Thursday, November 10, 2011

Smoke Your Thanksgiving Turkey HowtoBBQright.com Newsletter Thursday, November 10, 2011

Smoke Your Thanksgiving Turkey
Thursday, November 10, 2011
In this issue:
Holiday Cook
Smokin' Turkeys
BBQ Mag Online

FOR SALE:
Holiday Hams and Turkeys

We are doing our annual Holiday Ham and Turkey Sale...

And if you live locally in the North Mississippi and Memphis area, we are slow-smoking the best turkeys and hams you can buy (because we cook with love).

MORE INFORMATION

All Turkeys and Hams will be cooked FRESH on Wednesday November 23rd.

Brown Sugar Glazed Smoked Ham
7-8 lb Avg.
Feeds 14-16 people
Cost: $40
Smoked Turkey
10-12 lb Avg.
Feeds 10-12 people
Cost is $35

Buy A Turkey or Ham
You can email me directly with any questions - or any special requests - and I will get back to you immediately!
Malcom Reed
malcom@killerhogs.com


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BBQ Mag Online


Barbeque Mag Online is your online source for everything in the world of BBQ, featuring competition and backyard event coverage, recipes, team spotlights and more.

PLUS... My BBQ Is on the cover this month along with an article I wrote on Pulled Pork.

Check It Out HERE.
Tips for Beginner BBQ Teams:
BBQ contests cost MONEY... LOTS of money.

And the best way that I have found to raise money for your team is through fundraisers.

We always do a few butt sales every year, we usually hold a crawfish boil and try to do a few holiday cooks to generate the money we need to pay for our expenses.

It just makes it so much easier on everyone to raise money for your team this way - instead of asking all your team members to fork out several hundred bucks for each contest.

If you provide good quality BBQ every time - people will start to look forward to your fundraisers.

TIP: It's a good idea to keep a list of people who buy from you - either phone numbers or email addresses. This way getting the word out about upcoming cooks is a lot easier.


Forget The Oven and Fire Up Your Smoker
Just because competitions are over for the year doesn’t mean that I’m giving my smokers a rest.  One of my favorite things to cook this time of year is Whole Smoked Turkey. 

If you’ve never smoked a turkey, I promise that you’ll love it.  I also get a ton of emails about how it’s done, and I have a method on the website that will walk you through it.  It can be found here:  http://www.howtobbqright.com/smokeaturkey.html

And since we're talking turkey, I've got a few little tips that you might want to try ou the next time you decide to smoke a turkey.

Brining: 
Brining is the best way to produce a moist, flavorful turkey.  I like to brine them for 24 hours prior to smoking, but one problem that comes up is having enough space to store the turkey while it brines.  My solution is an insulated 5 gallon water jug.  They can be found at hardware stores or even Wal-Mart and are fairly inexpensive.  I also use the XL Ziploc Bags (the kind you find in the storage section of your grocery store) to keep everything clean. 

Just place the Bag inside the Water Jug and in goes the turkey.  Pour the brine over it and close it up tight.  There’s plenty of room for ice to keep everything nice and cool.  Clean-up is a breeze and you don’t have to worry with making a mess in the refrigerator.

The Brine:
I have a good brine recipe that I like to use on my website, but you can also kick the flavor up by using different things.  Instead of molasses or honey substitute Apple or Peach Jelly (Pecan or Maple Syrup produces a nice boost too). 

You can try using fresh herb s such as Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, and Bay Leaves along with Whole Black Pepper Corns, Allspice, and Cloves to create some great flavor.  Another thing that I do from time to time is to swap out some of the water with apple or orange juice.  Play around with any combination of these ingredients and make it your own.

Injection
 An injection will place flavor deep down in the meat.  I concentrate on the thighs and legs, and also hit the breast in several spots.  One of the standard injections I like for Smoked Turkey is Tony’s Creole Butter, but you can make your own injection just as easy.

One that I like is:
14 oz. Chicken Stock
4 oz. Melted Butter not Margarine
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire
1 Tablespoon Frank’s Hot Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Finely Ground BBQ Rub (of course, The BBQ Rub. works best )

This injection is simple but it packs flavor.  I warm the injection slightly to keep the butter thin; once it is injected into a cold bird, it will thicken up and help hold the flavors inside the meat.

Spraying the outside
I want everything to come off my smoker looking pretty because people eat with their eyes. So to get a beautiful looking skin on my Turkey I use a cooking spray like Pam before applying the dry seasoning. 

Not only will it help the dry seasonings stick, but it will also create that mahogany look that great smoked meat should have.  Also you can pin the neck skin with a couple of tooth picks to prevent it from shrinking and exposing to much of the breast. It’s the little details that make it, ya know…

Cook time: 
It normally takes about 6 hours for a turkey to smoke at 225.  I usually check the turkey at the 4 hour mark just to see where it is.  If I notice that the outside is starting to get darker than I like, I spray on a little more cooking spray or spritz it with apple juice. 

Also, tenting with aluminum foil will prevent it from getting too dark as well.  I know when the turkey is done when I grab the leg and twist.  If it feels like it will come off with a little more pressure, then the turkey is done. 

The temperature should be at least 165 in the thickest part of the thigh.  The breast will be a little higher in the 170 range.  All juices should run clear once you remove the thermometer.

I actually have my first batch of holiday turkeys on the smoker right now… looking goo-oood.

Hopefully some of these tips can give you a few ideas and get you to slow-smoke your own turkey this year.

Once you get it down you may even decide to make a little money selling t hem to friends and family.  It’s a great way to build a little war chest for next year’s bbq season.
Got an suggestion or a topic you would like me to talk about in this newsletter?

Email it to me at Malcom@killerhogs.com

My Own Personal Recipe... THE BBQ RUB. (period)
HowtoBBQright.com| killerhogs.com| My BBQ Blog

Howtobbqright.com Malcom Reed Killer Hogs BBQ Team malcom@killerhogs.com



Malcom Reed
Killer Hogs BBQ
PO Box 4267
Southaven, MS 38671

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