Smoked Turkey

Well folks, it's that time of the year again. Thanksgiving it right around the corner and if you haven't smoked a turkey for the holiday, you are doing yourself and your family a disservice!

After teaching barbecue classes for almost 8 years, I stand by my stance that poultry (chicken, turkey, wild game, etc) is one of the most difficult to smoke. Why, you ask? Unlike beef and pork, poultry usually has skin on it. Not only that, but it has TWO types of meat; white and dark and both cook differently.

The biggest challenge with smoking poultry is the skin. When you cook turkey low and slow as you do when you smoke it, the skin can come out "rubbery".  The skin on poultry needs higher heat to crisp up. So, how do you smoke turkey at a lower temp but still get crispy skin? I am here to tell you!

First of all, let's talk about what kind of turkey to get. There are two types you will find in the store; organic and pre-injected. Organic turkeys are just that; they are basically just a turkey that has not had anything added to it such as injections, etc. They do tend to be a bit more expensive and may require a bit more work but are usually worth the effort.  The pre-injected birds are the ones you typically see in any grocery store. They are usually injected with steroids, etc to keep the bird fresh and plumped up for better store presentation. Most often than not, the pre-injected birds are also frozen when purchased. Here is a great article by the LA Times explaining the difference between the two: Organic versus pre-injected turkey

If you want to experience everything possible to do to a turkey, buy an organic one. You will typically brine an organic turkey whereas you don't have to with pre-injected birds. Just depends on how lazy you are and/or how much you want to spend!

If you purchase a frozen turkey, make sure you allow enough time to SAFELY thaw the bird out. Thaw time takes about 24 hours for every 5 lbs the turkey is overall in the refrigerator. I am not going to talk about other ways to thaw because you should ONLY thaw a bird in the fridge. Period.

Once your bird is thawed, it's time to decide if you want to brine the bird or not. This means soaking it in a salt solution. We brine for moisture, not so much flavor. You are going to wash off most of the brine anyway. Doesn't mean you can't add flavor to your brine.  The Briner Buckets or brining bags are popular. Here in Colorado the temp may or may not get low enough to put your turkey in a food grade (yes, don't use any old one) bucket in the garage. It MUST be 40 degrees or lower so as not to spoil your meat.  The Briner buckets come in 8 qt sizes that are perfect for the fridge!

How long you brine is up to you. Some do it for days and others do it for hours.

After you brine (or not) it's time to prepare the turkey for smoking. Once you rinse off the brine if you choose to do that, you can now inject your bird if you so choose. This simply means pumping a liquid into the meat for added flavor. The most simplest is to melt butter and inject it. There are many injectables on the market that really take your turkey to the next level. (Hint: I have a bunch at the store!) Injecting is not a requirement by any means but sure helps with flavoring the meat.

Before you brine, see that plastic thermometer that comes with the bird? Take it out and THROW IT AWAY! They are garbage and will pop out when the bird is WAY OVERCOOKED. Always, always, always use a good digital thermometer to check your meat temps instead.

Now it is time to put a rub on your turkey. A rub can be as simple as some rosemary and sage or an over the counter rub designed to enhance the flavor of the turkey. I have a ton of rubs at the store that do just that! If you are going to use a rub, make sure you put it up under the skin between the skin and the meat. Otherwise you will just flavor the skin and that is it. Pull the skin up with your finger or the end of a wooden spoon and separate it from the meat. Stuff the rub up under the skin all over the meat and then place the skin back down over it. Lastly, sprinkle some of your rub over the skin.

Here are some dos and donts when it comes to turkey:

• Spraying the outside of the skin with butter spray or vegetable spray such as Pam will help crisp up the skin as well. 
• Cover the wings and drumsticks with foil to keep them from burning during the cook.
• Do not place your bird inside a roasting pan. Make sure to get it up elevated for better heat and smoke penetration. We don't want our bird sitting in all those juices making the bottom soggy. Place the giblets, turkey neck, etc into the pan with some water which we will make our gravy from after it is done cooking. 
• Do not cook the bird breast side down. 
• Do not "tent" the bird with foil after you pull it off the smoker. This will just make the skin soggy. 
• Do NOT stuff your turkey if you decide to cook it whole. We want the heat to get inside and help cook the bird more evenly. 

Now it's time to cook your turkey. I HIGHLY recommend spatchcocking (I know, it's a funny word. Some call it butterflying, or splaying) the turkey. This simply means to cut the backbone out using poultry shears, turning it over and pressing down on the breast bone until it "pops" and spreading your bird out. There are so many advantages to cooking it this way. First of all, it will cook faster. Secondly it will smoke and cook more evenly. When we cook a bird whole, the heat penetrates from the outside in. So to get the middle of the bird to the required 165F, the outside (breast white meat) is usually overcooked by that time. Trust me on this everyone, spatchcock your turkey. Period. 

                                        Example of a spatchcocked turkey. 

Now that you have your bird dressed, you have to decide how you want to smoke it. By that I mean, you can smoke it at a lower temp and then turn up the temp towards the end. This is my preferred method.  I smoke the turkey around 225F until it reaches an internal temp of around 145 to 150F. Then I crank up the heat to 325 or 350F until it reaches 165F. Do NOT go much above 165F as you drastically increase your chances of drying out the white meat. When your digital thermometer reads 165F in the breast, thigh and armpit, it's ready to come off. 

Finally, what type of wood is best for smoking a turkey? The answer to that is really any kind that you like. I can tell you that the most popular wood by far is Apple but you can use whatever you like. 

One of my favorite ways to smoke turkey is using the Urban Accents Gourmet Gobbler kit. Here is a video on how to do so (I would of course recommend spatchcocking it):

Smoked Turkey Recipe

Have a safe and awesome Thanksgiving holiday! If you need any clarification or more steps, please stop by the store and feel free to ask me anything you like! 

Pre-Holiday Warm Up

Can you believe the holidays are already almost upon us? As we get into October, many of you are thinking about what you are going to cook for the holidays. Tradition dictates turkey during Thanksgiving and Prime Rib for Christmas but many people change things up with pork tenderloin or ham, etc.

                             

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I have always recommended if you have not smoked any holiday meats to "practice" first before you just jump in for the family and/or friends. I usually grab some of the super cheap turkeys that are sold the day after Thanksgiving from the previous year and throw them in the freezer to either smoke during the year or to test new recipes on. 

Trust me when I say smoking a turkey isn't NOT that hard and the results will often times rival oven roasted turkey. (My next blog will be all about how to smoke a turkey) You can even practice with a large chicken roaster if you don't have a turkey laying around. 

Some things you will need to think about are:

1. Will you wet brine your bird? If you do went brine, what is the easiest way to do this? (Hint, see below) 

2. Will you inject your bird? This adds so much flavor and enhances the moisture of the meat. 

3. Will you enhance the flavor of the meat with a dry rub? My personal opinion is this is a must. 

Let's talk about brining poultry.  First of all, what is it? Brine is usually a fancy word for salt water for the most part. 

Secondly, what does it do? Brining meat usually is all about adding moisture more so than it is flavor. In fact, you will usually rinse off most of the brine anyway. When meat, especially poultry, is subjected to heat the moisture in the meat will evaporate out as well as the cells will push out water during the cook. When the salt (sodium chloride) joins with the cells in the meat, it causes the cells to not let go of so much moisture during the cook. In other words, your meat stays more moist as long as it isn't over cooked.

So to recap, brine is water with salt and sometimes sugar and other spices that penetrate the meat when submerged in said brine helping keep the meat from getting dry if cooked to recommended temps. 

And lastly, how do you do it? Basically submerge your meat (in this case poultry) in the brine water mixture. The easiest way I have found to do this is with a Briner Bucket®. 

These buckets (they come in 8 qt or 22 qt sizes) allow you to submerge the meat without incident. You put your meat in, pour the brine in and "lock" the plate down to submerge the meat under the brine and place in the fridge for however long you want to brine. Some recipes call for hours of brining and others call for days. 

If the Briner Bucket® isn't your thing, then you can use large Ziploc® bags. The only thing with these I have found is they can leak sometimes causing a mess in your refrigerator. When I grew up in Michigan, we could use a food grade bucket and just place it in the garage as the temps were low enough (below 40 degrees) so the meat didn't spoil. Here in Colorado it could be 40 degrees at night and 70 during the day so that isn't a viable option unless you put the bucket in ice. 

Once your meat has brined, you rinse the brine off (otherwise your meat will be very salty) and then smoke the poultry. I will talk about smoking turkeys in my next blog. 

If you haven't tried brining meat, I urge you to give it a try. It does require some planning and a bit of patience before your cook but the outcome is so worth it! 

Dan M.

Colorado BBQ Outfitters

How a wood pellet grill works...

Wood pellet grills have wildly gained in popularity over the last few years. Traeger started it all in the mid 80s when they came out with and patented the first wood pellet grills.

When Traeger's patent ran in 2008, there were 6 more manufacturers by the end of that year. Last I have heard there are over 60 manufacturers of wood pellet grills today showing the massive expanse of this industry.

Wood pellet grills all operate the same way. By that I mean they have a hopper mounted to the side of the grill cooking chamber that is filled with pellets. Pellets are nothing more than actual wood that has been turned to a sawdust and then pressed into the form of a pellet. When it comes to pellets, you get what you pay for. We sell the Lumberjack brand as they only use pure virgin wood fiber, they leave the bark on it for added flavor and never add flavor oils or binders.

An auger motor feeds the pellets via an auger into a fire pot. There is an igniter or hot rod that during start up will get red hot and light the pellets. A small fan feeds the fire pot the air it needs to burn.  This concept is basically no different than starting a small fire in a coffee can.

The fan not only feeds the fire pot oxygen, it will create a convention style cooking environment within the grill cooking chamber. This allows the heat and smoke to circulate evenly around your food.  Cooking indirectly a wood pellet grill is really no different than cooking in the oven in your kitchen. 

Once the igniter light's the pellets, the digital thermometer that most wood pellet grills come with monitors the temperature in the grill. As the temp begins to climb, the digital control tells the auger to slow down dumping less pellets into the fire pot. As the pellets burn down, the temp begins to drop which triggers the digital control to tell the auger to speed up dumping more pellets and so on and so on throughout your cook. For this reason, WOOD PELLET GRILLS HAVE AND WILL NEVER HOLD THEIR TEMPERATURE TO THE DEGREE.  That would be like trying to control the temperature of a campfire to the degree. Virtually impossible. Therefore, you will have temperature "swings" during your cook. 

The simple graph above shows the normal temp swings that will occur with a wood pellet grill. As the temp rises on the upswing, you will almost see little to no smoke. As the temp lowers on the downside, the grill will show visible smoke.  When you add wood to a fire it begins to burn more efficiently and of course hotter. As the wood burns down and starts to smolder, you typically see more smoke. This is what is going on in a wood pellet grill. 

The question most ask me is "then why are there digital controllers and PID (proportional–integral–derivative) controllers that are designed to hold temp to the degree?" First off, this is a marketing ploy to play on the digital age we live in. Our culture is shifting to more precise results what with digital use of thermometers and controllers. Again, no digital control can effectively hold the temp in a wood pellet grill to the degree. The PID controllers maybe lessen that temp gap but there will STILL be temp swings. 

My experience has been the food that comes off of any wood pellet grill whether it is a $300 grill or a $5000 grill; is the same. The difference are the "bells and whistles" those grills come with. Some offer pellet dumps to swap out your pellets in the hopper easily. Some offer multi-food probes to track the temperature of your food and now we have wood pellet grills that can be solely operated from your cell phone! 

All of this being said, wood pellet grills still remain the easiest way to "set it and forget it" when it comes to smoking and cooking.  These grills are very simple to use and a extremely versatile. 

Stop in some day to our store and we will show you everything there is to know about wood pellet grills! 

Dan M. 

Colorado BBQ Outfitters

Just the facts ma'am....

For the last 6 years I have heard just about every ridiculous idea, rumor, etc about barbecuing and/or grilling.

In this world we live in where it feels like integrity and truth have long gone by the wayside, one things is certain, facts are facts.

One of these so called untruths that exist out there is DO WOOD PELLET GRILLS HOLD THEIR TEMPERATURE TO THE DEGREE. The answer is NO. It does not matter whether you spend 100 dollars or ten thousand dollars on a wood pellet grill, they are not designed to nor will they hold their temperatures to the exact degree. In this digital age we live in, there sure are a lot of people trying to force them to. Adding PID controllers, etc. By doing this, you are actually causing more harm than good.

Pellet grills are designed using a pellet hopper to store the pellets that funnels down to an auger that feeds the pellets to a fire pot. There is a igniter that during the start up process gets red hot. That lights your pellets. Once the pellets are lit, the igniter turns off. The fan feeds the fire pot air that keeps the pellets going. As the auger drops more pellets into the fire pot, they ignite and the temperature starts to go up. The digital thermometer starts to read that the grill is getting hotter and slows down the auger to feed less pellets in the firebox. Then the temperature starts to drop some and the process repeats over and over. IT IS PERFECTLY NORMAL FOR A WOOD PELLET GRILL TO HAVE ANYWHERE FROM A 20 TO 30 DEGREE SWING DURING THE COOK.

If you sit and watch a wood pellet grill, you will notice it does not smoke during the entire cook.  One minute you will look out and not even be sure your grill is going as there is not any smoke coming out of it. That is the upswing part of the temperature climbing as the pellets burn more efficiently. Then 10 minutes later you look out and there is smoke coming out of the grill. That is the downswing part of the temperature lowering to adjust the internal temp of the grill and so on and so on.

If you still aren't convinced, just remember that digital controls and thermometer haven't been around that long, yet bbq has been made for hundreds of years. Don't get caught up in the precise digital age when it comes to good barbecue!

I realize we live in a digital age but that doesn't mean everything in life needs to be digital! :) 

Proper maintenance equals longevity

Boy, it has been awhile since I have posted a blog. My apologies everyone. Life gets in the way I guess. :)

This blog might be more of a rant than anything. I see or hear things in the BBQ world that drive me nuts. They are either blatantly not true or incorrect usage/handling of products.

Here are my top griefs/recommendations:

1. Digital thermometers

• Bluetooth stinks. The range is horrible and it flakes out 80% of the time. Wireless works great but stay away from Bluetooth use thermometers until the technology is better. 
• The probes are almost never water proof. Do NOT clean your probe under water, etc. In fact, do not even wipe your probe wire with a damp cloth. Wipe off the tip that was in the food and store it away. All you need to do. 
• Like everything, you get what you pay for. That $10 wireless thermometer at the big box store is a great deal until it dies half way through your season. 

2. Wood pellet grill digital controllers should hold temperature to the degree. Wood pellet grills are NOT designed to hold their temperatures right to the degree. They are designed to swing in temp anywhere from 5 to 20 degrees. Sometimes more. Unless you have 50 degree swings or more, don't worry about it. Remember that 100 years ago we smoked meat over a fire with no temperate control whatsoever. The auger will feed pellets into the fire pot. The heat will go up. To compensate the auger will slow down feeding less pellets. The fire will die down a bit and the process starts over. When the temp is going up, less smoke. Then the temp is coming down, more smoke. 

3. Your smoker should be air tight. It drives me nuts when people see some smoke coming out from around the lid of the smoker and want to do a bunch of crazy modifications. The analogy I use is to go out in a huge field and light a fire and stand next to it for 15 minutes.  You will smell like smoke. It isn't the smoke leaking you should be worried about. It's the possibility of your temperature not being stable. If your smoker is leaking smoke but your temps are dialed in and do not sway much, leave it. 

4. Tons of smoke equals good flavor. It is possible to over smoke foods. Personally, I prefer my smoked foods to actually be lightly smoked. Some like a heavy smoke and that is great. When you are starting out smoking foods, a little goes a long way. Start with lighter smoke and work up. 

These are just a few of the things that I encourage our customers not to worry about. 

Keep on smoking everyone and keep it simple! 

Dan M. 

Colorado BBQ Outfitters

Consumer's last stand

I apologize for the delay in my lapse in blogging.  Been a crazy summer!

I want to talk about something that can make or break a small business... the consumer.

Did you know that you had the power to make a small business succeed or fail?

Have you had a wonderful experience at a local business? Contrarily, have you had a really bad experience somewhere?

In either case, the consumer wields something so powerful and most don't even know it.

I am referring to REVIEWS. Whether you choose Yelp, Facebook, Google, or any other review site, reviewing a business is actually seen and leaves an impact on future customers.

We at Colorado BBQ Outfitters encourage all of our customers to leave us reviews regardless of the experience. If your expectations were not met, then let us know what we can do possibly the next time to satisfy that expectation. Subsequently, if you had a really good experience, please take a moment to give a review as such.

In this day and age it appears that some Americans have just given up. "It is what it is" attitude towards everything. That is NOT true. You do have the power to make a huge impact on a business. It only takes a few moments to leave a review!

Dan M.
Colorado BBQ Outfitters

Holidays tips

I can't believe it is already November! Where did this year go? Then again, don't we say that every year?

I thought I would take some time to go over the most frequently asked questions Daren and I get at the store during the holiday season. Here we go...

1. Is it best to smoke a turkey whole?

• No. The most preferred way to smoke a turkey is to spatchcock it. Spatchcocking

2. What is the best wood to use for smoking turkey? 

• Apple is probably the most universally used; however, any wood that you like can be used. There are no rules. Sweet woods tend to work best with pork and poultry. 

3. What is the best device used for smoking or roasting a turkey? 

• The Turkey Dunrite seems to be the most popular device we sell during the holidays. 

4. Should I wet brine my turkey? 

• Whether you choose to dry or wet brine is a personal choice. Both help with flavor and moisture. Most people probably prefer to wet brine their turkeys. The Urban Accents Gourmet Gobbler is our most popular product as it has the brine, brining bag, and rub to put on the turkey. 

5. How do I keep my wings and drums from drying out during the smoking process?

• Most people cover them in foil part of the way through the cooking process to avoid these smaller piece of the turkey from burning. 

6. Should I stuff my turkey when I smoke it?

• If you spatchcock it, you physically cannot stuff it. If you do choose to smoke your turkey whole, it is recommended you do NOT stuff the turkey for the most part to allow the heat and smoke to get inside the turkey cavity. 

7. What internal temperature should I shoot for on a turkey? 

• 165F no more, no less. Most people overcook poultry when they grill or smoke it drying out the meat. 165F is the ideal internal temperature. You can pull it off at 160 and foil tent it for 15 to 20 minutes. The use of a good digital thermometer cannot be emphasized more here. They are worth their weight in gold. Throw away those little plastic pop up thermometers that come with the bird. They are worthless. 

8. Can I set my turkey out on the counter to thaw or in cold water in the sink? 

• The only true safe way to thaw any meat is in the refrigerator over time. 

9. Are there any times when I should NOT brine or inject my turkey? 

• If the turkey has already been brined or treated (many these days have been already), do not brine or inject the turkey again or you will wind up with a bird that is to salty. Look for turkeys that are organic, non-kosher, non-enhanced, etc. 

10. Do you smoke a rib roast (Prime Rib) the same way you would a brisket?

• No. Entirely two different types of meat. Brisket is very tough and must be cooked over a long period of time with lower heat. Rib Roast is smoked like a pork tenderloin or steak cut; rare, medium-rare, well-done, etc. 

Didn't answer your particular question? Come in and see us and we will answer that question for or at least found out the answer! 

Dan M. 

Colorado BBQ Outfitters