my butt from Sages:

first pic right on the smoker with the crab legs:




10 hours in, prbably got another few to go:

jimswside wrote:first pic right on the smoker with the crab legs:




10 hours in, prbably got another few to go:

Looking great. There really isn't a better time than the Fall to sit outside with a cold one and smoke some meat. I plan on doin up a butt early, early Sunday morning so its ready by halftime for the Bears game tomorrow.

thanks da beef.

Butt took 13 hours(alot of wind, and some rain Friday night). Pulled the butt, and wrapped it in foil with some honey, and apple juice for 2 hours and put it in a cooler for two hours before pulling. The best butt I have done, I used my basic rub with a little more salt, and was very happy. Served ona bun with salw, and bbq sauce. My hosting duties took over, so no finished wings pics, but they were great, especially the ones smoked on the Weber.

finished butt:







Also got good news yesterday, Im not just getting a WSM for x-mas, but I think the 22.5" WSM.... Mercy....!

thanks for looking @ my pics

Nice looking food Jim, I like those burnt skin pieces. I hope your daughter had a great birthday!

LikestoEatout wrote:Nice looking food Jim, I like those burnt skin pieces. I hope your daughter had a great birthday!

thanks, here's one more:

Caputo's has spares on sale this week for $1.49/lb, so I will go with some of those for Saturday, and if I can find some pork belly like I passed on last time, Ill do something with that(maybe give out pork belly to the trick-or-treaters).

Also working on a smoked stuffed mushroom idea that may get done Saturday as well, if not ABT's


edit/update:

Spares @ Caputos were labled St. Louis, but were cut in half lenghwise(more like country style ribs in appearance), maybe good for some oven cooked ribs, but not the smoker. I got 2, 2# packs of the "natural" ribs(vegitarian pigs, etc.) I got a few weeks ago that were pretty good($2.99/Lb.).

I also got some mushrooms, fresh Italian sausage, and a few other items to put together a smoked stuffed mushroom appetizer

probably going to smoke the mushrooms cap side up for about an hour, and cook off the sausage. then sautee the stems, some onion and gralic in the rendered fat. Maybe mix in some paresan, and stuff the shrooms before another hour or so on the smoker. Should be a good experiment.

Also doing some beans with the apple pie filling adder mentioned way upthread. Those were pretty good, but its my basic recipe with the apple pie filling, not a duplicate of that one.

got an early start to get dinner doen before trick-or-treating

Cheap unenhanced natural ribs:





Mushrooms stuffed with Ital. Sausage, they will get topped with Asiago after they smoke for a while:



beans using the apple pie filling adder from upthread, also added some sliced, sauteed Genoa Slami, mild capicola, & diced onions, garlic, gherkins, etc:





thanks for looking, ribs on the smoker now with a cast iron pan full of lump, and hickory, shrooms, and beans to follow, after the beer, and tequila begions to flow.

jim, it all looks great. what kind of smoker you have?

Smoke-roasted a turkey today. Wow!

Used the Apple Juice brine from the Virtual Weber Bullet site, applied a rub of salt, coriander, nutmeg, paprika, powdered ancho chile, dry mustard, garlic, thyme after a rubdown of olive oil, then filled the cavity with two chopped apples and a leek, also tossed with olvie oil and some of the rub. Used cherry with hardwood charcoal, 16 pound bird took about three and a half hours for the breast to reach 165.

When we took the bird off the fire, the apples and leeks smelled so good, we pureed them in a blender with a little chicken stock, combined some of them with the drippngs, some flour, a shot of bourbon and a tablespoon of cider vinegar, making an applesauce gravy that was amazing.

Served all with baked sweet potato "fries" with basil and parmesan, and a stuffing (outside of the bird) with chestnuts, apples, hazelnuts and cornbread, and a hard cider to drink.

Great day for apples and turkey. The four of us only ate most of one side of the breast, giving us lots and lots of leftovers.

JoelF wrote:Smoke-roasted a turkey today. Wow!

Sounds incredibly delicious, Joel. Thanks, for the inspiration.

=R=

You're very welcome. I did it because we were talking with friends about turkey, and how I've never made one at all -- we have two thanksgivings every year: an early one at my in-laws, and a later one (on the same day) at my family. So I thought I'd try one on the smoker, since "P" had a friend who had done that previously.

The term "smoke-roast" I took from Gary's site on a thread labeled "Turkey!", and I am ashamed to say I'm playing with fires without finishing lesson 5 (although this isn't as low or slow, so I don't feel quite so bad).

JoelF wrote:The four of us only ate most of one side of the breast, giving us lots and lots of leftovers.

Suggestion for the leftovers: THE Virginia Sandwich from Something Different Country Store and Deli. Gary introduced me to the proprietor, bbq man and "ethno-gastronomist" Dan Gill. I'm currently living up the road from Something Different. Eat there about two or three times a week, and this sandwich is a favorite.

Or, smoked turkey and sausage gumbo...

You've inspired me to smoke-roast a turkey next week.

hey crrush, dan gills place is on my list of place's to go. maybe this summer a trip is called for. i will be starting to do turkeys as well prob. thur. start with sum breast. did sum last year on the wsm , they were great. going to put them on thr klose pit this year

philw wrote:jim, it all looks great. what kind of smoker you have?

thanks phil, right now I am using a GOSM gasser with the chip box replaced with a large cast iron pan I fill with lump, and wood chunks. I have an offset I dont use anymore, and a Weber kettle I smoke wings and less time consuming items on.

I am counting the days til' x-mas when my WSM arrives(hoping for the 22.5", but may get the smaller one)

ill toss up the finished pics here in a bit, they are downloading now

that is great jim, that is a great cooker(wsm)

philw wrote:that is great jim, that is a great cooker(wsm)

i have heard a few good things about the WSM's, and enjoyed a couple months test driving one this summer.

heres what I cranked out:





finished ribs(top rack with an Opnen Pit glaze, bottom rack with my rub:




finished shroom(these were a big hit):


thanks for looking at my pics

looks great jim

philw wrote:looks great jim

thanks Phil,

I wasnt going to smoke anything today, but i have the Weber set up, and the chimney going right now for smoked chicken wings(rubbed with my rub, and Tony C's creole seasoning(folks can go out for wings all they want, but a deep fried wing has nothing on a smoked one). should be good eats for later on for the Baltimore game that starts in about 15 minutes.

jimswside wrote:beans using the apple pie filling adder from upthread, also added some sliced, sauteed Genoa Slami, mild capicola, & diced onions, garlic, gherkins, etc:

OK - I don't really like baked beans, but those look fantastic....
Gherkins - really?

Canadian Foodie wrote:
OK - I don't really like baked beans, but those look fantastic....
Gherkins - really?

thanks,

the minced gherkins just add a little sweet and sour crunch texture here and there. I used 3 small ones, typically I put some pickle relish in, but this version was a big impov version using what I had in the fridge.

Smoke-roasted a turkey today. Wow!

Joel--did you put the bird on whole, or butterfly or otherwise cut into pieces? Also, can you describe how much charcoal/wood you used for the 3.5 hrs? I would assume it takes more charcoal when you aren't using the water pan?

Thanks for posting, sounds like a great idea.

casualcrit wrote:

Smoke-roasted a turkey today. Wow!

Joel--did you put the bird on whole, or butterfly or otherwise cut into pieces? Also, can you describe how much charcoal/wood you used for the 3.5 hrs? I would assume it takes more charcoal when you aren't using the water pan?

Thanks for posting, sounds like a great idea.

Actually, according to Gary W's book "Low & Slow" "half the amount of lit and unlit charcoal in the setup (This hotter, faster cook uses less charcoal)." I'd say pick up a copy of Low & Slow as it is a fantastic resource and teaching aid for smoking.

casualcrit wrote:

Smoke-roasted a turkey today. Wow!

Joel--did you put the bird on whole, or butterfly or otherwise cut into pieces? Also, can you describe how much charcoal/wood you used for the 3.5 hrs? I would assume it takes more charcoal when you aren't using the water pan?

Thanks for posting, sounds like a great idea.

I missed Gary's notes in the book on turkey, but I set up the fire just like I would for a standard "KISS" cook, from what I saw on the forum on his site*: half-filled with unlit, a couple chunks of cherry, cover with a bit more charcoal, then a starter full of lit on top, then two more chunks of cherry wood. I let it get to "small puffs" stage, then put the whole bird, breast up on the top rack, with a pan right below to catch most of the drippings.

Then I just left it alone. I did use a remote thermometer set to beep when the breast reached 165F, because nobody likes raw turkey. A couple spots near the thigh bones could have gone a few more minutes, but were really quite fine.

The cherry wood, and the fact I used less of it, was quite a bit milder than the hickory I've used on chicken and pork up until now. An hour and a half of six pieces of hickory makes a very, very smokey chicken compared to three and a half hours of four pieces of cherry on the gobbler.

* The virtual weber site had some nice recipes, but strangely everyone talked about using Kingsford briquettes.

Lunches this week have been from the same generous bird (and I haven't even touched the drumsticks or wings!)
I made a huge batch of my brown rice salad on Sunday, and have been eating leftovers of that (and MrsF took a batch to her office.
Today, I sliced up the remaining breast, realizing it isn't going to get et for dinner, sending most to the freezer, leaving enough for a grilled smoked turkey and cheddar sandwich, dipped in the smoked leek-applesauce gravy. Mmmm.

I've been eyeing some spares at GardenFresh. Time to get back with the plan and pick up with Lesson 4.

Things we did last summer...




7/4/2009

really nice looking brick pit Jeff.

DId you build that yourself or have a mason come out and do it for you? I have lots of brick, and alot of room.. I want one.

Thanks. I designed it down to the last 1/8 inch and picked up the materials. A very talented mason built it.

JeffB wrote:Thanks. I designed it down to the last 1/8 inch and picked up the materials. A very talented mason built it.

from the picture, you did a great job with the design, and the mason did great work.