Archive for November, 2010

Tonight, the Discovery Channel begins airing a new program called Brew Masters.  The series follows craft brewer Sam Calagione, founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, in his never-ending quest to seek out exotic ingredients, learn different brewing techniques, and discover unique flavor combinations.

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Using gas to cook is pretty lame to begin with. Opt for gasoline instead of propane and you go from lame to moron. Hope this gent is ok, but damn. Really? Ya thought this was a good idea?

With mostly smooth sailing through our test turkey adventure, we heard our digital meat thermometer chirping that it reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees. We aimed for 160, knowing that we need to hit 165 to be safe, because the carry-over should take the bird the rest of the way. After confirming that there were know spots below 160 degrees, we pulled the turkey out of the oven and let it rest for 15-20minutes.

It looks amazing, smells amazing, and we finally hit our 20minute rest period so we can hit our carry-over temp of 165. We untrussed the turkey, rechecked the temps and cut right into it. Finishing the turkey inside ended up being a great advantage. By placing the turkey in a roasting pan while it finished, we were able to capture much of the juices to use for an awesome smoked gravy.  We cut into the bird in the same roasting pan so we can capture additional drippings for the gravy.

And oh boy, was this one juicy turkey! We snuck a few samples while carving it for quality control purposes. D-E-Licous! Moist and tender with a great smoke profile and a strong sweet kick. You could taste the savory herbs we used as aromatics as well as hints of garlic and bay leaves from the brine. All in all one very succulent turkey! We’ll admit, if sweetness ain’t your thing, you might want to cut back on the sugars used in the brine. While the BullyLife crew and our guests all thoroughly enjoyed it, we may play around with the level of sugars in the future. This turkey was one very tasty treat!

When you get ready to carve your own turkey, consider breaking it down into parts you would normally find pre-butchered. Start by removing both breasts, whole. Next remove the wings and drumsticks. Following the contours of the turkey will guide your cuts and make the work easy. Lastly, remove the thighs. Carving the turkey in this manner helps to retain the most moisture from the time you make the initial cut until the time you serve it. Slice the sections as needed to serve.

We are experimenting with a smoked turkey soup. We kept the bones/carcass for boiling to create a stock. If it works out, you can expect a post for that too. Pictures will be added as we can edit them down. Enjoy, and good luck!

After brining our turkey for 48 hours it was time to get the smoker prepped. We used a Char-griller side fired smoker. Our fuel of choice was lump hickory and charcoal. November in New England presents some pretty chilly weather so temperature management is a challenge. Keep a watchful eye to ensure steady temperatures so your bird finishes at the time you were shooting for. Consider getting a wireless meat thermometer and using it to measure the air temperature in your smoker. This will allow you to get other things done while keeping a watchful eye on your masterpiece.

With our temperature staying right at around 220 deg F., we were just about ready to add our turkey to the smoker. Before we could do so we removed it from the brine and added a few more spices and took care of some final prep work.

You can’t stuff a turkey when you’re smoking it or it won’t cook thoroughly. Additionally, the stuffing may not come up to temperature when the bird does, making it a really nasty place for bacteria to live and make you sick. However, you can add aromatics to the cavity and that’s exactly what we did. We added:

• One large naval orange, quartered
• 1 teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon of ground sage
• 1 teaspoon of rosemary leaves

Oranges or other fruits in the cavity of your turkey will help to keep it moist while it cooks. The spices will infuse additional flavors that can be difficult to achieve with just a brine. Once our aromatics were in, we trussed the turkey and rubbed it down with some olive oil. We trussed the turkey to try to keep everything tight and cooking evenly. Then it was time to add the turkey to the smoker for 30min/1lb.

The turkey should take us just shy of 7hours to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees. As we kept the heat slow and low, we made sure to add a little more olive oil to the outside of the turkey nearly each hour. A few hours in, we switch from hickory, to charcoal. The smoke flavor only penetrates in the first hours of cooking before the temperature of the meat starts to seal off the pours. Now it’s time to carry it the rest of the way with steady heat. The weather had other ideas.

We were thrown for a loop with a surprise storm adding a healthy dose of wind and rain to the mix. Devastating for any temperature regulation goals. After adding more fuel and still seeing the smoker temps drop, we opted for a backup. Oven set to 225 with a water pan added and then put the turkey in a roasting pan to finish it indoors.

With the holiday season approaching, Men’s Health magazine conveniently published a list of the 125 Best Foods for Men.  Fortunately for all manly homosapiens, chicken, sausage, and bacon made the list.

Sorry ladies, I guess none of this goodness applies to you.

Interestingly, the list included a BBQ sauce category.  And Men’s Health rated Pork Barrel BBQ Sauce as number one.

According to a recent press release, Pork Barrel BBQ has quickly become the preferred BBQ sauce for the backyard BBQ’er. Since the company started selling BBQ sauces in 2009, all types of BBQ’ers – from competition smokers to casual grillers – have taken notice of their sensational sauces. Pork Barrel BBQ’s Original and Sweet sauces have taken home numerous top awards from the Kansas City Barbecue Society and Memphis in May competitions, including winning the “People’s Choice” award at the prestigious annual Safeway National Capital Barbecue Battle in Washington, D.C.

You know you want some…

As promised earlier we got busy tackling a test turkey. Turkey is definitely one of those meats that can dry out very easily so one of the best things you can do is brine a turkey before you smoke a turkey.

Brine’s consist of some pretty basic components. Water, Salt, Sugar, Spices. The water helps add moisture, the salt will help to tenderize the meat and promote moisture retention, the sugar sweetens things up and the spices – you guessed it – spice things up a bit.

Recipe:
2gal Water
1cup Pickling Salt
1/2cup Dark Brown Sugar
1cup Honey
2TBSP Minced Garlic
5 Bay Leaves
Ice as needed

Your basic brine is going to use about a cup of salt per1.5-2 gallons of water. Any more than that can contribute two mushy meat. Mushiness can occur when you have a strong solution (heavy on the salt) and brine for two long. In our brine, we used 1cup of salt in 2gallons of water for 48 hours and we’re thrilled with the results.

Sugar can be added in a number of forms. Most we found used 1/2 cup of sugar or more and some supplement with juices or other additives that bring sweetness. Such additives can be apple juice, honey, wine or whatever flavors your little heart desires. We went after a sweeter flavor to complement some savory spices and a hickory smoke so we added 1/2 cup of  brown sugar, a cup of honey, and a bottle of Sam Adam’s Boston Lager. Yea, you read that right. Beer in the brine, that’s how we roll at BullyLife!

Spices used were bay leaves, minced garlic. We followed up with some spices and aromatics added to the bird just prior to cooking.

Remember to keep your brine between about 33-40 deg Fahrenheit to prevent spoiling. This can be done by brining in a right sized cooler. We were lucky and outdoor temps stayed low so we got a 5 gallon paint bucket purchased new from the hardware store and a matching lid. We added ice when needed and let that sucker sit for 48hours.

Barbecue people, sadness is upon us.  According to recent press, China has taken its first step in making the art of low and slow made illegal.  Controversy is in the air — will your state be next?

“…venues, particularly those in parks and the city’s major scenic spots, have been gradually shut down since 2004 when a growing number of local residents complained that the barbecues caused pollution…”