Snug as a UDS in a Rug

Alternate Title:  UDS in a Blanket!

I couldn't find anything on "the web" against wrapping a drum smoker in a blanket (admittedly I didn't look very hard), so I grabbed a blanket that may or may not be the property of the most recent moving company that I have used...

I wrapped it up because despite my best efforts the smoker would either shoot way up to 250 with all the holes open or hover around 208 with one hole closed.  I thought  to myself, "Self, I bet your smoker is loosing a lot of heat to the atmosphere.  If you were to wrap it up in that blanket, you could conserve heat."  And so I did.  So far the temp has evened out at 232 which isn't too bad all things considered (all of those things being the freezing temperature outside).   Heres to hoping that it doesn't catch on fire.  God Forbid I be the focus of the next safety brief, right after: "Don't deep fry a turkey inside," youll have to sit through:
"Do not wrap a Smoker or Grill in a U-Haul Blanket."

Also this is a picture of Kadence enjoying the first day of the Advent Calender that we made together.

Thanksgiving is upon us.

I was up all night last night checking the chamber temperature of the UDS every thirty minutes, and cleaning up the house waiting for Baby Davy to come home.  This morning at 10, went to go pick up the wife and baby and brought them home.  Come to find out, the couple who were coming over for dinner may not be coming after all.  Oh well, more turkey sammiches for me!

At about 830 I took the turkey out of the smoker and put it in a roasting pan and covered it with foil added a cup of water and threw 2T of butter over the top.  Threw it in the oven at 250 so I didn't have to watch it while I went to the hospital.
When we got home I temped it and it was at a perfect 165 so I took it out, removed the shish-kabob skewers that were holding the skin together and wrapped it in foil and a towel.  Heated up the faux-cambro and dropped that bird right in.
Still waiting on the wife to tell me what to go to the store to get in addition to the turkey so.... I will tell you the results of this turkey cooking tale when I have them!

What to be thankful for!

Early Tuesday morning my wife went into labour.  However awesome it was, which it was, this meant that the bird had to be brined for a few extra hours.  It also meant that the dog had to stay locked up for a good 12 hours, but he seemed to have survived without too much mental distress.  Back to the Turkey, got home late Tuesday and didn't feel like de-brining the turkey and rubbing it down, which meant that I had to do it Wednesday.

After rinsing and rubbing the turkey down, I started up the UDS.  Got some good smoke going and a good temp and threw the bird on.  I weaved some bacon threw it on top of the turkey so it will be extra delicious.  I've heard not to mix meats while you're cooking, but I figure, as long as I get the Pork up to the temp that the Poultry needs to get to to be safe, then everything will be hunky dory.  Only about 9 more hours of smoking to go!!

Smokin' Some Ribs

Decided to pull out ye olde Ugly Drum Smoker for some ribs. It took a while for it to get up to temp but it had some nice hickory smoke pouring from it so I wasnt worried. The one thing I was worried about though was the thermometer. Its been on the fritz ever since it started getting cold out. Something to do with the hot smoker and the cold wind made condensation form under the display, or it could just be the battery, but I put it in a bag of rice and most of the liquid cleared up. Turned out to be some delicious ribs.

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