Smokin.....Oh Yeah !!!

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Guys,
Im going to attempt to smoke my first turkey tommorrow ! Ive got a couple of ideas on what to stuff the bird with and Im thinking of draping some bacon over the outside of it for basting purposes, oh darn Im gettin hungry allready ! Pics will start some time tommorrow morning !

 

[Bird]

Yep, Scotty, you'll have to let us know how it turns out. I've never stuffed a turkey before cooking it, no matter how I cooked. We always make the "stuffing" separately. And I've not tried the bacon on a turkey, so it ought to be an interesting experiment.

 

[scott_vt]

Yep, Scotty, you'll have to let us know how it turns out. I've never stuffed a turkey before cooking it, no matter how I cooked. We always make the "stuffing" separately. And I've not tried the bacon on a turkey, so it ought to be an interesting experiment.

Good Mornin Bird,
Well we got a bit of a late start, overslept a bit due to attending an Irish festival last night !

Anyway we managed to get the turkey in the smoker by 9 am so not too bad ! The bird is just over 13 lbs and we stuffed some nice sweet onions inside, rubbed the outside with salt, and then sprinkled some paprika and rosemary on the bird and draped a few strips of bacon on it for basting purposes ! Gosh I just had an egg sandwich and Im makin myself hungry allready !

I will update as the day goes on .....

 

[jinman]

Bird: Thanks for the tip on the Blitz pan and that O'Reilly's has them, there's one in Bowie.

Scotty: It looks like you have that bird going well. I did my first smokin' in my new smoker yesterday afternoon. About the time I was half done, my neighbor who I'd done some tractor work for called to invite us out with them to to dinner to repay the favor. I couldn't turn it down, so all I did was sample the smoked ribs and chicken. We'll make our first meal of it today. I smoked for three hours. The chicken was done, but I finished the ribs in our oven for two hours after cleaning off the rub and wrapping them in foil.

Here are some pictures of the new smoker in action. I cut some pecan chips to use for the smoke and soaked them in water. It only took a double handful of chips to do all the smoking. As you can see in one of the pictures, there was plenty of smoke coming out the vent.

When I started the smoker, it was 72 degrees inside. 50 minutes later, it was 225 degrees. The thermostat maintains the temperature within 5 degrees either side of the set point. Because the heater ran constantly during that first 50 minutes, there was a lot of smoke produced early on and then less as the meat cooked.

I really like this little smoker. It only draws 5.75 amps and does a great job. For the ribs and chicken, I hardly had any drips in the pan and the chicken and ribs are very moist. The only problem was that I had nothing to do but sit and drink beer for three hours while watching the smoker do all the work.

 

[scott_vt]

Bird: Thanks for the tip on the Blitz pan and that O'Reilly's has them, there's one in Bowie.

Scotty: It looks like you have that bird going well. I did my first smokin' in my new smoker yesterday afternoon.

The only problem was that I had nothing to do but sit and drink beer for three hours while watching the smoker do all the work.

Good Mornin Jim,
Good deal, it looks like you got your feet wet pretty quickly ! Thanks for the great pics, that is one nice unit !

I started at 9 am with the smoker in the shade and the outside temp was only 50 degs, and my temp was coming up slowly but now the smoker is in the sun and its just perfect on the temp scale. That tells me that if I want to do much of this in the winter I either need more hot coals or a nice unit like you have ! Either way we are havin some fun today, its a perfect weather day here and the beer should be flowin very soon !

Heres a couple bonus shots of what I do before the beer drinkin starts !

BTW I will post a shot of my bird at noon after 3 hours of smokin !
Had to get some tractor shots in there to keep it legal !

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Guys,
As promised 1-13 lb turkey on the smoker for 3 hrs!

Somethings of interest happening out there splitting wood and smoking, got to meet MR.chipmunk who has been nibbling my tomatoes in the garden ! I threatened him but he wasnt having it !

 

[mjarrels]

Scotty, I sure wish that I could have lunch at your place tomorrow... A few slices between two slices of bread would sure make for a good lunch!

mark

 

[scott_vt]

Scotty, I sure wish that I could have lunch at your place tomorrow... A few slices between two slices of bread would sure make for a good lunch!

mark

Good Afternoon Mark,
Start drivin now and you might make it in time !

Might need a little "Real Hellmans" !

These shots are just over 6 hrs in the smoker, oh yes, and the Sam Adams summer ale and a Romeo & Juliet Reserva cigar are helping me get through the waiting process !

Mark, you and any of my TBN friends are allways invited, if gas was only $.29 again !

BTW its the last day of summer so I guess the beer is politically correct !

 

[Bird]

BTW its the last day of summer so I guess the beer is politically correct !

That turkey certainly does look good, Scotty. I used to be quite a beer drinker, but just very seldom drink any beer anymore. However, today when I was boiling the brats in beer before putting them on the grill, I drank about half of one instead of pouring it all in the pot.

I really like this little smoker. It only draws 5.75 amps and does a great job.

That looks good, Jim. I think the electric has some definite advantages and is probably easier to regulate the temperature. I considered an electric, but our house is total electric. There's not even any gas main anywhere in the area. So I decided a time might come when I wanted to cook something during a power outage, so I went with propane smoker and grill.

 

[srossman]

Good Afternoon Guys,
As promised 1-13 lb turkey on the smoker for 3 hrs!

Somethings of interest happening out there splitting wood and smoking, got to meet MR.chipmunk who has been nibbling my tomatoes in the garden ! I threatened him but he wasnt having it !

Morning Scott,

that turkey looks really good. Did you do anything special to it before putting it in the smoker? I ask because I have two wild turkeys in my freezer and have been wanting to smoke them for some time. I've read about soaking them in a brine solution but wasn't sure if I HAD to or not. How did the turkey turn out?