Smokers (BBQ - not grilling)

[Fred W]

I was just going to do that and I see one of the admins beat me to it. :thumbsup:

 

[HotRodZilla]

Haha...I like the new title. I initially thought it was about cigars or something, but I'm nosey, so I quickly learned the truth.

 

[danh600]

Living in South Florida I buy most of my wood to smoke with. I generally buy apple or cherry chunks.

The other day someone gave me several slabs of red oak. He swears it's better then Live oak or most of what we have around here.

I do have to say his ribs are very good. His cooker was putting out quite a bit of smoke early on. I though the ribs might be a little smokey but they were perfect.

Excited to try some of it.

 

[eflyguy]

Natural fire with only oak makes amazing ribs.. just too much work!

So I have this duck for tomorrow - should I smoke it, roast it, or do rotisserie on the grill?

 

[Fred W]

Natural fire with only oak makes amazing ribs.. just too much work!

I never thought to use oak. We have about a cord and a half of firewood, all cut, split, dried and stacked, and a good percentage of it is red oak. I'll have to give it a try sometime.

So I have this duck for tomorrow - should I smoke it, roast it, or do rotisserie on the grill?

Maybe a smoke roast with a light wood smoke flavor?

 

[Knifemaker]

Ducks are small....I'd smoke it. Use Apple or Cherry.

 

[08FJR4ME]

I did a pheasant a few weeks ago that someone gave me after he shot it that morning. Can't get any fresher than that. I put it on the smoker with some other food for about an hour. Came out great.

Fred, as I am going through my woodpile for the woodstove I keep putting Maple pieces aside for smoking. I have a wooden crate full of hickory and will have a wooden crate full of maple soon. I have wild dogwood around the property also. If you have ever smelled that burning it is awesome. I am tempted to try it someday. I was cleaning up the backwoods last weekend and had a fire going outside and threw some on.

Dave

 

[TomInPA]

Most ducks purchased in the store have a lot of subcutaneous fat that needs to render It's very hard to get smoke to the meat, but overall they do well when cooked in a smoker. Aromatics loosely placed in the cavity are a big help in maintaining moisture and infusing flavors into the meat. Just be aware the legs have almost no protection and will incinerate in the smoker if not protected with foil, even at low temperatures.

 

[eflyguy]

Thanks for those tips! I've got both apple and cherry, it's been many years since I used them, I can't even remember which I would prefer!

I'm really reluctant to remove the fat beforehand. Liquid gold..

 

[NMRoadRunner]

I'm a pitmaster by hobby and professionally most of the time and smoke all kinds of things for different customers depending on their wishes. That said, I will be dropping the ducks we shot yesterday into the same boiling pot of peanut oil that I will be dropping the Turkey into. I like them deep fried! You all have a good holiday whatever way you do it.

P.S. Be careful of using old apple wood as it will make the meat taste bitter sometimes, and I think cherry gives the meat, especially fowl, a muddy taste. Just keep it simple "post oak"

 

[Knifemaker]

P.S. Be careful of using old apple wood as it will make the meat taste bitter sometimes, and I think cherry gives the meat, especially fowl, a muddy taste. Just keep it simple "post oak"

Well there you go, I think different woods taste different to different people (just as many things do, beers, wines, etc)

I find Apple or cherry to have a very mild smokey taste compared to oak, hickory or mesquite. Which I think would pair well with somethings with a mild taste like duck, which you likely are not going to drown in a sause.

Ribs, or pork butts you plan on using a spicy sause seem to pair well oak and those others. Again, just my opinion. I used hickory and mesquite on those turkey roasts I did last year, and although they tasted great, the flavor profile had them tasting more like ham than turkey. My only thought here was the smoke was too strong.

I've been using A LOT of applewood lately. I'll mix in a bit of hickory for shorter cooks.

Again, tastes very .. and being a wine nerd I'll tell you not everyone describes a wine the same. I know people who hate my favorite wines. So, you just have to smoke more meat and find what you like..

 

[eflyguy]

I ended up using apple, and it's almost ready to come off the smoker..

 

[Knifemaker]

Not sure which place to post this...but because I sprinkled some smoked paprika one the turkey, I'll put it here.

20 pound locally raised bird. Cooked to 161 degrees. Dry brined. Tastey, not dry. Have about 4 pounds of leftover breast meat to eat...

 

[Fred W]

161 in the thigh I assume? Whole turkey is a PITA to get done in the thighs and not overdone in the breast meat. We pulled ours at about 160 in the thighs but the breast was over 170 It was good, but would have been better if we had cut the bird up and removed the pieces as the reached temp. Of course then there would have been no Norman Rockwell photo op for young Tom.

 

[Knifemaker]

No, 161 in the breast. (Remember we don't eat the dark meat) I thought of boxing up the legs and sending them to you, but figured you could do up your own for the shipping cost...

 

[HotRodZilla]

You don't eat the dark meat?? What is wrong with you people?

 

[Blind Squirrel]

No, 161 in the breast. (Remember we don't eat the dark meat) I thought of boxing up the legs and sending them to you, but figured you could do up your own for the shipping cost...

Depending on the heat you are using to cook the bird, you can get up to 10 degrees of carry over heat. I normally pull my turkey breast when it hits 157 and keep the temperature probe in. It has never failed to reach 165 (Cook temp of 300-325).

 

[Knifemaker]

Last bird we roasted went up 5 degrees before carving. Thus my target was 160. But it hit 161 before I got it out of the oven. It did go up to 166 after resting.

Sorry, but I don't like the dark side. Legs always taste "oily" to me. To be honest, I don't care that much for turkey in the first place. I'd rather have a good pizza (or sushi) for Thanksgiving than a turkey....but the family voted for it. If it were my choice, I'd have just smoked a breast....

Still have two pounds of pulled pork, and 4 venison steaks, but will finish off the bird before getting into those...

 

[Fred W]

Actually, that's not a bad plan if you can convince everyone to eat white meat on Turkey Day. But in our clan we all enjoy the dark meat as much, maybe more than, the breast meat.

Hoping the weather stays mild for a while longer so I can get a mess of ribs barbecued up and in the freezer before putting the OK Joe away for the winter. Rolled the UDS into the shed this past week while I was taking the snow tires and snow blower out for the season.

 

[Knifemaker]

Well, our only guests this year were my son and granddaughter, who also prefer white meat. When there's a bigger group I'll slice the legs off and put them back into the oven if someone wants one (and they aren't fully cooked)

I know winters are pretty harsh up north. Here, there's always some mild sunny days...so I'll just have a cover over the smoker as I know l will use it again at some point this winter. After seeing I can still get it up to tempature on a 27 degree day, I know I'll be cooking up something.

Oh yeah.......we still got a slab of smoked baby backs in the freezer....thanks for reminding me.