Displaced Texan

Tex’s ‘famous’ cornbread and sausage dressing....

Checked the bird this morning, and topped off the ice. Nothing exciting is going to happen until tomorrow morning, when we prep the bird and pop it into the smoker.

We are going to smoke a brisket for Christmas dinner. I’ll post the process for that too. Ya’ll will see how really easy it is to turn out decent bbq. It ain’t redneck rocket science!

Here I am! I’ve used several types of smokers/cookers over the years, but the one I get the best and most consistent results from is the Pit Barrel Cooker. https://www.pitbarrelcooker.com/ It’s easy to use...set it and forget it, no fooling with temperature. Almost idiot proof (which is why I use it). Be sure to get the poultry hangars if you plan on doing chicken/turkey on it. We are cooking our thanksgiving turkey tomorrow, so if you’ll tune into the ‘Displaced Texan’s smoked meat’ thread, I’ll walk you through what I do.

Happy thanksgiving to y’all!

Me either!! Now that the brine has cooled a bit, I put the turkey into a food safe 5 gallon bucket (available at your local Lowe’s store), along with the brine, 10lbs of ice, and cold water. Snap the lid on, and let it soak in the brine solution for at least 1 hour per pound of bird. We have a 23lb turkey, but we’ll let it soak for about 36 hours. I check the ice every 6-8 hours and refill as required. Now, we drink more wine, and we wait. Because I’m a Star Wars geek...

This.

Howdy y’all! At the request of a couple of folks, I’ve started a smoked meat/BBQ thread... I am far from being an expert pitmaster, but I can turn out some relatively edible bbq. Since it’s Thanksgiving, I though I’d show y’all how I’m doing my bird. Two things.... 1) we are having our turkey dinner on Friday, as our guests are on call Thursday. 2) this is my first smoked turkey, so it’s a bit of a learning experience for me. Please feel free to chime in, and slap me on the head if it appears I’m doing something stupid. I like to learn from other people and their experiences, so comments and suggestions are welcome. This will be a real time, ‘live action’ thread, so I’ll show you what I do, and how I do it, as it happens. That all being said, let’s get cooking, y’all! First, we open the ‘cooking wine’, and lubricate the cook. Tonight’s choice is a Yellow Tail Chardonnay. Next, we start the brine. I use the Alton Brown turkey brine method. If you’ve never used AB’s method, have a look here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe-1950271 A gallon of vegetable stock, a cup of kosher salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and some candied ginger go into the pot. Bring this to a boil to dissolve all the solids. Afterwards, turn it off, and let it cool down. We don’t want to dunk our bird into hot liquid... While this cools, I’m gonna drink some more ‘cooking wine’, and get the brining bucket and the bird ready. Please stand by!

When I make cornbread to go with chili, I’ll finely dice some jalapeños and add a bit of shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Damn, now I want chili and cornbread.

I get my pan hot in the oven, rub it down with crisco (like my momma taught me), and pour in the cornbread batter. Makes a nice crispy crust on the bottom.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatchcock

Spachcocked is essentially butterflying the bird. Cutting it at the breast and laying it flat. I have a specific cast iron skillet just for cornbread. It’s a 1920’s Wagner skillet. Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes I use Jiffy cornbread mix and jazz it up a little...

Cast iron is the ONLY way to make cornbread! Awesome!!

My dad likes Ouzo in his coffee. Damn, that stuff is rough.

Thanks, Scorpio. Mrs Tex will really like the pumpkin pie martini. I think I’ll make them for her tonight!

Kingsford charcoal and apple chunks. I found a local butcher who had a packer brisket in the back. Small one (just the two of us), about 8-9lbs.

I will be smoking a turkey for the first time on the PBC as our Thanksgiving dinner main course. Using the Alton Brown turkey brine prior to smoking over apple wood. Hope it turns out as good as chickens have in the past. I’ll start a new thread for that. Christmas dinner will be bbq brisket. Mmmmmmm!! Leftovers will be made into smoked brisket chili!

I hear that’s a delicacy in Beijing! Lol

Bahahahaha!

Thanks guys. @Ray Ray, I am by NO means an expert on the pit, but I can churn out repeatable, tasty meats on my humble little PBC. That being said, once you put MY meat in your mouth, you’re gonna want to swallow!!

I use amazing ribs as well!! great site!

We have a lot of bbq’ers here, myself included. I thought this might be interesting to some of you. http://www.genuineideas.com/Assets/imageassets/NBBQA Talk- 2015- Greg Blonder.pdf

Awesome, HE! Learn the family recipes and keep them going. It will be VERY meaningful for your folks when YOU make them the traditional family dinner!

Uhh, that was Christmas, not Thanksgiving. My sister came through with my mom’s bread recipe. One of my favorite memories of my mom was her baking bread at Thanksgiving. I am going to carry on the tradition, and make it for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Our thanksgiving dinner will be held on Friday this year, so we will be ordering Chinese on Thursday. We are hankering for lo mein, chow fun, mu-shu, and egg rolls from the local take out place. Their food is outstanding, not greasy, or full of msg like a lot of take out joints.