162

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Damn that looks good! Gotta love a Weber Kettle, you can everything with them.

Nicely done! Kettles can do anything when you know - or at least try with your best judgement - what you are doing. I did my breast tonight and was amazed at how easy it was and how well it came out! Too much food, too many beers, kitchen cleaned, must shower.... I'll post pics and details tomorrow.

If i only had one implement to BBQ, Smoke or sear, it would be a Weber Kettle. The old school style with the 3 lower vents, not the big ash catcher can model.
I say that after having Weber kettles, Vertical Smokers, Offset stick burners and a Pellet Grill. Wait, maybe i wouldn't let go of my Camp Chef Pellet Grill, but only because of the side Sear Box.
Simple to use for all types of BBQ, it really can't be beat.
I won an Internet "Throwdown" on the Smoke ring BBQ website once for dessert making in a Smoker. I made a Raspberry Pear Pie in my Weber.... yes, it will even do that.
"usrifle" there too, scroll down to about mid page.
http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewt ... &start=220 (The trick is to tent the Pie pan with foil, you don't want a smoky Pie)
Single most useful BBQ on the market bar none.

Welcome to the forum, Martha.

But wow, that DOES look good!

So, just to follow up on how I smoked my breast....
On wednesday I was really reconsidering whether I should just cook it in the oven.... I was out gathering some fresh rosemary from my neighbors yard and some sage and thyme from another and we got chatting.... he convinced me to just go for it - 'Whats the worst that will happen? You just smother it with more gravy....'
So I opened the bag ~5pm wed to find I kinda ugly little 6# breast.... for some reason they decided to remove the backbone but leave the neck attached..???? I removed the neck (boiled it up for broth for the gravy since I wasn't sure I would have much drippings) and realized that it was almost a spatchcocked breast --nice! I slit the skin and between the ribs on the inside (kinda) like I had planned - rubbed it with Montreal chicken seasoning mixed with sugar - put it in a bag with more rub to sweat for ~2 hours - pulled it out and let it dry in the fridge for what would be ~16 hours. Gotta admit, it looked kinda sad at that point....

I decided to use a rack on top of the pan and placed a sprig of rosemary, thyme and sage under the breast (since it was split) with half of a left over pear just for the hell of it. Onto the grill @225 with 1/2pecan-1/4cherry-1/4maple smoke. I was planning on putting a pan of water on the grate, but realized I could just add water to the pan under the breast if needed - I ended up putting some water - like half a cup - twice thru the cook just in case, but I don't think it was needed.

Smoked away! I thought I had used enuff pellets for a good 3-4 hour burn, but the pellets burned pretty fast --- rolling ALOT of smoke The tube smoked out at ~2 hours, so I reloaded it to finish up.


I ended up brushing some butter on the skin to help it cook and crisp, but I don't think that was needed either -- the skin was cooking just fine the way it was. After just over 3 hours, the smoke was running out again just as the temp alarm signaled 165. Off the grill and tented for ~15 minutes to rest...



I gotta say.... it turned out WAAAAY better than I ever thought it would!!!!
Dry? Not even close! The meat was wonderfully moist - not dripping juices, but nicely moist and tender. Plenty of smoke flavor from the skin side and throughout for the most part, and hints of rosemary and sage from the rib side! I can't wait for leftovers tonight to verify how much smoke, but I'm expecting to be even more impressed!

I'm really amazed at how well this turned out.... I basically did everything you are NOT supposed do to have moist breast meat! My gut told me that it would work, but I was becoming skeptical hearing all the naysayers.... What really floors me is how easily the skin browned and cooked --- it didn't really 'crisp', but still 'cooked' nicely and the exposed meat formed a nice chewy and tasty 'bark' too. I struggle to get that on chicken with the same technique, but never get it without some direct/high heat at the end.

I don't know if cutting the skin really helped in the end.... but it by no means hurt it by anyway! I will definitely be doing this again and plan on trying it with chicken breasts too. Next time I'm going to be sure to have some cherry 7UP or cranberry gingerale to use as a spritz.... somehow I overlooked that this time.

Well, I can't taste it from here, but it sure looks amazing!!

Came out pretty good. Wasn't dry, skin was crispy. Think it had just a little bit too much smoke. It was pretty wet outside and was hard to get over 250 on the grill, maybe little higher temp and less time.

Weber kettles are great. Cook anything on them, thinking i might try a rotisserie next time.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

A simple opinion from what I've learned about smokes --- anytime someone has complained about too much smoke (that I know directly) it usually has to do with hickory - it can easily and quickly overpower everything else. I tend to shy away from it myself, although its the only useable wood I have for the WSM. I much prefer maple and pecan to the hickory. Next time try any sort of mixture of maple/pecan/cherry with the apple. I don't use apple much because it is much more subtle than the others, but its nice to play with once and a while. Hoping to score some apple limbs from some neighbors when they start pruning --- that would go nicely with my cherry for the WSM.

Your Turkey Breast looked great JMB, well done.

Thanks! I just had a sammy with it -- potato bread, smear of mayo, lightly warmed thin sliced breast and a smear of cranberry sauce..... Fantastic! Definitely smokey! I'm not sure when you reach the point of too smokey.... I guess its when it doesn't taste good anymore -- still haven't found it yet!

And for the record, the smoke tube really does work wonders! Especially when it starts rolling smoke like it did yesterday - I have no idea why it was burning so strong, but I have no complaints. I have a feeling it has to do with the pellet mix - I know the maple burns fast - cherry kinda fast - but the pecan usually burns pretty slow.... why it burned so hard is beyond me, but I'm learning to just load up the tube more to start with (I thought I did that yesterday).

I've got a new goal to do a full turkey on the WSM and have look as good as Lucas's! Gotta wait until the cherry wood is dry ~april.

That's good to know. I think i might have put a small stick of hickory on there. mostly apple wood and apple wood charcoal briquettes.

The precooked ham i used just apple wood. It came out with a much more mellow smoke flavor. The ham got picked clean, still have half the turkey.

That urkey breast looks good! Going to have to try one of those, maybe Christmas.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Goal #2 --- smoke a spiral ham! Damn that looks good! How did you cut it to get it to splay out like that? I assumed you just set the ham on the grate, which would be minimally effective.... That looks perfect.

I've got a Cure81 ham sitting in the freezer.... I've always wanted to get one of their cherry smoked hams, but they are always $1 more /#.

Smoking Spiral cut hams makes for "Bomb" Ham. Great idea using lemon wedges to open the spirals.
Nothing much better than a twice smoked Ham.

I just put it on the grill and it opened up on its own. Didn't really have to do anything to it because it was already cooked. Honey mustard glaze first to help pick up some smoke flavor and then glazed with a homemade apple cranberry sauce towards the end. Added a few apple slices to help keep it from drying out. Really easy and came out great.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sh3mxo31BfA
Followed this video, but I used a spiral cut.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk