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Sanity check. 20 lb bird, spatched. 4 hours at 325 sound decent?
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Nov 24, 2019 17:16
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C-Bangin' it 
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| # ? May 29, 2024 19:06 |
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I would guess 3 hours.
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Nov 24, 2019 17:55
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Moey posted:I would guess 3 hours. Seconded. I find brined birds cook quicker as well.
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Nov 24, 2019 18:10
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Yeah, I was going to dry brine it. What was the goto one for that again?
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Nov 24, 2019 19:09
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I used baking powder, salt, pepper and cajun seasoning and it turned out super good.
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Nov 24, 2019 20:25
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Colostomy Bag posted:Sanity check. 20 lb bird, spatched. 4 hours at 325 sound decent? Moey posted:I would guess 3 hours. poo poo is that all a 20-lb spatchbird takes? I might be able to start mine an hour or three later than I planned, then.
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Nov 24, 2019 22:55
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Spatchcocked turkey Cooks crazy fast, confirmed. My last one was 12 pounds and only took two hours or so.
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Nov 25, 2019 00:00
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Going to smoke my first turkey this week. Got a 14lb bird and have a Kinder’s brine kit. Gonna be good.
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Nov 25, 2019 00:06
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The turkey I did last week was the first time I've brined for more than a day and I gotta say it was loving amazing the difference even going 24->48 hours made for a dry brine. After resting over a half hour the breast meat was still practically gushing juices. Very much recommend if you have the fridge space.
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Nov 25, 2019 00:22
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I'm not in charge of the turkey this year so I'm smoking a 12lb bird for dinner tonight. I got lazy and didn't dry brine and inject until yesterday. Hopefully it turns out okay.
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Nov 25, 2019 00:38
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I’m wet-brining my turkey and wondering if a 17-to-20-lb bird will suffer any ill effects if it’s left in the brine for longer than 24 hours. My cookbook recommends 16 hours for a 12-lb turkey. I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Nov 25, 2019 |
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Nov 25, 2019 01:07
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You better live post whatever poo poo happens at your thanksgiving dude
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Nov 25, 2019 01:25
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Phil Moscowitz posted:You better live post whatever poo poo happens at your thanksgiving dude I can’t guarantee it’ll be live, necessarily, but I’ll post whatever happens.
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Nov 25, 2019 01:28
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Phil Moscowitz posted:You better live post whatever poo poo happens at your thanksgiving dude I was going to post this earlier. Please video Thanksgiving at Uncle Gei's tia
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Nov 25, 2019 01:31
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Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention...TITTIEKISSER69 posted:For real, would you & your parents be open to the idea of just buying him a cheap but good enough electric smoker, and calling it an early Christmas gift? Who knows, it could be what gets him into the hobby. I managed to convince my pops to throw down some cash for a 22” Weber MasterTouch kettle grill, cuz it’s a good affordable all-around grill/smoking apparatus with just enough bells and whistles to make things easy and fun for my uncle when he gets into grilling, which he’s been showing interest in doing. I’ve actually smoked poo poo on Weber kettles before, so I already know a little bit about how to dial one in, and I’m bringing a ThermoWorks Signals with me along with a Billows and some hardware to modify the grill to use said Billows just in case my uncle wants to do that (the paint would go on AFTER the cook, before any of you think about making GBS threads on me). It’s still probably gonna be a somewhat tough smoke, but at least it won’t be as hard as it would’ve been on that shitass Brinkmann. I. M. Gei fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Nov 25, 2019 |
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Nov 25, 2019 01:31
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I don't think a 20 lb bird, spatchcocked or otherwise, will fit nice on a 22" grill. Especially considering you need a hot zone for your charcoal. Thank you in advance for posting pictures!
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Nov 25, 2019 13:07
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Canuckistan posted:I don't think a 20 lb bird, spatchcocked or otherwise, will fit nice on a 22" grill. Especially considering you need a hot zone for your charcoal. I've done 20 lb birds on my 22" Weber kettle without any space issues.
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Nov 25, 2019 13:11
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Beating a dead horse on the electric smoker but here goes... How good of a job do electric smokers actually do? From what I’m reading, it’s basically an outdoor oven I can throw wood chips in. I plan I’m buying an MES and doing some kind of AMNPS purchase to get smoke going, but does the smoke actually permeate the meat with an electric smoker? I know I won’t get a smoke ring, and I don’t care about that as long as the flavor is there. I’m just wondering if I’m wasting my money on an electric and should cash flow something else (kamado or pellet smoker, etc). My main thing is convenience and being able to smoke during the winter-I live in NoVA so it’s not subarctic temps but it’s 30 degrees outside right now for reference. I also don’t want to be babysitting it every 30 minutes and adding more wood chunks, etc. I plan on buying a Bluetooth thermometer probe for alerts, but I’m not in a place with my life where I can hang out all day in the backyard with a beer and smoke brisket...one day.
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Nov 25, 2019 13:15
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Click the question mark by my name or the dots of on mobile, and see every post I've made in this thread, including the data posts, and know that they were all done on a MES 30".
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Nov 25, 2019 13:18
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nwin posted:Beating a dead horse on the electric smoker but here goes... They are fine. I have one along with a ceramic egg knockoff. I'm not a smoker brand snob. With mine I use the tube. Don't use the water pan because it will snuff out the smoke. Get good airflow. The tube will go 3-4 hours. So once going set the temp and forget about it. You might also want to look into a chargriller akorn. Extremely efficient, once dialed in it really is a set it and forget smoker that is cheapy. Problem is the lowest it likes to cruise at is 275. To do 225, requires better gaskets. The main issue with electric smokers are birds and wings. They top out at 275 and that ain't enough to get good skin unless you use other means to finish.
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Nov 25, 2019 13:40
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nwin posted:Beating a dead horse on the electric smoker but here goes... As you called out, no smoke ring. As Colostomy Bag called out, 275f is the max so no crispy skin on poultry. Other than those things, the big MES is loving fantastic. With an A-MAZE-N pellet maze, you spend about 5 minutes at the start of a smoke, then come back when your BBQ is ready. I had both a 22.5 WSM and the 40 MES for like 5 years so that I could have the all day event smokes on the WSM and the MES for when I didn't have the time to babysit. I finally just gave the WSM to a friend because the MES stuff turns out so great, even with zero maintenance. The pellet maze puts out PLENTY of smoke for smoke flavor and a nice black bark on long cooks. A full one will burn for like 8 hours, which is way more than any food actually keeps absorbing smoke. If you really ever feel like absolutely blasting something with smoke, you can burn pellets from both ends. Do get the 40 though, as it has a better heating element that will work better in your colder temps.
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Nov 25, 2019 14:01
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You can also get the smoke ring, if it's that important, by kicking a tiny pinch of pink salt (sodium nitrate) into your rub.
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Nov 25, 2019 14:10
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Dango Bango posted:I've done 20 lb birds on my 22" Weber kettle without any space issues. How? I'm looking at mine and I just can't see it. I was sure that some bit would be above the lit charcoal and get burnt. How did you do the charcoal? Snake around the edge?
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Nov 25, 2019 14:16
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Doom Rooster posted:
Yeah, forgot about that. I have the 30 and the 800 watt element can't keep up with cold temps. Can't give exact numbers (been awhile) but when it is in the 20's F about the max it can reach is around 235 or so. And she is rolling full tilt so of course lowers the life expectancy of the smoker. 1200 watt should fare better.
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Nov 25, 2019 14:28
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Yeah.. I've had a WSM for I don't even know, 10 years or so now, and I'm considering buying an electric just because I have young kids and simply can't set aside a large block of time as easily as I could before. The WSM is amazing, and its ability to hold temp for 4 hours at a clip is equally so, but the results are not different from an electric (minus the ring) and being able to turn it on and walk away for the full cook is incredible.
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Nov 25, 2019 14:37
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I've never had another smoker, but my MES 30 is lovely. Never had a problem in cold temps, food comes out great, and couldn't be easier. Honestly I think if I had a "real" smoker I'd probably also have an electric if only for the convenience alone.
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Nov 25, 2019 14:47
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McSpankWich posted:Yeah.. I've had a WSM for I don't even know, 10 years or so now, and I'm considering buying an electric just because I have young kids and simply can't set aside a large block of time as easily as I could before. Quoted for truth. Same here.
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Nov 25, 2019 15:06
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Internet Explorer posted:I've never had another smoker, but my MES 30 is lovely. Never had a problem in cold temps, food comes out great, and couldn't be easier. Honestly I think if I had a "real" smoker I'd probably also have an electric if only for the convenience alone. Does yours have glass on the door?
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Nov 25, 2019 15:12
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Colostomy Bag posted:Does yours have glass on the door? No, seemed not worth it to me. If you check my first posts in this thread there was good discussion, good suggestions from the thread on that topic.
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Nov 25, 2019 15:14
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Colostomy Bag posted:The main issue with electric smokers are birds and wings. They top out at 275 and that ain't enough to get good skin unless you use other means to finish. What about pellet grills? Pit Bosses go up to 500° and I think that new Weber pellet grill goes up to 600°.
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Nov 25, 2019 15:31
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That's seriously the max temp on an electric smoker? Glad I read this, I was planning on getting one some time next year but the majority I use it for is wings and turkey.
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Nov 25, 2019 15:35
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I use mine for wings and turkey and haven't had any complaints. Maybe it's just because I live in a dryer climate, but my stuff seems to get at least somewhat crispy. If you want to add crisp you can throw it in the grill for a minute. The one time I put the wings on the grill for a minute they were too crispy. I dunno, I may be an idiot. 
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Nov 25, 2019 15:38
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Internet Explorer posted:No, seemed not worth it to me. If you check my first posts in this thread there was good discussion, good suggestions from the thread on that topic. Yeah, probably where the difference is on heat loss. Lots of heat goes out the window. Good data point. And of course the window is worthless, but hey it was a gift from my better half so I can't complain. Internet Explorer posted:I use mine for wings and turkey and haven't had any complaints. Maybe it's just because I live in a dryer climate, but my stuff seems to get at least somewhat crispy. If you want to add crisp you can throw it in the grill for a minute. The one time I put the wings on the grill for a minute they were too crispy. Lot's of variables, but if it works for you than great!
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Nov 25, 2019 15:49
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Canuckistan posted:How? I'm looking at mine and I just can't see it. I was sure that some bit would be above the lit charcoal and get burnt. How did you do the charcoal? Snake around the edge? I've done the snake before. Now that I have charcoal baskets though, I just use those on each side so the bird can sit right in the middle. I'll try to remember to take a pic of the setup Thursday or find an old one.
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Nov 25, 2019 17:57
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I think my only reservation about the MES is how I’ll have to finish chicken. One of the main reasons for this was to smoke chicken thighs and wings. Yeah, there’s a grill outside right next to where the smoker will be, but if I’m doing this in the winter then I’ll have to uncover the grill, preheat it for 10-15 minutes, finish the chicken-yeah it’s not a lot of extra steps but it’s not as convenient as being all-in-one. However, if I went with something like an Akorn, it seems like I lose cooking space, and I have to deal with a bit more work whenever I want to use it. Like if I want to just smoke some wings, getting the fire going, getting the right temperature, etc seems like a lot more work then just plugging the MES in. Maybe an alternative to grilling to finish in the winter would just be to stick wings/thighs under the broiler or in the oven for a bit? The only other alternative I would see is a pellet smoker, but then I’d be looking at $500+ I think.
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Nov 25, 2019 21:12
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nwin posted:Maybe an alternative to grilling to finish in the winter would just be to stick wings/thighs under the broiler or in the oven for a bit? Yeah, this should work. You might miss out on some of the grill flavor, but they'll already be plenty tasty from smoking.
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Nov 25, 2019 21:14
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Are there typically noteworthy Black Friday deals on smokers?
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Nov 25, 2019 21:39
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TITTIEKISSER69 posted:Are there typically noteworthy Black Friday deals on smokers? Yes, check Bass Pro Shop if you have one in the area. There are probably other great deals at other stores as well, but I got my MES for around $170 like 8 years ago (and it’s been heavily used ever since).
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Nov 25, 2019 22:34
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So this past weekend I decided to familiarize myself with the spatchcock technique and see if I can use my Brinkmann Professional charcoal grill instead of my MES for a Thanksgiving turkey. Here is what this grill looks like: ( I picked up mine at a garage sale for less than $20) Each side has a charcoal grate that can be raised or lowered independently. There’s also a removable divider in the middle. I trialed it by using fresh whole chicken, spatchcocked and seasoned. I built a charcoal fire on one side and places the chicken on the other side. Then I lit my amazen pellet smoker and threw that inside. I removed the divider as well. I’m using natural lump charcoal. All these websites say you can smoke a spatchcocked bird with indirect grilling in a short amount of time (like an hour or two). But it took a good 5 hours to get an average sized chicken up to the final temp. Multiply that out to a 22+ lb turkey sounds like it would take forever. The meat was amazingly delicious, but I’m worried about timing for Thanksgiving. Should I give up on the idea and throw the whole bird (not spatchcocked) into my MES? I’m pretty sure it won’t fit in there spatchcocked. Or should I just get up really really early to get the bird on and tend to the charcoal all day? Or spatchcock and grill a while, then finish in the oven? The thermometers on the lid of the grill showed about 500-600 on the fire side and around 225-250 on the bird side, maxing out around 300 initially. But I am not sure how accurate they are. I am considering moving the bird closer to the middle to get more heat, or possibly throwing an old blanket over the grill to insulate it better. Any ideas?
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Nov 25, 2019 22:54
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| # ? May 29, 2024 19:06 |
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TITTIEKISSER69 posted:Are there typically noteworthy Black Friday deals on smokers? Traeger Pros are $100 off I believe.
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Nov 25, 2019 23:03
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