaches the rib cage, which is curved. The process is even more awkward because the carcass is wobbly. Besides, it's not fair because the person who gets the first slice gets most of the skin! The old fashioned method has you cutting with the grain, and slices cut with the grain is always chewier than slices cutacross the grain. The better plan is to remove each side of the breast from the carcass and then cut it into beautiful slices across the grain so it is more tender. Here's how: In the middle of the two lobes is the breast bone, sometimes called the keel bone. Cut down along one side of the breast bone with long strokes until the knife hits the rib cage. 10) Then tilt the knife and work along the rib cage with long strokes until the breast falls away in one football shaped hunk. On the front the knife will slide along the wishbone. Don't forget to pull it out from under the skin flap! 11) Lay each breast skin side up on a cutting board and slice it across the grain in slices at least 1/4". I like thicker slices, especially if the meat is tender. But there is a trick to slicing it properly (I'll bet you're not surprised to hear that). Remember how we loosened the breast skin to put rub under it? It is no longer firmly attached to the meat. If we're not careful the skin will slip slide around and you won't get neat slices with skin with each slice of meat. The trick is to have a really sharp knife. Place it on the center of the breast near its handle. Place the thumb and forefinger of your free hand on either side of the knife pressing down on the skin gently. In one gentle steady stroke, with slight downward pressure, draw the knife toward yourself across the skin, cutting down through it and into the meat. If you use a dull knife or a serrated knife,or if you use a sawing motion, the skin will move around. This takes a bit of practice. 12) When you have the meat cut, re-assemble it into a breast shaped presentation in order to keep the meat warm. If you are careful, you can slide your knife under the assembly and lift the whole thing onto the serving platter. On second thought, play it safe and use a spatula. 13) Just before serving the bird, give yourself a reward. Flip the carcass over so the backbone is facing up. Run your fingers along the sides of the backbone and near the joints where the wings were attached, right under the shoulder blades, you'll find tender, juicy blobs of meat, each about the size and shape of the meat from a large oyster, hence the nickname, turkey oysters. You can pop them out with your fingers. Savor them for a job well done. 14) Now pour a little gravy over the top of the meat in the platter, enough to moisten it but not drown it.
I wanted a stick burner but don't really have the time to fiddle with it during the whole cook. Having the cooker manage everything for me means Ill be doing way more overnight cooks.
I hear ya. I was down to the BGE, a yoder and a Lang back when I was in the market. Zack Zedalis threw in an HJ and I went BGE, but it was neck and neck.
besides the mini green egg whats a good charcoal grill thats easy to throw in the back of the car for camping trips?