50,000 brain cells slated for demolition

I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend.

At the Tusk household it's smoker time with a rack of ribs, and an entire turkey going into the ol' Black Diamond. The turkey should be the color of an old tire when it is finished.

Setting up the pool for the summer and of course, trying to kill at least 50,000 brain cells with alcohol.

Why is it that when we get older the time between summers seems to shorten?

 

Not to the tire stage yet.

http://twitpic.com/1sj7c8

 

I'm doing a new technique on my smoker. It's working flipping awesome so far.

I have a black diamond, http://bbq.about.com/od/smokerreviews/gr/aapr072405a.htm

I've been wanting to modify it to have a coal tray, so I could have two layers, one for the coal one for the wood.

Then I saw these at the hardware store yesterday.



I got them and the plan is working well. I put one as far away from the smoke chamber as possible and put the charcoal in it. I put the wet wood in the other one and sit it on top.

Huge amounts of smoke, very low heat. Best of all, with a slight bending of the wood one, I can put a spatula under it and lift it off the coal one to refill it. Even better, since the top helps smother the coals a little, it lasts about 2 hours before I have to add coal.

I've had other experiments with a hot plate, cast iron skillet and smoking pellets, which works pretty well. The problem is that it is a hideous amount of electricity to run it for 12-18 hours.

I need to make the rib hangers I've been swearing I was going to add to the for the last 12 years.

 

http://twitpic.com/1sn2vw

THAT is the tire stage.

12 hours total in the smoker. With a rack of pork baby back ribs along for the entire ride. Tossed some brats in the last 4 hours. Gotta be careful with sausage, easy to dry out.

 

Next time, I'm going to try to cold smoke a pork belly (aka BACON) and some cheese.

 

Extremely moist. Smokey all the way through. I used apple wood so there is that taste plus a bit of sweetness. It smoked for 12 hours so there isn't that acidic bite you would get from a short smoke.

I've learned that if I do it right, the turkey will look a little deflated right before I take it out. I think what happens is the fat in the skin completely liquefies and is soaked up by the meat. When that happens you're done. Any longer is just drying it out. Also if there is a pop-up timer, leave it in place. Otherwise it is just a drain hole for moisture.

I think I will break it down next time. The problem is that the breasts are perfect, the legs are good, but the bottom doesn't get enough heat to cook completely. So I generally peel the skin and give that to the dogs then cut the breasts and drumsticks off.

If the bird was mostly breast (as in this case) I toss the entire carcass. There *might* have been another pound or two, but I would have spent an hour getting it all.

If the bird is balanced I toss the carcass in the fridge and the next day simmer it for 4-5 hours for stock. Then you have this great smoked stock you can use in chili, soups or enchiladas. You can pour the resulting stock into ice cube trays and freeze it.

The most challenging thing I have ever smoked is deer. No fat, so you are in danger of making jerky without meaning too. My trick is to put it in a water bath with some seasoning that covers about 1/4-1/2 the way up the meat (no salt in the water though, it spends too much time in it). Then turn it every hour. You get the smoke, but flipping it keeps it moist.