Smoking a Turkey on the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM)

I usually deep fry our Thanksgiving turkey, but a few years ago I decided to learn some new tricks. The goal was to smoke the bird low and slow at 250 degrees or less and prevent it from drying out to compete with the moist and tender deep fried birds we've been eating for the past several years.

I started out at Publix and purchased a Fresh Not Frozen turkey.

Next stop...Ace Hardware for some Cherry Smoking Chips.

The turkey was injected the night before smoking with Shake's Honey Brine and refrigerated.

I started by making a "smoking pouch" for the chips and placed them on the charcoal resulting in instantaneous smoke. Tip: Soaking them in water overnight will help them burn a little slower and the smoke will last longer.

Another tip: If you have access to cherry wood "chunks", you'll achieve more smoke flavor. I had to settle for the cherry wood "chips" this time.
After reading a few of the posts at The BBQ Bretheren, I decided to drape some bacon on the bird for a little insurance, but I was hopeful to avoid a turkey that tastes like bacon. Tip: If I do this again, I'll start the cooking process without the bacon, which will help achieve golden brown skin on the bird. Bacon is effective, but could be added after the turkey has been cooking for a couple of hours.


I started the water pan with a 1/2 gallon of apple juice mixed with a 1/2 gallon of water. I stuffed the turkey cavity with five or six apple halves and smoked the bird on my WSM at temperatures hovering consistently between 240 - 250 degrees. I pulled the turkey off the smoker when the temperature in the breast reached 170 degrees. I've read a lot of "guides" recommending cooking the birds to 180 degrees as measured in the inner thigh as well.

After looking back through my pictures tonight, I noticed that I failed to take a picture of the finished product.

My smoked first smoked turkey was a semi-success. I achieved tender and moist white meat, but the bbq turkey was not quite as satisfying for me as the deep fried turkeys I'm more accustomed to.

Will I do it again? Definitely yes. I love a bbq challenge.

Real BarBQ Canton

I lived in Plymouth, Michigan from 2004 - 2007 and during that time there wasn't a barbecue restaurant to speak of in the Plymouth-Canton area. So after we moved back to the area in July 2011, I was kind of excited to see an "Opening Soon" sign on Ford Road announcing a new barbecue restaurant.

I lived in temporary housing for several months waiting to close on our home and stopped by the restaurant several times hoping to eat some barbecue. My smokers were in storage and I wanted to cure the craving for some 'que. But each time I pulled in the parking lot, the "Opening Soon" sign was still being displayed.

We were running errands today in Canton and were surprised to see Real BarBQ open for business. After cooking 35 lbs of brisket and pork butt for a work event later this week, we weren't craving bbq but after waiting 10 1/2 months for the opening we couldn't resist giving it a try.

Pork ribs, beef brisket, burnt end baked beans, coleslaw and cornbread.



The house bbq sauce at Real BarBQ

I ordered the Ribs + 1 (my plus 1 was brisket) and Linda ordered the Real Chop Shop (pulled pork served on a brioche roll).

While we waited for our meal, I was offered a tour of the kitchen. I didn't ask for permission to take a picture, but they did show me the Southern Pride they cook everything on - 1,100 lbs of pork butts is a lot of barbecue goodness.

I liked the ribs and brisket. I'm partial to my own homemade bbq, but it was good restaurant bbq. The atmosphere is very nice - actually much nicer than I anticipated. The staff is very friendly and the kitchen was organized and clean. Linda is a tough critic for pulled pork and didn't "love" it.

We'll definitely go back and will certainly recommend it to friends and co-workers. After driving an hour to eat at Slow's in Detroit to be told there was a 3 hour wait, it's good to know there is a nice bbq restaurant option much closer to home.

In case you're wondering what a brioche roll (I know I was) here is the definition from Wikipedia: brioche

BBQ for Christmas

We travel out of state for Christmas to visit relatives every year. To make it easier on the family we visit, we like to take some bbq along. We cook it the week before, vacuum seal it, and freeze it. When it's time to eat - we thaw it the rest of the way, reheat in the microwave, and add a little Blues Hog BBQ Sauce. It always turns out well. I highly recommend this method if you need to take food along with you when you're traveling - especially if you like to eat well. After all, what's better than bbq you cooked yourself?

I seasoned the pork butts and brisket the night before. I always refrigerate the meat overnight in the refrigerator to allow the spices to penetarate the meat better. I used my own spice rub on the brisket and tried some Oakridge BBQ seasoning on the pork butts.

I don't inject anything into the brisket, but usually inject a mixture of apple juice (3 cups), honey (1/2 cup), and whatever spice rub (3 TBSPs) I'm using into the pork butts. Those amounts work well for two pork butts. You would need to adjust the quantities accordingly for less or more meat as desired.

Since the cookers were hot, I decided to cook some chicken quarters (minus the drumsticks) on the WSM.

These were seasoned with poultry rub and marinated for 3 hours in Newman's Own salad dressing.

Here's a video of the pictures from the prepping and cooking process if you'd like to see them:

Honeysuckle White® Take On Turkey Challenge

I made the Top Ten of the Honeysuckle White® Take On Turkey Challenge. I'd appreciate your vote if you have a few minutes. If you read bbq blogs on the Internet, you'll probably recognize several of the entrants.

Before you view my video, I'll add one qualifier....I'm not an actor, I don't play one on TV, and I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night....but making the video was a lot of fun.

I smoked a whole turkey tropical style on my WSM.

BBQ Bison Ribs

I cooked these bison ribs on my kettle grill for supper tonight. The ribs were purchased from Gap Creek Buffalo in Bradenton, FL. I used a marinade of Worchestershire, beer, honey, chipotle adobo, salt, pepper, garlic, and soy sauce.

Using aluminum foil, banking the lump charcoal to one side of the kettle, and rotating the ribs every 20 minutes allowed me to cook these bison ribs in about an hour and 10 minutes. It's the first time I cooked them and may have actually overcooked them, so they were a little more chewy than I expected. They are pretty healthy for a barbecue entree.

If you don't have time to watch the entire video, here's a picture of the final cooking results:

We served the ribs with a healthy portion of Spanish rice.

The Brisket Movie - How to BBQ Brisket Pictorial

I've been playing around with Windows Movie Maker tonight and came up with this little "movie" about preparing a bbq brisket.



More background:

I use Certified Angus Brisket weighing about 13 pounds and a cooker temperature ranging from 200 - 250 degrees. I start them cooking fat side up and flip them to fat side down after 3 hours. I wrap the brisket in aluminum foil after it reaches 165 degrees internal temperature, or after 5 hours (whichever comes first). I cook my brisket to 198 degrees and let it rest in an Igloo cooler for at least 1 hour prior to slicing and serving.

Barbecue Brisket Weekend

Finished product. I cooked a 13 lb brisket for 8 hours with apple wood and sauced lightly with Blues Hog BBQ Sauce.

Weber Smokey Mountain cooking at 225 degrees.

Stem thermometer through the lid to monitor the temperatures.

Mr. Powdrell's Original Barbeque Restaurant

During a recent visit to Albequerque on our summer vacation, we stopped by for supper at Mr. Powdrell's Barbeque (recommended by several of my readers). It's not quite the kind of hard core barbecue joint I was expecting, since it serves some non-traditional bbq menu items too, but it was well worth the trip. The baked beans were very good. I kind of wish I had the recipe.

They have a separate entrance for carry out orders (the round building). The entrance to the main dining room, is on the left hand side.

Blues Hog Barbecue Company

St. Louis Today.com has an article about Bill Arnold creator of Blues Hog Barbecue Sauce that's worth reading. If you've never tried Blue Hog Barbecue Sauce, you're missing out because it makes good bbq a little bit better.

I've been using Blues Hog's Original for several years. Usually I buy the sauce directly from the Blues Hog website and sometimes my parents buy it for me at Snoddy's General Store across the Missouri River from Boonville, MO.

Mr. Arnold and his family could use your support now more than ever. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers and better yet, buy some of his barbecue sauce. Barbecue folks have to
stick together.

Update: Bill was featured on Good Morning America this morning. Here's a link to the video.

Start a Catering Business

July Fourth Menu Ideas

Linda has been reading Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook again. When I arrived home today, I found the book sitting near my laptop computer. She's planned our menu and even made a trip to the grocery store for supplies and ingredients. I'm sure lucky, aren't I?

Here's our menu for Independence Day:

-Backyard Championship Ribs
-Whole Smoked Cabbage
-Bonesmoker Potatoes
-Sibbie’s Baked Beans (Family Recipe)

There are some items on tap that are not traditional bbq foods, but every once in a while I like to spread my barbecue wings a little. Two of these items will be first timers for me.

We'll post some pictures on July 4th so you can see how it all turns out.

What is one your weekend menu?

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