4 hours indirect heat, "Low & Slow" must be truly tender and juicy.

Garlic scape is a delicacy, a gourmet treat.

Low & Slow, smoked, and stuffed with garlic scapes! Can't get any better.

dcarch

Geeze Annie, that looks wonderful. I've never had smoked turkey. I think Elery has been holding out on you. It seems as though he has done this turkey smoking before! Great picture too. My mouth is watering. Mary

Does it travel well? yum!

WOW>....what kind of grill and what kind of charcoal ? Thank you ! c

Kudos to Elery!

That looks pretty darn awesome! I don't think I've had smoked turkey, either. I've seen it in the store but I don't think it would be the same.

Looks great! I'm going to have to stuff the next turkey that I grill and smoke. Cooking it slowly will definitely give it more smoke flavor. The one I did about a week ago cooked very quickly on high heat, and there was not that much smoke flavor, beyond what was on the surface.

I'm wondering now if I could grill a turkey after cooking it half way in my smoker. I think it might get more flavor that way - so far I've only smoked boneless turkey breasts, and they don't take all that long.

It's great now that the days are longer and you can spend more time outside in daylight cooking on a grill. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommended grilling garlic toast at the end when everything else has cooked and the grill is cooling down. I mix fresh herbs, garlic, butter, S&P, and a bit of olive oil to spread on both sides of the bread before grilling - it toasts fairly quickly, which is why it is best to make at the end.

Lars

Annie has Elery moved away from his smoker to the BBQ? Or was it more to do with the size?

I'm thinking of doing a half breast this weekend in the smoker. Never have tried one before but it's calling me!

Sharon, Elery says to be sure you brine it, it'll be delicious! He still uses the smoker, but he's been playing with the new grill. My little $59 gas grill that I bought a couple of years ago finally gave up the ghost, although I think I got my money's worth out of it. Since Elery's house was for sale, he didn't replace his old gas grill either, somehow it seems that a gas grill, no matter the price, lasts about 5 years before it rusts, the burners need replacement, whatever.

So, Elery had to decide whether he wanted a gas grill or a charcoal grill. He looked at the Big Green Egg but it's heavy, can't be easily moved around, costs nearly a grand. The imitators are a few hundred less, but still costly. On one of the BBQ forums, he found this:

They were first made in Arkansas in the early 1950s and some posters still had the original models, they say they'll last a lifetime. Elery loves it. He uses a hardwood charcoal that we get locally and a chimney starter so no lighter fluid is necessary. It's light enough to move into the garage with the door open if it rains and we can keep it out of the weather.

Elery really thinks we should have let the turkey go another hour, it would have been more tender, but it's the first time we've done a whole turkey and it was too cumbersome for the smoker. I thought it was perfect.

Lars, that garlic bread looks delicious, what a great idea, I'll definitely do that next time. Elery says we need a cookoff, you can come and visit us when we get the farmhouse done, you can bring Kevin along and finally get to visit Michigan! It was nicely smokey, not overpowering but still a very definite smoke. Elery says you could easily do it partially in the smoker too.

Anyone leaning toward doing it (you listening, c?) should definitely give it a try, it was fairly simple and delicious, and gives you lots of leftover turkey.

Islay, I don't think it travels THAT well, LOL, you may have to come along too.

dcarch, gotta do something with all those garlic scapes, they're really good flavored with smoked turkey. Yeah, I'm a lucky girl....

Annie

Turkey truly is gorgeous! Love the new grill! Have never seen one of those before, but it's clearly an awesome choice! Elery has also clearly mastered using it!

They have bbq competitions. Has he ever thought about entering? They are bigger in the States than Canada, but we are getting more comps here.(luckily for us Canadians), but they are a big deal in the States!

Hubs and I took a bbqing judging course (yes there is such a thing), so we now judge BBQ competitions in Canada and the U.S. It's actually very cool, and some of them pay very well (for the competitors, not the judges).:)

He should think about entering one some time!

Very true. I visit a couple of BBQ forums. I am amazed how much and how many people are into these huge trailer mounted BBQ monsters they have and how many enter BBQ competitions.

dcarch

Looks Great!

I only put my charcoal around the outer edge. I see you have a can... just pour it where you want it after it is lit. I use a couple small chunks of hickory. Also cook mine directly on the grate... no tin foil. Sometimes I'll smoke a meatloaf and that does require foil.

My Weber has sat outside and been used year-round for 14-15 years now. They smoke turkey just fine in cold weather! Best part of charcoal around the edges is that I can put the bird on after it is going and leave it. I've cooked a couple overnight that way. Yeah they are cold in the morning but perfectly cooked.

I like the way that grill is set up... looks more sturdy then a tripod Weber.

: )
lyra

That turkey looks great. I'm drooling.

Michael/lyra, it's very sturdy and stable, also easy to move around, I was surprised. Elery just bought an extra rack for it, somehow it increases your cooking area, I don't know how that works, exactly, but one of the reviews remarked that it was the first part they'd purchased for their grill in the 42 years they'd owned it, LOL.

As for wintertime smoking, the smoker is good because we can just put it in the garage and not tend it very much, far more comfortable than going out every hour and replenishing the charcoal. (grin) Yeah, I know...

I think we're doing a pork shoulder this week sometime, it looks like grill in the summer and using the Masterbuilt smoker in the winter. We'll also use the smoker for "big" jobs, like a side of bacon and a whole pork loin for Canadian Bacon.

Annie

Annie

Annie, I very much look forward to having a cookoff with you and Elery when you get your house finished, and so keep me posted!! I think it will be a big adventure to visit Michigan, but I have to convince Kevin as well. He has to make trips to northern Wisconsin (sometimes in winter) to meet with employees that he supervises there, and so he's not keen on going to the Midwest. On his last trip, one of his employees was driving him to the Chicago airport and got lost in Milwaukee.

The garlic toast tastes even better than it looks - the butter is very good at absorbing the smoke flavor.

Lars

Lars, I'd love to entertain you and Kevin and give you both the grand tour of Michigan. I'd urge you to come in the summer or the fall, if you came in autumn you could see the hardwoods change, while summer at the Lake Michigan beach wouldn't be that much different for you compared to where you live now.

Oh yeah, a cookoff would be a LOT of fun!

Annie

That's a great looking piece of equipment, Annie. Next time Elery smokes bacon, ask him to put a pie plate with about 1/4 inch of kosher salt in with it. Smoked salt is a wonderful seasoning.

Ruthanna, that's something we've been meaning to try, thanks for reminding me.

Last night, though, it was grilled chicken thighs with a glaze made of espresso balsamic, mustard, worchestershire, garlic, brown sugar. Very yummy but it didn't really taste like espresso...

Annie