Smokin' the Bird

I recently stumbled upon a gang of fools, Grillinfools.com to be exact. This website, an all in one smoker sitting lonely and forlorn in Gene's kitchen, and a sale on pork butt's inspired me to add a new cooking method to my repertoire.

My first venture out was a smoked pork butt and it was a moderate success. I used a rub recipe from Grillinfools.com and scoured the internet for more advice. The best I found was from a member of the aforementioned site via Facebook.

Pulling at least a draw on my confrontation with the butt, I decided to step it up and smoke the Thanksgiving Turkey. I threw all fear, and caution to the wind and spoke boldly to the 20 people attending Thanksgiving dinner and said "I will smoke the turkey!" Who cares that I have only fired up a smoker once before, or that I have never prepared the thanksgiving turkey before.... or a turkey. I was confident. HA!

I harassed Scott from Grillinfools.com so much I am surprised he didn't take out a restraining order. With his advice, the recipes and tips from the site, and a large cooler full of ice on hand I felt ready.

A point that was hammered into my brain over and over again was BRINE THE BIRD!! This was the purpose of the cooler. The bird and the brine were far to big for my fridge. Scott was not the first to encourage this course of action. My long time love Alton Brown in Romancing the Bird called for this moisture inducing method years ago. I was a fan.

Taking a page from Grillinfools.com recipe for smoked whole chicken, I stuffed the skin of the Turkey with a butter garlic mixture. Setting the Bird in the smoker and the wood chips in a crush of aluminum foil I turned on the propane (yes, I said propane) and resolved to leave the lid in place for several hours. This is the hardest part as doubt causes you to want to check on the bird often. Resistance was key and ultimately played into my success. In smoking the butt I learned that temperature recovery took almost an hour every time I opened the lid and I didn't want to make 20 diners wait to eat.

This is where I confess that I asked my mom to make a second Turkey. This is also where I mention that more of my bird was eaten than hers, I was paid more compliments, and was even told that *gasp* hers was meant for gravy.

Since Thanksgiving I have tackled the mid-west favorite of smoked pork chops with great success. The next time you see smoke rising from my humble abode's back porch Mozzarella stuffed Portabellas will be the cause. I guess if I am going to take up a smoking addiction this late in life it might as well be one that produces such delicious results. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!