Outdoor Cooking (smoking, grilling, barbecuing, open spit, etc.)

[JAD]

I broke in the Summit with a 9# bone in breast. Way too much Royal Oak and way, way too many hickory chunks — black hickory oil pouring out of the vent, bird skin black and rubbery. Temp control was trivial — brought it to 250 and held it rtf there for 4 hours. Pulled it at 163 and warmed up the rest of the dishes. No probes, no WiFi, just went and looked at the thermometer and checked the bird at 2 (140), 3 (150), and 4 (162) hours.

Peeled away the skin and carved. Easily the best poultry I have ever eaten — absolutely blows away any turkey I’ve had or cooked in the past. We did not miss the skin.

Just checked, left the vent open and it’s sitting at 610 an hour after.

[rob_s]

[Moshjath]

19.5lb Turkey, brined in 8 liters RC Cola with 1.5 cups Kosher salt. Rub was Adkins Western Style BBQ seasoning...which I’m pretty sure is what is supplied to Larue as Dillo Dust. Smoked for about seven hours at 210 to an internal temp of 165-170. Delicious.

[BehindBlueI's]

Got my turkey on the smoker now. I did a rub under the skin and over the skin, then stuffed the cavity with onion, celery, garlic, and herbs. We did a 48 hour brine prior to. For the rub I lightly oiled with canola oil and did course salt, medium ground pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, and a bit of peri-peri. The last one isn't traditional, by any means, but I really like the kick it gives poultry. I'm cooking with charcoal and mulberry like I did with the test chicken. I need to go toss on another chunk of mulberry, actually.

I intend to butter baste as well.

[rob_s]

It's been awhile since I've done a turkey breast, so I'll probably follow along thisaway. Been pretty satisfied with following this guy in the past. I don't buy his ingredients (although I do own some of his rubs based on a recommendation earlier in the thread) but moreso just follow his methods.

Wife picked up the breast for me earlier this week. I didn’t look at it until last night when I pulled it out to out in brine. Turns out she got a whole, skin-on, bone-in breast at 9 lbs! Glad I looked last night!

I went ahead and trimmed it up, peeled off the sling, and dumped it in the brine. I’m still going to do the Mayo and rub like above it’ll just cook a lot longer and we will have a lot more leftovers.

Some lessons here...

The recipe works just fine on a full, bone-in breast. Definitely moist. I removed the skin prior to brine.

Either I over-rubbed, or the rub is more peppery than I expected. It came out quite spicy on the outside.

I forgot to butter-baste, and I didn’t make the sauce, both of which I suspect would help with the spicy ness of the rub.

The latter has me considering a new grill with a side burner for the first time ever. In the past I’ve put a pot on top of the fire box to warm things but having a side burner might be even easier. I’m not talking about replacing my smoker, but instead replacing the Weber propane grill, which is something I’m interested in doing anyway so why not get one with the burner.

[BehindBlueI's]

Just butter basted and adjusted air flow.

[BehindBlueI's]

Just butter basted and adjusted air flow.

Final product:



Self-critique: Next time I will use a little less smoke. I got carried away. If 10 is perfect and 20 is bitter, I went to 12. I could have not dropped the last chunk in and it would have been a little better.

I need to go heavier on the rub on the breast. I know without injection its going to be tough to get the flavor all the way down in the meat, but I could have been a bit more heavy handed with the pepper and peri-peri.

The flats of the wings were fucking phenomenal. *Easily* the best turkey wing I've ever eaten. Skin was crisp, thinner meat took the rub better, good smoke...I need someone to genetically engineer me a turkey with more wings.

Nobody has tried a drum yet (only three of us at the house and I'll take my dad a plate over the weekend), but they took good. Easy to break the turkey down, working the knife through the joint required no effort.

I suck at breaking down the turkey when it's time to remove the thighs. I hacked the shit out of those.

I'd say this was a solid effort for a first time turkey smoker. I'd be more then pleased if I was served the same at a restaurant, and I got good feedback. My wife would not say it was bad even if she thought so, but my son knows I value honest feedback more then I need my ego stroked and they were both quite happy with it.

[RoyGBiv]

Thanksgiving dinner was kick-ass.

Smoked 2 Ducks.... One with a Chinese BBQ rub, the other with my usual smoker rub. Chinese version was awesome! The other did not suck. I actually smoked them for 4 hours on Wednesday, rested, refrigerated and finished them in a roasting pan on the grill (too messy for the oven). About 425F for about 40 minutes to 165 internal. Picked the bones this morning and make some Pho for me and my eldest. Winning!

Also grilled a 2.5 pound cowboy cut ribeye to perfection. Quite the feat since I'd been drinking since brunch. I love being able to get a serious char on both sides and the internal temp still less than 75F. Offset and finish to 115F. Rest to 120. It got gone fast.

We invited my wife's best friend and her husband (also a close friend), they brought a Honeybaked Ham that was also perfection.

High end Mac and Cheese, Green Bean Casserole (love that stuff), roasted veggies and I talked my wife into making her Collard Greens at the last minute. I LOVE me some Collards. We went with the already packed and chopped stuff to save some time. No matter, still awesome.

We pulled the patio tables together and had plenty of room for 6 outside. Mid 70's, nice breeze. About as COVID friendly as you could hope for.

Had a fire in the pit after dinner as it got cooler and a few more friends stopped by for socially distant drinks. It almost felt human.


** Duck pic was after smoking but before finishing on the grill. Too hungry for photos then.

[UNM1136]

Final product:



I need to go heavier on the rub on the breast. I know without injection its going to be tough to get the flavor all the way down in the meat, but I could have been a bit more heavy handed with the pepper and peri-peri.

I didn't smoke mine, but I dry brined for the first time and spatchcocked. The recipe I used said min 24 hours-preferably 48 for the dry brine. I split the difference and went 36 hours. As usual I was not careful about measuring the salt and sugar for the dry brine. I peeled back the skin and rubbed in a mix of salt and sugar. A 9 pound turkey was cooked in an hour. Everyone thought it was great, I found the meat too salty. Not inedible, but salty. The skin was crispy all the way around.

pat

[scw2]

For those that remove the skin, if you still want crispy skin to go with your turkey breast you can try the following. Put a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet, then spread out the skin on the paper and season with salt/pepper, then cover with a 2nd piece of parchment paper and then a 2nd baking sheet. Be careful with how much you season the skin if you're already aggressively seasoning the meat as it can come out fairly salty. Put in a 400 degree faranheit oven for 30-40 minutes until brown and crisp, and let it cool. You can prepare this a day or two ahead of turkey day.