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Since then, I have developed many dry rubs to augment my new found method.
My honey and I also love to go Yard Sailing and I recently found a Meco waterless smoker for $5.00 and have been experimenting with it.
Yesterday morning I loaded the smoker with a 20lb. bird and it came out fantastically delicious. This time I used Apple.
Come this Wednesday, I will be smoking the other bird for the Family Gathering. :) I think I'm gonna use Mesquite this time as the Apple (and Cherry) are so very subtle even when the cavity was loosely packed with some Red Delicious Apples.
What are your favorite grilling method and for what food?
I am more interested in either indirect cooking or smoking using charcoal rather than gas.
Pork Loin?
Fish?
Chicken?
Anything else that might come to mind is fine too.
What are your experiences with Alder, Pecan and say Oak for heat? I primarily use Mesquite or Hickory, as they are more on the strong side, which is to my liking.
What types of dry rubs do you use? Those in jars or those you whip-up?
At any rate, enjoy your meal everyone...
i'm smoking a turkey this thursday, probably a twelve pounder--haven't had the best of luck with bigger birds. i'll be using mesquite wood and a small amount of a basic BBQ rub. i haven't decided what kind of liquid will wet the wood and go in the pan.
smoked chicken legs and thighs are my favorite. i marinade in a lime juice concentrate for at least 8 hours (usually overnight) and submerge it in a BBQ sauce about an hour before smoking -- hickory is nice. they are perfect after about 75 minutes.
smoked, boneless turkey breast is nice too. i use a ton of rub and shred it after its cooked, add BBQ sauce and you've got a great sandwich.
i git my first smoker this summer, it is a very basic model--just a metal tube with a lid and an access door. last week i received a few pounds each of cherry, apple, and maple chips in the mail--i can't wait to experiment next summer.
happy smoking
For a 15 lb. bone-in ham you need about 2.5 lbs. of coarse salt, 3 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar, a quarter cup of honey. a large pan, a large sack full of hickory nut shells, and some time.
Curing: Don't skin it, you want the flavor from the skin. Place the ham in a the pan, rub the honey into the meat briskly, making sure you really push the honey hard into the meat surrounding the bone. Then rub in the brown sugar, again, really working it hard into the meat around the bone. Take half the salt and rub it into the meat. Place the ham on a rack and turn once a day for 10 days.
After 10 days, rub the other half of the salt into the meat. Turn twice a day for another 15 days.
Build a small fire in your smoker, but don't add any hickory shells or sawdust. Hang the ham for 2 days in the warm air. On the third day, start adding hickory shells to your fire, smoke for 24-48 hours.
The ham is smoked, but it's not cooked. If you have an aging room, let it age for 2-4 months. Not necessary, but it lets all the flavors blend. Cook like you would any other ham.
I smoke geese and pheasant for 16 hours, using apple chips. Then a chestnut stuffing for roasting. Baste with gin and juniper berries.
Turducken
not heard that one yet, but read about gooducken [timesonline.co.uk] yesterday. One side of me wants to shun this idea as excentric gluttony, the other wants to serve it with roasties parnsips, rich gravy.....
I don't smoke turkey, I like them deep-fried
A Turducken is a chicken, stuffed inside a duck, stuffed inside a turkey
Back on topic, I did see advertised somewhere the other day, a foil bag with a layer of woodchips for smoking foods.
My house came with a smokehouse out back. Down here though, it's hard to get anyone to believe that you can use anything but hickory to smoke a ham with. Apple seems to be acceptable for fowl.
It's huge deal to put one of those meals together...but one of the more delicious meals I've ever had. 'Course, I'm not a health food guy. I only put the brussel sprouts on my plate for color.
I flipped 'em all out at Thanksgiving Dinner by bringing both birds. The one done with Mesquite ( remained whole ) and the one done with Apple chips, which I'd stripped a day before.
They absolutely loved the Apple! Can you believe it? <chuckle> They liked what I did not care that much for and that was the completely subtle flavor derived from the Apple chips. Well, that and I stuffed three quartered apples in the cavity and one in the craw.
Guess I've developed a taste for stronger smoke flavors. <shrug>
This time around, I'm looking at a 22lb. Whole Ham, which will be smoked overnight.
I also wanted to mention that we have decided to try cooking the Turducken spoken of earlier in this thread.
You know? Up until then, I'd never even heard of the dish, but now my curiosity is peaking. Only problem is I've not been able to round all the ingredients up in time for Christmas Dinner. <drat!>
All I have to do now if pick a future date...
I picked up this tip from a Steven Raichlen cookbook. You take a hair dryer and blow hot air across the coals when you've got thick juicy steak on it. Basically it preheats the air allowing the temperature to get hotter. So you can get that nice golden crust on the outside and still have it pink in the middle. Oh and as an added bonus it absolutely freaks out anybody who sees you doing it.
One of the best Legs of Lamb I ever had was in Northern China, where they slowly boil the leg first to cook it all the way through, and then give it a quick deep fry to crisp up the skin. If you didn't know otherwise you would swear it was roasted.
Onya
Woz
