Turkey Smoking TEST

How To Smoke a Turkey
By Cheri Sicard

This entry was intended to see whether copying code, including pictures and tables, could be done from another web site. It turned out to be completely easy.

Smoked turkey is a delicacy that many people love, but they don't have it that often because, let's face it, buying a smoked turkey is expensive. If only these turkey deprived folks knew just how easy and economical it is to make your own smoked turkey at home.

We used a water smoker to make our turkey. These are available wherever barbecue grills are found, but here's an economical secret: start going to garage sales. For some reason, smokers seem to be a popular item, possibly because a lot of folks don't know how to use them. I purchased my smoker, almost new, for a measly seven dollars, and I see them often while on my regular Saturday garage sale runs.

Water smokers are available in electric, gas or charcoal model, and all work well. Charcoal smokers have two pans - one for charcoal and one for liquid which creates the moist, hot smoke needed for cooking.

If you don't own a water smoker, you could also smoke your turkey on the grill using the Indirect Smoking Method. Just follow the simple instructions given to us by America's Smoking King, Famous Dave Anderson.

Important Points
Food safety is of primary concern when smoking turkey. Turkey breasts, drumsticks, wings and whole turkeys are all suited for smoking, although for safety's sake, stick with whole turkeys that weigh 12 pounds or less. A larger turkey remains in the "Danger Zone" - between 40° F and 140° F for too long.

Do not stuff a turkey destined for smoking. Because smoking is takes place at a low temperature, it can take too long for the temperature of the stuffing to reach the required temperature of 165° F, not to mention that smoked stuffing has an undesirable flavor.

Recipes
Smoked turkey doesn't need a recipe as seasonings, ingredients and spices are not necessary. You can add a little salt, pepper or poultry seasoning, but the smoke provides the principle flavor. Don't be afraid, however, to get creative with that smoke by experimenting with different types of wood -- hickory or mesquite being the most popular. Any chunks or chips of water-soaked hardwood or fruitwood will work, but do not use softwoods like pine, fir, cedar or spruce as they will give the food a turpentine flavor and coat it with an ugly and inedible black pitch.

Turkey Preparation Thanksgiving 2004

What I did to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving, 2004

• I brined the turkey overnight using a brine derived from a couple I read about and based on my experience last year roasting a turkey I had brined. That turkey was brined using a recipe from the Nov-Dec 2003 Cook's Illustrated. That recipe called for brining and then rubbing the turkey inside and out with a spice rub. It became the kickoff for this year's preparation.
  
• After the brining this year I prepared the turkey for smoking by rubbing it inside and out, as well as under the skin, with a garlic and oil spice rub. The spice rub was based on the Cook's Illustrated spice rub from 2003 and something I read somewhere else using a few cloves of garlic and some olive oil. I took the cloves of garlic and the spice rub recipe, place them in the small bowl of the hand blender, then added enough olive oil to make a paste. I rubbed this paste inside and outside and also under the skin, even loosening some of the skin on the thighs and legs to push the rub under the skin there, as well as the breast and back. (A couple of useful insights: "You can expect to use 10 lb. or more of charcoal for a 10-14 lb. turkey, so have some extra just in case...Each time you remove the lid for those of you who are lookie loos, it adds between 10 and 15 minutes to the cook time, so don't take the lid off to see your prize until you absolutely have to.")
• Brine recipe I developed from several sources; used with great success this year (2004): Add all ingredients to a pot and bring to the boil; cool by letting stand or adding ice, then put turkey in plastic bag large enough to hold it along with the brine (brining bag is acceptable; I always use clean plastic trash bags, placed in a containers large enough to hold turkey and small enough to fit in refrigerator; if temperature outside is 40 or less, the brining holder with turkey can be place outside overnight if wandering varmints are not an issue.)
  
• 1 gallon water
  
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon pickling spice
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon whole allspice, crushed
  
• 15 peppercorns, cracked
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed (3 whole heads recommended)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped unpeeled fresh ginger (1 /1/2 c suggested)
  
• 4 bay leaves - depends on size
• 1 cup soy sauce ( 1 1/2 cup suggested)
  
• 1 teaspoon tarragon
• 1-2 hot dried peppers
  
• Try adding these next time:
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• bunch of scallions
• Alice Waters adds
  
• 4 juniper berries, crushed
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
• suggests 1 whole head of garlic

• I set a fire in the smoker with charcoal briquettes and hardwood charcoal to heat it initially to as high as 300°. I also included some chunks of cherry wood well soaked with water to provide sweet smoke. This is probably unnecessary early on, as the fire will need to be refueled many times during the course of cooking.
  
• After brining the turkey overnight I wrapped it in wet cheesecloth and tied it somewhat tightly fore and aft using dental tape instead of string. (I'm still looking for a source for unwaxed dental tape - it seems to no longer be made.) Then I placed the turkey in a V-shaped rack which on which I first placed crumpled foil to keep the steel bars of the rack from leaving lines in the turkey breast. The rack that I had available was not very deep but worked fine. I concluded that the real purpose of the rack is to keep the turkey stable and any arrangement which does that will work fine. The intention was to place the turkey breast-side down but it is unclear whether that was what I actually did. Once it was wrapped and ready to cook I was unsure how to tell which side was up, so next time I will pay closer attention early on. The end result was fine, anyway, perhaps because the method of brining and slow cooking in a humid environment ensures moist meat anyway. I then found a metal oven tray deep enough to catch the turkey juices but not so deep as to have the top of the turkey in contact with the lid of the smoker. I placed the turkey on its tray on the cool side of the s smoker, away from the heat and any flames that might flare up. The 12-13 lb. turkey went in the smoker around 9:40 a.m. and stayed until 5:30 p.m. or so, for reasons explained below.
  
• I put a pan able to hold about 1/2 gal. of liquid in the smoker on the hot side of the grill and kept it filled with various aromatic liquids including beer, Diet Dr. Pepper, Coca Cola, and water. The purpose of the liquids is to keep a humid atmosphere inside the smoker.
• I checked the smoker every so often, perhaps every 30-45 min. I think this proved important to the final product as little things were kept from getting out of hand. At one point the liquid had been almost completely boiled off and a crunchy looking residue was forming. This taught me to be sure to always keep plenty of liquid at hand and in the pot. I also basted the turkey just about every time I opened the cooker after the first couple of hours of cooking. Next time I will make this a regular part of the process.
  
• During the cooking a major weather change took place. A front came through with rain squalls and heavy winds and a dramatic temperature drop. The winds were severe enough to take down many trees in the DC area and cause major holiday havoc. Here, the wind and temperature drop both impacted the cooking time by cooling the cooker. To lessen the impact of the wind I used aluminum foil double or triple folded to block the main draft on the back of the cooker as well as two smaller side vents. As the bird still did not seem to be rendering any juices after four or five hours and to combat the temperature drops I added logs of cherry wood to the fire, as well as additional charcoal. I had been adding a small shovelful or two of charcoal about once an hour to maintain the temperature but was having trouble even keeping a temperature of 200°. (Recommendations I have now read suggest opening the cooker as little as possible, that each opening increase cooking time by 15 min. Also, when adding charcoal always add more than you think is needed - you'll need it.) The logs, first one, then two, finally three helped to push it up to around 250° but it required consistent attention to maintain. At one point it seemed to be too hot and so I removed a burning log and doused it in a bucket of water - which, another pointer, should be kept handy and in a metal bucket, so that, if a burning log rest against the side of the bucket, it does not melt it, as might happen with a plastic bucket.
  
• Finally, the burning logs generated a good deal of flame as well as lots of smoke, and the side of the turkey toward the flames colored considerably darker than the opposite side. I worried that it was over-cooking or even burning, as the color of the turkey and its cheesecloth became very dark brown, edging toward black.
  
• I turned the turkey over, belly-side up (I think), and let it cook for a while longer in this position, basting it again; perhaps after six hours. After another hour or so I cut away the cheesecloth and, basting again, began to try to measure the temperature with a meat thermometer. The meat of the thigh on the fire side showed 180°, clearly well cooked. The breast on the cooler side seemed to show only about 150°, while a bit later, the fire side breast showed 160-170°, the right range. I concluded that the turkey had finished cooking and could come out to rest, to do the slight added cooking that it would do while resting, and that in a half-hour or so it would be ready to carve. (Recommendations: Estimate 20 to 30 minutes per pound if using a smoker. Always use a food thermometer. The whole turkey is done when the food thermometer, placed in the inner thigh, reaches 180° F. The breast is done when the internal temperature reaches 170° F.)
• I then moved on to making the gravy from the drippings in the pan beneath the turkey and the turkey stock which I had prepared a few days earlier. I made a roux in the drippings pan and then added this to the stock. It did not seem to thicken enough for Neil who took over the gravy making at this. He took some more flour and mixed it in a jar with water, then added this to the mix. I tasted what seemed to me undercooked gravy, with a flour flavor, but all others seemed happy. As I don't eat it, other than to taste, I was content.
• Neil carved the turkey. At first he was concerned that it was not done enough but I think that was because of the color. The smoking and / or combination with the brining results in the flesh next to the skin developing a kind of pink blush, which may be interpreted as undercooked. But the eaters all seemed in agreement that the result was outstanding, with several repeated comments about how moist the flesh was. This was consistent with the experience last year as well as everything I've read about brining.
  
• On the whole, a great success and worth the effort. I used the remaining heat in the grill to cook a large piece of salmon for Dmitri Fotos and me.
  

Sunday early: Mild, calm, overcast

• Last night we had a pretty meal: a bowl of my vegetarian caldo verde, with sour cream and my home made veggie chorizo sausage; there were orange chanterelle mushrooms on special sale at Whole Foods which I sauteed in butter as well as some sliced criminis, with shallots, salt, and minced parsley over top of them and a splash of lemon juice, delious over thin slices of briefly sauteed crisped potato and onion frittata, an intentional leftover; and a salad of ultra gravlax, my homemade gravlax that this time was allowed to cure for nearly a week, making it very dry, salty, and thin slicing like Smithfield ham, as well as leftover tuna steaks from a Provençale dish, also sliced quite thin, over salad greens and with some scallion white sliced in half-inch pieces, tossed with a mustard lime olive oil and garlic vinaigrette. The dressing made the tuna moist and delicious, the saltiness of the salmon speaking to the sweetness of a new Greek olive oil. A bottle of Chiliean sauvignon blanc went well with the salad and mushrooms, not as well with the soup - it seemed a bit thin.
• A column this morning by Michael Dirda that had tears dripping from my eyes. A review of a new novel by someone Robinson, previous author of, I believe I recall, Homecoming, both books regarded by Dirda with enormous affection and respect, sounding very tempting. The current book a reflection by an aging (77) minister in the midwest of his lonely life and then the joy of a young wife and their child. With many developments but very tender and gentle love stories and reflections.
• Today into the city to St. Marks for church, early so we can be photographed in a group photo for the ages. So, I must get dressed now to make by the 10:30 hour for the picture.
  

Quick update

Overcast but not too cool, near 50 overnight. Some drizzle, now stopped.

Thanksgiving the Fotos family will join us, I don't know who that will include but probably Christine, Alexandra, Neil, Dmitri.

I'm off to farmer's market.

Yesterday afternoon met with Martin Dyer's Committee on Diversity at St. John's. Will meet in Bethesda on Monday with Irene Crowe, also a committee member, who is on the Board at the College.

Attended visitor's Touchstones at MCIJ on Thursday.

Wed. evening attended pre-show dinner, then very good performance of Bellini's I Puritani at the Baltimore Opera with Paula Binder and her daughter, Didi.

Thursday evening at St. John's President Chris Nelson's house for a concert hosted by Joyce Ohlin, Chris's wife, of the Ensemble Galileo with commentary by Neil Conant of NPR.

Had very positive medical checkup with Dr. Krimins on Friday; noted that I had lost 17 lb. since February as a strongly positive development. I am, however, to have a followup checkup with another doctor per my attacks of esophageal spasm.

Had lunch Friday with Dan Sullivan at Boatyard Grill in Eastport to review our training on next Tuesday at MCIJ. I need to confirm on Monday with Ms. Mobley that we will be able to bring in training materials.

Must run.

Another beautiful day, but chill...

Here on Weems Creek the air is still, the water calm, the sun bright, the sky a little wispy with veils of mist high up making the light seem to come from everywhere.

• Sunday, Nov 14. A beautiful day, clear and sunny with little wind.
  
• Sunday we drove into DC for church at St. Mark's. After, we had lunch at Cosi on Pennsylvania Ave. with Penny Hansen, Sr. Warden, to discuss our past year at St. Mark's. where we are and where we're going. I think she was afraid that we are going out and not coming back. I hope we reassured her that that is not the case, that we've been looking around a bit in Annapolis and always come back to St. Mark's for the preaching, the teaching.
• After driving back to Annapolis we rested for a while at home.
  
• Then, in the late afternoon, we went to the Caritas Society's Meet the Authors event at St John's. I generally avoid these events, but Michael Dirda, one of my personal heroes was to speak and I wanted to see him in the flesh. I've been reading his columns in the Washington Post for years and have come to depend on his wit, his acumen, his apparently vast knowledge of literature and everything it touches upon. I made sure to read his column in the morning before going to church, as I try to do every Sunday.
  
• The event was much better than I had expected. The two other authors who spoke were both interesting and spoke well and all answered questions thoughtfully.
  
• Dirda's new book is about growing up in central Ohio in the 50's and 60's as a bookish kid and teenager and going off to college at Oberlin where he first began to blossom. In his talke he told a wonderful story about how he persuaded his mother to buy him a complete set of the Great Books, promising to win the $500 prize offered by the company, if she would make the $375 investment. She did and he did, as well as his sisters also winning prizes, ultimately to the tune of $2,500!
  
• After the presentations the authors sat at tables in the FSK Lobby to answer questions and sign their books. Nancy bought me each of the authors' books, much to my surprise. Dirda chatted with us very easily, and mentioned Walter Benjamin in passing, leading us to tell him of Karl's interest as a leader of the International Benjamin Society. He signed the book to Karl as a fellow devotee of Benjamin and in the process made a mess in the book with his pen - and, to make it up to us, gave me another of his books, a set of essays: Readings - Essays and Literary Entertainments. I've read most of the latter now and dipped into the autobiography a bit - much prefer the Readings as they are each a finished piece in itself. The other book is more extended, less thoroughly written. But in both I am learning more about Dirda and myself - and why at least part of the resonance is so powerful.
  
• He tells stories of becoming a library borrower, of getting to the "adult" books, of reading series and endlessly and looking for guidance in his reading.
  
• As I looked through a list that he prepared when he was 16 of books he had read, I got to the ciatation, "Plato (parts)", and was suddenly transported to my first encounter with Plato. I was baby sitting at the farm home of the Rogers, family friends who raised goats, kept dogs and horses, and had many children. As the children had all gone to bed, I was looking through the bookcase at the foot of the stairs and saw Plato's Republic.I felt a thrill of something forbidden, I'm not quite sure why, of something that I had seen referenced in other books I had read, as something a bit both bizarre and threatening, as a book that should not be read by children. I took the book down and opened it to the opening scene. I was gone from the farmhouse, gone from Maryland, I was on that walk back up from the Piraeus with Socrates and his friends. I don't know how much of the Republic I read that night, but I do remember the sense of magic, of being transported to another world.
  
• More other worlds: Dirda became a reader of fantasy, science fiction, the Hardy Boys, and mysteries as a growing youth. I never made my way into the cult of mysteries, largely because my mother loved to read them and I somehow thought that one mystery addiction was enough - I'd learned a lot from her, but I didn't much want to share in that. But science fiction - when Dirda alluded to Corwainer Smith, a name I thought I'd forgotten, and the thrills of his stories, again, I felt that sense of ahhh, so that's why I feel so needy to read his column every Sunday. And these little moments of recognition kept coming as I read more and more. Also, the stunning lack on my part of real understanding of literature, especially next to a Dirda who ultimately finished a PhD in, I think, comparative literature. And he has taught, ah well.
• Yesterday, Monday, was a beautiful day - a bit cold, but not too much wind. In the morning there was frost on the yard and covering the cars. By midday it had burned off and was almost balmin, perhaps near 60.
• At yoga class last night Mary was back and worked us very hard on backbends. It was a good class. I learned a few things about muscles I didn't know I had, i.e., I felt work going on in parts of my anatomy that were unfamiliar, around the upper hips and again the shoulders, even though we were mostly reviewing familiar asanas. As we spent more time in them, and Mary talked to us about what to do, to tweak this or that, we got to spend enough time hanging out in one body part or another to actually begin to learn something new.
• At home, after class, Nancy had cooked a very nice dinner with various leftovers, from a balti dish to the revived tuna provençale.
  
• In bed, I read for a while in GULAG, the book by another of the Caritas authors, Anne Applebaum, like Dirda, both a Post writer and a Pultizer Prize winner. It was not as much fun as the Dirda, as her evocation of the horrors of the Russian Revolution run counter to my liberal whimsies, my preference for not thinking too much about the evils of the "Evil Empire."
• Today, I need to get myself together to go off the MCIJ, then to pick up a package at Touchstones.
• Thoughts about Dirda and about the movie we saw last week, Ray, keep rising. While watching the movie I was challenged at some point, given a revelation, and, of course, now I'm hiding from it. But it was along the lines of how creative can you be if you don't let yourself be as creative as you can be, how brilliant, how, caring, how all the good things we all want to be can we be unless and until we craft the disciplines and practices into our lives that will make us so. And, so, also, Dirda, who obviously does more than just read. He also digests and studies what he reads so that he can write something worth writing, in a way that is, for others, worth reading. His obsessions, Nabokov, MFK Fisher, Montaigne, Rousseau, Jefferson, Emerson, Shakespeare...

New, Beautiful Sunday

• Today, beautiful, sunny, windy, quite cool, not quite below freezing but you can feel the cold due to the wind.
  
• Yesterday we did the following:
• I went to farmer's market, late, but got some onions, potatoes, kale
• I made a nice luncheon salad of mixed greens with blanched, sauteed onions and gravlax; queso blanco; a one-egg cheese thin omelet in julien strips; turnip and carrot shreds; kalamata olives; and a lemon juice / dijon mustard / olive oil vinaigrette.
  
• We went to funeral of John Fotos, son of Christine and Nick, brother of Alexandra and Dmitri, nephew of Bill. We spoke with Angie Nichols after the service. At Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church on Riva Road in Annapolis. Burial followed at St. Demetrios Cemetary, Annapolis. While there we observed the graves of several people we had known, in particular George Nichols, his mother, and Angie's wife, Mary Ellen.
• From there we went to flat of Charlie Berliner and Kathy Dahl on Prince George Street, in the old synagogue, now converted from CBF offices to two luxury flats. They were hosting a harpsichord recital followed by an art show. The harpsichord recital was OK, if a bit boring with second rate Baroque composers, Dowland, Frescobaldi, Frobisher (?), L. Couperin, Handel. We saw Joyce Olan and Chris Nelson, President of St. John's, from whom I learned that they had just elected a new President, finally, at Santa Fe. Also, the Kutlers. The art had been brought in by a friend of the Charlie and Kathy's who has a gallery in Gloucester, MA and works also at a gallery in London, UK. Some works were mildly interesting, mostly for technical reasons. After the concert more people arrived. We saw Paula Binder, the Benders.
  
• Then, around 6:30 or 7 p.m., we went on out to the Fotos house, to spend some time with Christine and the family. Nancy spoke with Alex about perhaps joining us for Thanksgiving. Dmitri and I talked photography. Dmitri and Bob, a friend of John's from Tennessee where he had been living for many years, talked of memories of John, speaking of his eating habits, his friendliness, and, Dmitri, childhood and teenage problems with alcohol and drugs.
• Around 8 I would guess we proceeded downtown for the gala 10th anniversary celebration of the Main Street Gallery. Parking was bad and I left Nancy off while I went and parked the car. Then, at the Gallery, I saw Christine (the Gallery founder), spoke briefly, and, overcome by the density of the crowd and a long day with crowds, took Nancy and went home.
• And the week was almost as busy.
• Friday, a bleak, rainy, windy, cold day:
• We had an early lunch of leek and potato soup, per J. Child The Way to Cook, and a saute of large shrimp in a chipotle in adobo with brown sugar and lime juice sauce, from Cook's Illustrated. We had a bottle of Beaujolai Village that was quite good and then took naps until time to go to the funeral home.
• We went to the Hardesty Funeral Home on Ridgely for the afternoon gathering to honor John Fotos. We saw many people there from St. John's - Jeff Bishop, Barbara Goyetter, Mary ..., etc. We talked with Chris, Alex, Neil, Dmitri.
• From the funeral home we went out to Maryland Hall to greet Rob Levit who was hosting an art show and was playing with his trio for the show's opening. We saw lots of people, including Arlene from the Mayor's officed and Paula Binder and went home.
  
• From The Cuisine of the Sun I prepared what turned out to be a marvelous Thon Provençale accompanied by sauteed shredded zucchini with a few onion slices I threw in. We had a chardonnay with dinner.
  
• Thursday evening:
• We saw Ray at the Mall. It was excellent. We went into town for dinner at 49 West and heard Rob Levit trio play interesting stuff, especially Rob's solo acoustic guitar musings. Spoke briefly to Brian, just returned from Paris, where he and Sarah seemed to have had a wonderful time.
  

IFC Concert 2004; MCIJ; FLOC OEC

• It was the best IFC Concert Nancy and I have attended. With youth choirs and dancers and chant is had an enthusiasm and vibrancy that I don't remember as vividly from past events. The elaxer of the massed choirs did an excellent job and the pieces they sang were appropriate and worked well - a Duke Ellington piece opened the concert, an African chant arrangement closed it.
• I went up to MCIJ in the early afternoon and met with several inmates for Touchstones planning. They are working hard to keep it going. They are having trouble getting enough discussion time in for the students, as the teacher, Miss Lagorio, seems to take up the largest amount of time by talking herself. Dave indicated he would speak to her about this. Mike Boyer has rejoined the group and wants to participate in planning and leading discussions. TDP needs to provide a training session either on Nov. 16 or 23. A portable microphone is still needed for RUF.
• Nancy and I drove into DC after I returned from MCIJ so that I could attend a FLOC OEC board meeting. Budgeting took most of our time - it looks to be in good shape for the next year or so. Our second discussion had to do with the progress of the new exec. dir., Rich ____ and how to shore him up to ensure greater success. We decided to give Nancy Van Scoyoc and Fred Taylor authority to work with him over the next four months to improve marketing and communication both in the community in West Virginia were the facility is located as well as in the Metro area. We decided that we need to begin to meet monthly as a board, at least for the next several months, to monitor the situation and provide support and correction as needed.

Yoga; CCR

• Yoga class last night: Mary was out sick, so Linda took the class. We did a lot of working on stretching the hamstrings. A particularly new asana was something like "parsva hasta padagusthasana..." in which, with one foot on wall, you turned your torso 90 degrees, turning also the standing foot and the foot against the wall, and then bent down, supporting arms on blocks or on floor.
• Below are links to organizations related to Michael Ratner and the suit to give better legal counsel to the detainees at Guantanamo bay. Also, there may be links to sites associated with Peter Weiss, who spoke at St. John's Homecoming Lecture. He is a V.P, of the Center Constitutional Rights (CCR) that sued the US over the prisoners.
• Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy - LCNP.org
• TNI Publications: "IALANA"

Photo sent via e-mail through flickr:

Luigi on Deck

Reflecting Weems Creek

This reflects from our back deck across the creek.

Originally uploaded by maleldil.

Front of Our House on Weems Creek

Front of House

View of Weems Creek

View of Weems Creek
Originally uploaded by maleldil.

The Day After

- Kerry seems to have lost surprisingly fully, across the country.

- Today is lovely, partly cloudy and windy, coolish.

- I stayed up until past 2 a.m. hoping for some break in the dismal news, but there was to be none. I finally went off to bed around 2:30. I have now just learned that Kerry called to concede at about 11 a.m. EST.

- Karl called this morning. He indicated it would be desirable to find a program for Dr. Witte's son to participate in in the early week's of September 2005 when they will visit the US. Also, Karl told us yesterday that the position they are talking about for him in Duesseldorf would be an eight year appointment. But the exciting thing he called about this morning was that he has received a personal note from the chair at Duke who is the same person who translated Witte's book on Benjamin and who wanted Karl to know that he would certainly be interviewed for their position.

-