Moist & Flavorful Smoked Turkey

This recipe makes a tasty bird! It loosely follows Steven Raichlen's instructions for Double Whiskey-Smoked Turkey on projectSmoke. Now, if you haven't been diverted to the professional's guidance, here are my tips...

1. Plan Ahead
It takes a while to thaw a bird, so buy your turkey well in advance and get it into the fridge several days before you plan on soaking (in brine) and smoking. Here's a helpful guide I found on Foodsafety.gov:

2. Remove the Extra Parts & Rinse
If you bought a whole bird, you'll find the neck, liver, gizzard, heart, etc. stuffed in the front and main cavities. Be sure to remove these before you get started. Rinse the turkey well with cold running water.

3. Mix the Brine
Here are my recommended brine ingredients (for a 12-14 pound bird):
1 medium onion (quartered)
2 apples (sliced)
2 oranges (sliced)
1 bulb garlic (halved)
1 tbs black peppercorns (whole)
1-1/2 cup kosher salt
1-1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbs sorghum molasses
1 cup whiskey (cheap)
rosemary, sage, thyme (I use about 1 tbs each of large leaves dried from the herb garden)
water as needed to cover the bird

It works best to start with a small amount of hot water to dissolve the salt, sugar and mix in the molasses, then combine whiskey and the remaining dry ingredients. Add fruit and pour in cold water to create the desired quantity of brine.

Feel free to substitute ingredients or toss in other sweet or savory items that might add a hint of desired flavor to your bird (e.g. maple syrup, apple cider, cloves, bay leaves, etc.)

4. Brine the Bird
Place the thawed turkey in the brine, leg end up. Jiggle it around until fully submerged and surrounded by the brine ingredients. Cover and soak 24 hours in the refrigerator. Make sure the entire bird stays submerged. Invert the bird halfway through if needed to ensure it brines fully.

5. Inject the Bird
For added flavor, melt four tablespoons of salted butter and inject in small quantities to all parts of the bird with a food injector syringe.

6. Smoke the Bird
Don't throw that brine away! If you're using a water-bath smoker, collect fruit and spices from the brine and toss them in the water bath. You may also wish to use a 50/50 mixture of water and apple juice or apple cider in the bath instead of just plain water.

Fire up your smoker, load the chips, and cook the bird. Tie the legs and wings in tight against the body and place it on the rack. Maintain a smoker temperature of 225-250 deg F and keep the smoke rolling for at least three hours. At this point the bird has acquired a good smoke flavor. You should begin basting the bird with melted butter about every hour to create a golden finish. A thermometer placed in the thigh should register 170 deg F before you remove the bird from the smoker.

7. Remove, Rest & Carve
Remove the bird from the smoker, place on a warm platter, and drape a sheet of aluminum foil over it to rest for about 20 minutes before serving.

8. Enjoy!

Smoked Pork Ribs

I've found this formula to work well for moist and flavorful pork ribs. The recipe is for two racks. Increase ingredient quantities while keeping the same proportions if you want to make more.

 

THE RUB:

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE METHOD:

Start with two racks of pork back ribs.

Remove ribs from packaging and pat dry with paper towels. Remove membrane from the back side of the ribs by grasping with a dry paper towel.

Combine all ingredients of the rub and apply liberally to the front, back and edges of the racks.

Smoke the racks for 2 hours at 225 - 250 F.

Remove from smoker, wrap each rack individually in heavy duty aluminum foil, pouring about 1/4-cup of apple juice into each packet before sealing.

Return to smoker and cook for 2 hours in foil around 250 F. You don't need smoke for this step, so this can be done in your oven if desired.

When you unwrap after steaming in apple juice, the meat will have begun pulling away from the bone. They're lookin' good, but you're not done yet!

Lightly baste each rack with your favorite BBQ sauce (mine is Sweet Baby Ray's Original) then return to the smoker uncovered.

Reload chips and smoke for two more hours.

Your ribs are ready after 6 total hours of cooking, but there is one more step you may wish to take...

For crispier servings, cut into single or two-rib servings and then grill briefly at high temperature on your gas or charcoal grill.

Enjoy!

How NOT to cook a brisket...

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/32436470/woman-cooking-brisket-in-bathtub-starts-fire

Smoked Pork Butt

Today I'm making my favorite -- smoked pork butt!

Here's my approach:

Purchase a 6-8 lb Boston Butt (bone in)

Inject with the following mixture:
1/3 cup apple juice
1/3 cup white grape juice
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1-1/2 Tbs salt
(warm the mixture in microwave 30 sec - 1 min to better dissolve sugar and salt)

After injecting, pat dry with paper towels and then apply a dry rub:
4 tsp seasoned salt
2 tsp dark brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp white granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/16 tsp ground ginger

Smoke at 225-250 F until internal temperate of at least 190 F is reached (typically takes about 13 hours).

Shred and serve!

Apply sauce to individual servings. The meat will have good flavor, so don't overdo it on sauce! I've tried making sauces, but haven't created anything I like better than Sweet Baby Ray's Original.

My preferred wood for smoke is apple, and I often pour some apple juice in the water bath pan as well.

You can speed this process up by wrapping the butt in foil when temperature stalls around 165 F, but my preference is to leave it on the smoker untouched until finished (don't even open the lid to peek). I typically reload the can of wood chips once during the process, which keeps the smoke rolling for about the first six hours.

Modifications for Improved Burner Operation

Using the smoker on breezy days, I sometimes experienced issues with wind gusts extinguishing the burner flame. To remedy this issue, I built an air intake plenum of soffit venting, with baffles inside, and attached beneath the burner pan.

I also installed three baffles around the burner inside the pan.

Testing on a windy March day yielded good results!

Test Firing

About six weeks after beginning the project, I was ready to test fire the smoker. I started out with a very low flame and gradually increased the gas and eased it into the smoking temperature range of 225-250 F. I was pleased with the stability of the temperature and ease of control. I used a digital thermometer to verify the accuracy of the smoker's dial thermometer...I found the dial thermometer's accuracy lacking, but deviation from actual temperature was consistent, so it is useful for managing temperature of the smoker by converting (200 F on the dial is about 225 F inside the smoker, 225 F on the dial is about 250 F inside the smoker, etc.).

Finishing Touches

A couple of finishing touches included a large dial thermometer and a lift handle for the lid. I placed the thermometer in the lid, with the probe at the level meat will rest on the upper rack of the smoker. The handle was easy to find at my local hardware store. The thermometer was ordered from amazon.com.

Insides Complete

With racks and burner in place, the remaining internal component was a water bath / drip pan. I struggled to find a pan of adequate diameter, so settled on a Behrens 3 gallon steel utility pan that is 16-1/4" diameter and 4" deep. Angle brackets bolted together to form a "U" shape and screwed to the inside of the barrel made for perfect mounting of the water bath / drip pan.

These photos show all internal components installed, including the juice can for holding wood chips that sits directly on the burner.

Controlling Air Flow

Holes in the burner pan allow ample airflow into the smoker. To regulate the amount of air flowing through the smoker, I installed a couple of circular air dampers on the lid.

I ordered these from amazon.com and installation was simple. I drilled holes aligning with those in the damper, plus one in the center for the mounting bolt. The dampers came with mounting bolts, but I had to purchase longer bolts to pass through the thick wood of the barrel head. I also cut the resistance springs to shorter length so that I could use a shorter bolt.

Mounting and Piping the Burner

I fabricated four metal brackets from flat bar to attach the burner pan to the barrel. The hole I cut for the burner pan was of larger diameter than the pan to provide an air gap of about one inch between the pan and barrel to protect the wood from the heat of the burner. The sheet metal "doughnut" I placed in the bottom of the barrel covered the gap, ensuring the inside of the smoker had a solid metal bottom. Cutting the large hole in the bottom of the barrel weakened the barrel head, so I also screwed two pieces of flat bar across the bottom to reinforce the joints between each section of the barrel head.

After piping up the gas, I used flat bar and some scrap metal brackets to build a couple of guards around the gas piping. This prevents the piping from being damaged when rolling the smoker along an uneven surface.

Remember how casters mounted to the bottom of the barrel created a tipping hazard? This photo shows my solution of legs constructed with 2x4's. The legs extend further out from the barrel on the back side to support the lid when opened and prevent tipping. Note also the gas line is routed to the back of the smoker, which allows the propane cylinder to be positioned out of the way, behind the smoker, when cooking.

I attached a hook to the rear of the barrel to hang the gas line and regular from when transporting the smoker. Note also the round aluminum cover I placed over the bung hole. A lot of people find a creative use for the bung hole in constructing their smoker, but I simply covered it.

Burner Installation

The thought of using charcoal or wood chips in a smoker constructed of wood makes me nervous. Therefore, I selected a propane burner and use a juice can to contain the smoking chips.

I purchased a "Mini-V" propane burner from Ed at Alabama Metal Products Co. He was very helpful in providing guidance on setting up the burner in a wine barrel smoker.

Alabama Metal Products Gas Smoker Website

The burner pan came with holes in the bottom to provide combustion air, I simply needed to cut a hole in the bottom of the barrel to accomodate the burner assembly.

As an additional measure of safety, I lined the bottom of the barrel with sheet metal to reduce risk of fire should a spark or ember escape the juice can and land in the bottom of the barrel.