Up against the BGE


 
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Paul K

TVWBB Guru
Background: Little brother heading this way for Thanksgiving. He's a proud owner of BGE; 10 years of experience. Hey, it's a BGE, a worthy opponent. Me: WSM neophite. Sure, I've done the trinity; ribs, brisket, butt. Never attempted a whole turkey. Interstate trash talk has been exchanged. The gauntlet has been dropped. It's time to start practicing on a bird. No 'good' birds available; (non-enhanced). So I go with 2, 3.5 lb chickens and turn to my secret weapon; the tvbb website. First up; Keri's apple brine. She's got pics to back up the recipe - it's a no-brainer. The birds go in for an overnight soak. Next day, they dry off for optimum skin in the fridge (skin loosened from meat). As charcoal is lit, I prep the final phase; a little internal influence. I opt to stuff the birds with granny smiths, crimini mushrooms, leeks, raisins and a citrus based rub. Coals are up to temp, pure cherry wood goes in for smoke. I cook the birds at 340*, dry water pan. At 165* the birds come off and rest for about 30 minutes. I prepare an easy stove top style dressing and mix with the stuffed ingredients from the birds; 'to die for'. The chicken comes out fantastic; great skin color and texture, very most, good smoke flavor but not overly strong. I think I'm ready for turkey, Thanksgiving and little brother. All of the above is credited to this site; thanks to everyone for their influence.

Paul
 
Don't be afraid of the enhanced birds. Chris has a recipe in the cooking section using one. While it won't have the flavor of brining it will give you practice, not to mention some good eating. I have made quite a few of them. Around here they are reasonably priced around 99 cents a pound. I usually pick mine up for 10 or 11 bucks in November for a 12 pound bird.
 
Jeff,

You make a good point. That's probably what I'll do in the next few weeks; it's just that my supermarket had literally just 7 frozen birds in their turkey section. I know, its a seasonal product. For the main event, I want to have a fresh bird available for my own brine.

Paul
 
Do not know if you have heard of Americans Test Kitchen. There show this weekend on our local PBS channel they did a BUtterBall 20 lber. It was enhanced and they cooked without stuffing the bird except some carrot,celery,onions, and some lemons I think. For the skin the just used butter, then salt and pepper. The 1st hour I think was 425 degrees and then after a hour they reduced to 350. Turkey turned out nice and golden brown, skin crispy, and the turkey just flowed with juices. As for thawing the turkey they allowed 24 hours for every 4 lbs in the fridge. I am going to try this here in the near future I see no reason it cannot be applied to our smokers. ONly thing different is they used an oven.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Paul K:
I know, its a seasonal product. For the main event, I want to have a fresh bird available for my own brine.

Paul </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Then get your order in tomorrow if your supermarket is open...try it and see if the butchery manager is in, they often are on Sundays, catching up on their paper work when it is quieter.

Get your non-tampered turkey on order sooner instead of later or you will be searching for that taint free bird, and there won't be one out their with your name on it...been there, done that, got my head handed to me on a plate by the wife, for not ordering something I knew I wanted on a specific date more than 24 hours in advance.

Oh; and I forget anniversaries too!
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Paul,

No need to be intimidated by the <STRIKE>BGE</STRIKE>bge. I'd put food from my kettle or WSM up against it any day.

I have used the high priced, free-range, no hormone, non-enhanced turkeys a couple times. I found no difference at all from the $0.39/pound Thanksgiving special birds by the time the meat hits the table.

At my house, we typically cut the turkey breast off from the back and legs. This allows the meat to cook in less time and each part to cook to it's own temperature for optimum doneness. We never have dried-out meat doing it this way.

I you need a good recipe, I recommend Steven Raichlen's Maple-Smoked Turkey Breast. This has been outstanding each time I've made it.

Jim
 
Gary, I did a modified version of the process you describe. I started with cook temp of around 375 and then finished off around 325. I was trying for a crisper skin and pretty much achieved that.
Jim, I'm not intimidated; we just like to razz each other. I do want to put on a great spread of course. I'm sure the bird will come off great. Plus I can always rib him about the sticker price on his machine and the fact that I can move mine anywhere with getting a hernia
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!

Paul
 
Paul-

It's the cook, not the cooker!! As long as you know how to control the environment you are cooking in, you can turn out great food (assuming you have the rest of the procedure down!)
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I cook on both a WSM and a cermic grill, and love them both because I know how to use them both.

So, assuming you have control of your WSM down (sounds like you do), you'll do great. If I was a betting man, I'd say you and your bro will both turn out great food and the winners will be those who get to consume everything!!!

DISCLAIMER: I am a little bro, and LOVE beating my big bro in anything I possibly can (as he does in reverse!) I'm sure you guys will have fun with it no matter what.

Rich
 
Rich, you've got that right. We have a blast when we get together; and usually the best times involve cooking. I'll cut him some slack this go around as he is bringing in his latest sampling of homebrew!
Paul
 
If he's cooking a turkey, why duplicate it? Cook ribs or pork butt or prime rib, something besides a two turkey dinner. Add Ribeyes or filet mignon or... Competitiom doesn' always have to be head on...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bill_W:
If he's cooking a turkey, why duplicate it? Cook ribs or pork butt or prime rib, something besides a two turkey dinner. Add Ribeyes or filet mignon or... Competitiom doesn' always have to be head on... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Bill,

Dueling turkeys is a good thing. My wife and I have been doing it for years - hers indoors, mine outdoors. It was extra special last year when the oven died and I won by default.

Jim
 
Bill,
He's not cooking a turkey, I am. If there is any competition, and there really won't be, it will be between the two smokers. I've never tried anything off a BGE, but he'll probably be making mental comparisons. As a matter of fact, I'll probably do a ham the day before - don't want to OD on turkey!
Paul
 
Ceramic cookers do great job once you understand there operation. They can not handle much wood for smoke because of the fact you are using exhaust as part of temp control. When it comes to poultry ceramic cookers do well in part because the ceramic loads up with heat and radiates it making crispy skin less of a problem.

They are also a great grill, reaching pit temps in the 700 to 800 degree range is not a problem.

The WSM has a much more storied past in competitions than the ceramic cookers but there are now a few teams out there that are doing their best to change that, ie DrBBQ and Dizzy Pig and others.
Jim
 
If he has been cooking that BGE for 10 years and is willing to haul it interstate to cook for Thanksgiving, you can be sure he thinks you will wind up looking like "Second Fiddle Turkey Cooker" with a new WSM smoker. He's not hauling that BGE that far to look second best... So "Watch out" cause little brother has a suprise in store for you...
 
imho, there's nothing he can do on that BGE that you can't do on your WSM other than reach higher temps for grilling. Talk about spending more for less - how about capacity ?

I'm not trashing a BGE. With my track record I'll probably end up getting one. However, it will be in addition to and not instead of a WSM.

Paul
 
This spring, I added a WSM to the Kamado I've been cooking on for 31 years, because I thought it could do the low and slow better. I just think "Little Brother" is bringing his BGE down for a "demo" cook because he thinks the results will be exceptional. With 10 years practice on his BGE, he hopefully is "right on".
 
To make the challenge more interesting, try a smo-fry turkey. Smoke the turkey in the WSM for 1 to 1.5 hours and then finish off the turkey in a turkey fryer. I did this last year and it was the best turkey anyone in the family had, ever. With all the negative publicity about deep-frying, I had my doubts, but after some research it seemed the way to go. The wife’s were worried I would ruin the turkey, so they oven baked another turkey in the oven. Needless to say, their turkey had a lot more leftovers! This website has a good discussion on the subject: http://www.bbq-porch.org/turkey10.asp
 
Ken's smofried turkey is a great idea. These are very very good. Try a practice bird or 3 to get it just right before your bro arrives. BGE is a good smoker but is way overpriced GrillDome is same idea but priced for the working man.
 
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