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!!

Thanksgiving Turkey Smoke Prep 1

Went out and bought the turkey for thanksgiving.  I wanted to make sure that I had enough time to :

Defrost (Tonight)
Brine Overnight (Monday -> Tuesday)
Rub Down + Rest (Tuesday)
Smoke Overnight (Wednesday -> Thursday)

Now that I have my plan down, I am all ready to Smoke the T-day Turkey.
I ended up getting a 14.1 pound turkey because that is the "maximum safe weight" so that during the smoke I don't food poison the family and friends that are coming over.

The part that I am not liking about the defrosting of the turkey, is that I don't have anything big enough to soak the whole frozen bird in.  I'm defrosting it in the Fridge to make sure it stays cold enough to thwart any bacteriological beasties.
Hopefully when it is thawed and I move on to brine it, it will be able to distort enough to fit into my Large Pot aka "The Cauldron."

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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Turkey Smoke Success!!!

Yesterday I got the chance to smoke the turkey.  Mixed up a nice spicy rub (basically the same one from the ribs but sans sugar).  Rubbed it on and threw it on the smoker.  I used hardwood lump charcoal and it was a little difficult to maintain temperature so after three and half hours, I was sick of opening caps and closing holes, so I used what I am going to call the Ohio Crutch (kinda like the Texas Crutch but you use the oven at a hotter temperature).

The Ohio Crutch is:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 (I would have done 225 and kept it low and slow, but it was getting late and I was Hungry.)

2. Wrap the bird in Foil.

3. Stick it in until it reaches a safe temp.

4. Eat that Turkey.

IT WAS DELICIOUS!!!

I highly recommend smoking a turkey, just make sure that you have enough time to prep it (2 days), let it sit out of the oven (30 mins) and keep it low and slow (30-40 mins per pound).  Although, I don't see how it could have tasted better if I would have kept it low and slow. 

Turkey Smoking Part 1

I want to smoke a Turkey for Thanksgiving.  First thing being first, I wanted to test everything out before I actually ruined Thanksgiving with a subpar smoked turkey.

After visiting smoker-cooking.com I found what I believed to be a good recipe for a brining soulution.  One change I did make was I used 2T of cayenne because, my wife, trying to hurry up the labor wants things Spicy.  With the turkey sitting in the brine and me thurougly disgusted from peeling skin from breast I wait.  Not wanting to mix up a new rub, I plan on using the rub from all of my previous rib smokes which I found at amazingribs.com.  I thought that I was going to be smoking up the Pre-Turkey today, but I ended up having watch today until 1530.  Hopefully I have tomorrow off so I can get this Turkey party started!