Char Broil Big Easy


 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Morrey Thomas:
Mike,

I got the Big Easy as we discussed and did a test cook on a 5 lb roaster hen. Man o' man....I mean that thing was GOOD! Since the bird was a bit small to stand upright in the rack, I put it on a beer can chicken holder. I made an injection of butter, beer and spices, then rubbed the outside with a light coat of oil and cajun rub.
It cooked quickly, and within an hour or so, I had the best roast chicken ever. It was moist and juicy with a great crispy, golden brown skin. My wife was on the phone telling our parents and friends about the new cooker, and all the while she had previously told me that it was something we really DID NOT need...LOL
Cleanup was easy like you described it to be. I was surprised at the lack of effort it was start to finish to "oil less fry" this chicken. I call this unit a huge winner and can't wait to impress family with "fried" turkey this week. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's Great to hear Morrey. Just for the record, I'm not affiliated with TBE in anyway but when I find something that works well I will spread the word. I've been spreading the word about this Super site and Weber Grills and WSM too. I've had smoked turkey by some great pit-masters over the years but down here in the swamp fried turkey has always ruled. Post some pic's of your turkey if you get the chance. Mine is in the fridge thawing as we speak. Also going to do 2 chikens for friends this Wednesday.

Oil Less Fry On Brother!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell:
Since my father-n-law wants to cook two birds, looks like we'll get a side X side comparison Thursday.
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Hi Dave, I take that to mean he bought one. The only difference he should notice is in the lower cholesterol count he should have with TBE
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I say that from experience. I too found it hard to believe oil less could be better than oil fried.

May Everyone have a Great Thanksgiving and we should all count our blessings during this time.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike David P:
May Everyone have a Great Thanksgiving and we should all count our blessings during this time. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

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Here's a twist on cooking turkey in TBE -

I smoked a bone-in turkey breast a few weeks ago to see if my family liked it. They said it was OK, but I deep fried a turkey last year and they preferred that method over just smoking alone, because they prefer a crispier skin. Since I didn't want to find another creative way to dispose of 4 more gallons of barely used peanut oil again this year, I decided to compromise. I will smoke our turkey on the WSM for a couple of hours over fairly low heat (250°), then move it to my TBE to crisp up the skin and finish cooking until it reaches the correct temp. This should make everybody happy.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim H.:
Here's a twist on cooking turkey in TBE -

I smoked a bone-in turkey breast a few weeks ago to see if my family liked it. They said it was OK, but I deep fried a turkey last year and they preferred that method over just smoking alone, because they prefer a crispier skin. Since I didn't want to find another creative way to dispose of 4 more gallons of barely used peanut oil again this year, I decided to compromise. I will smoke our turkey on the WSM for a couple of hours over fairly low heat (250°), then move it to my TBE to crisp up the skin and finish cooking until it reaches the correct temp. This should make everybody happy. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jim, that sounds like a good plan. The best of both worlds so to speak. Char-Broil has come out with a bigger big easy with smoking capabilities but I'm content to stay with the original.

Thanks!
 
Jim,

I like the way you think about a bit of pre-smoking, then finishing it off in the Big Easy.
My wife loves the way I do ribeye steaks in a similar fashion. I buy a large ribeye roast, then cut it into steaks around two inches thick. I first smoke the steak on my Traeger pellet grill (or WSM of course) til the center temp hits around 100 degrees or so. At that time I will have my infrared grill glowing cherry red and char the steak on it to bring to rare or medium rare.
The steak will have a wonderful smoked flavor with the great charred crust from a high heat grill. Best of both worlds. I also make a coffee/cocoa rub thats outstanding on beef. If you want the rub recipe, send me your email and I can attach the rub recipe.

morreythomas@msn.com
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell:
Since my father-n-law wants to cook two birds, looks like we'll get a side X side comparison Thursday.
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Personally, I preferred the infrared turkey, both from a cooks perspective and simply for the taste.

For one thing, you can't monitor IT* while a turkey's in a pot of peanut oil like you can with a bird in the Big Easy, or a smoker, for that matter. TBE is just more foolproof, and this was obvious with this cook. The fried bird cooked too long, and the therm that measures the oil would be the usual suspect. Not my baby though, and I don't know how often my father-in-law checks his therms. Just a reminder here regarding the cooks perspective though...the BE bird is going to end up a LOT cheaper in the long run due to no need for oil, and a WHOLE lot less trouble and clean-up than frying.

Moving on to taste, the fried bird did finish crisper, but this was a first cook with TBE, and we probably didn't have the screen on top long enough. What was lost in crispness was gained in flavor and juicyness in the breast, though. I've NEVER seen a bird hold the injection so well as TBE bird did, whether fried or smoked, and that bird was simply juicier than ANY fried turkey I've ever had, no matter how perfectly fried. As to the flavor that the peanut oil gives the fried bird, a few of the guests missed that with TBE bird. However, it seemed that just as many of us didn't miss the oil flavor at all.

My father-in-law is really pleased with his new turkey cooker, and we both thought that the BE bird won hands down. Probably the only way to improve it would be to smoke it low-n-slow for a while at first on the wsm, and after I get one of my own I'll have to try that.
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Ok Gents;

The verdict is in on the Big Easy.

Evidence:

14 lb Turkey brined then injected with a butter/beer/spice solution. Yes I know you may not need to do both, but I love flavors inside the meat.
Rubbed skin with peanut oil, then Tony Chacheres cajun spice.
Cooked turkey 2.4 hours til temp read 170 internal in breast. Gorgeous golden brown.
Rested 15 minutes, then removed breast lobes and cut 1/2 slices across breast so each slice got a piece of skin.
Teenage boys ate like they had never had a meal before. Sister in law who doesnt like turkey thinks she may like turkey after all. Father in law tried to hide slices so he could make a midnight sandwich...but we busted him.
Youngest teenage son was cleaning carcass like starved vulture. 14 pounds....gone in a flash.

Verdict: Big Easy guilty as charged. Guilty of being the best cooker as well as economical. Best turkey cooker, no hassle, no fuss, no muss, low expense. Foolproof, easy to cleanup, good value. Cooked turkey on a very small amount of propane...much less gas than I typically used heating 3 gal of oil.

Sentence: A life of a solitary role as our only turkey cooker. Will be deporting old fryer pot to a land of other opportunity. How do boiled peanuts sound for the old turkey fryer stock pot?
 
Sounds great, Morrey. Glad the Big Easy worked out OK.

Here's my Big Easy (I actually have the Big Easy's larger brother, known as the SRG - Smoker-Roaster-Grill) turkey. This 13 lb. bird took a little over 3 hrs., as it was a little breezy outside. I sprinkled on a very basic rub of kosher salt, Penzey's Mural of Flavor and cracked black pepper. I added some cherry wood chips & a couple of chunks of apple wood to the bottom of the cooking chamber for a little smoke flavor. You can use wood in the chamber, but it will not smoke like a regular smoker will, only gives a slight smokiness to the meat. Rested the bird for about 30 minutes before carving.

Spent too much time carving & plating before the family began saying, "Can we eat NOW? It doesn't have to look like a competition turn in plate, we just want to EAT!!!!"

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Well Guys, I did 2 chickens and a ham in TBE on Wednesday and the Turkey early Thanksgiving morning. Had a little too much 'er holiday cheer the night before so I put the bird in about 6 AM and put the reflector lid on and went back to bed. About an hour and a half later, I checked it and found the bird's skin was too dark. It was not burned but the dusting I gave it had a lot of pepper in it.

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TBE is very forgiving, the actual meat was perfect!

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Here's a little shoulder ham done Wednesday. Man that thing was good!

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I'm all warmed up for Christmas now. Going for presentation as well as good taste (with a little less holiday cheer).
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Had friends in from Tulsa doing a bird for his family. Next thing I know, TBE was in his trunk and they used it to do a buttermilk brined turkey Thanksgiving afternoon with excellent results. He's supposed to send pic's. Looks like he'll be picking up a BE when he gets home.
 
Morrey, So far he has just sent a pic. Very Nice:

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He's still waiting on BNL to send him the recipe. I'll post it here when I receive it. I also will post pic's of my Christmas Turkey here (Got to redeem myself on TBE) !

Stay Tuned.
 
I picked one up since we (HD) marked them down to $69 last week, and gave it a trial run last night. I wanted to try a small bird before trying a turkey this weekend and a 5 lb chicken seemed like a good first run. To keep things basic I injected about 2 oz of Tony C's creole butter in the chicken, rubbed the outside with oil and sprinkled it with creole seasoning. The thermometer hit 167F in the breast at about the 90 minute mark, and I pulled it out to rest for approx. 10 minutes.

While the skin had a good amount of crisp to it, I would have preferred more. I only used the wire mesh top for the last 10 minutes, so next time with a turkey I may leave it on longer at the end of the cook. The meat was extremely juicy; one drumstick fell out of the meat as I was carving it. I wonder if the creole butter added to the juiciness but not the flavor, as I didn't taste much creole inside. Injecting poultry can be tough anyway as most of it runs right back out as soon as you withdraw the needle.

This chicken tasted much more like rotisserie chicken than anything fried, although fried turkey isn't anything like actual fried chicken anyway with the lack of batter and all. I'm cautiously optimistic for my first turkey results though, and will be using the wire mesh top to hopefully really crisp it up. Cleanup was fast and easy...it's about as no-mess as you can get. I do like that you can pull drippings during the cook...unavailable of course with traditional oil frying a turkey. I'm also looking forward to trying rib roasts and such in it as well.
 
Chris,

That screen lid takes some getting used to in regards to controlling the correct browness. I noticed chickens browned differently than turkeys since they sit more deeply down in the cooking vessel. Wind, outside temp and other factors also have an effect. Takes some experimenting.

I also created my own injection you may want to try out. Tony Chachere's is a really good store bought injection for the ease of things. I made mine from a mixture of:

Half stick of butter or margerine
Half a premium beer (I used Blue Moon)
Shake of hot sauce
Shake of soy
Shake of worcestershire
Garlic powder
Onion powder
salt

Melt butter in a saucepan while adding other ingredients. Keep barely warm while injecting to prevent butter from getting solid.

For a really simple rub, I use Tones Garlic Pepper rub or Tones Lemmon Pepper rub. Either has no sugar which will burn quickly. Makes for some fine eating.
 
How well does the Big Easy do at non-turkey items?


Can it do two chickens at once or just one at a time? How about chicken pieces like wings etc? How long does it take?

What about something like hot dogs? Burgers? Could I rig it to cook them?

I'm trying to thing of ways to use TBE for tailgating so I can use it outside of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
 
Now that turkey has taken somewhat of a backseat since Thanksgiving is over, I want to try my Charbroil Big Easy to do a ham. I have a 7 lb Smithfield smoked butt portion ham, and just wondered how to go about cooking this in my BE. I remember several comments about cooking hams, and hoped to get a bit of advice.
 
Morrey -

Watch your temp very closely. Because the Big Easy does not have an adjustable temp control, ham can get overcooked & dry in a hurry. Most people say to pull a ham around 130~140°, and let it rest. You could also glaze the ham after pulling it off the cooker, but I wouldn't put any glaze on it while cooking in the Big Easy, as anything sugar based will turn black very quickly.

Remember - if the ham is already cooked, all you are doing is reheating, regardless of the cooker you use.
 
Jim,

I appreciate your good advice and feedback. I was not sure of the target temp for an already cooked ham, and since this is a simple "re-heat", I have little to worry about otherwise.

Also, great advice about the sugar based glazes most cooks use on hams. My best results so far on poultry in TBE are sugar free rubs.

Merry Christmas and thanks again!

Morrey
 
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