WSM Smoked Turkey And Salmon Superbowl Sunday

For Superbowl Sunday BBQ I am cooking two Pre-Brined Turkeys and a fillet of Steelhead Salmon on the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). I am trying another injection to marinate one of the turkeys. It is Tony Chachere's Butter Creole Injectable that included a injector with the marinade.



The rub that I am putting on the Salmon will be a light combination of Golden Brown Sugar, Granulated Garlic, Fresh Ground Pepper, Salt, Light Dusting Of BBQ Rub and that is it. It needs very little and the end product will be fantastic. Even those who do not eat Salmon normally always try this and usually have seconds and are surprised they like it so much. I can eat Salmon all day so I love it, smoking it is a bonus and this is just the appetizer version.

The Turkeys cooked fairly fast as the Smoker temperature was 350° for several hours and overall was on the WSM for around 4 hours total. I added a few fist size Hickory pieces to 2 full chimneys of Charcoal and still had plenty fuel left. The Turkeys were once again outstanding. I am beginning to prefer just to season the Turkeys with dry rub and other herbs as I feel it gives excellent results. The injection marinade from Tony Chachere's was just ok. I only used 1/2 to 3/4 of the bottle and the Turkey was plenty saturated with enough as it was. The main difference was the texture, taste wise they're both delicious. and each was very moist. It would be hard to really change the excellent taste of just adding a brined Turkey to the WSM with a little seasoning under the skin and dusted on top and inside the cavity. You really can't go wrong with a Turkey on the WSM and I enjoy trying new marinades, spices, herbs and will continue to mix it up.





There were plenty of Turkey and side dishes for leftovers. The Turkey carcasses will be used to make Turkey Stock and this will go into a 7 Bean Soup I'll make later. I also will make another soup this time using noodles, celery, and carrots with the Turkey stock and meat.

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Smoked Meatloaf - Bacon Wrapped and Other Versions Weekend Smoke

I haven't done Meatloaf on the WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) in quite a long time so while I was at the store I picked up the necessary ingredients and thought I would add a little variety to the cook this time by adding a few more ingredients. I purchased  4lbs Ground Beef, 2lbs Ground Pork, 1lb Bacon, Red and White Onions, Zucchini and the rest of the ingredients I already had at home.

So with the amount of meat that I purchased I was going to make two separate loaves and try different ingredients in each. While this would be fine, I figured what the heck, I'll make 4 different loaves and see if I come across anything that is remarkably better than the other Meatloaves that I've had. A quick look around the kitchen to see what I had and I was off with my plan. Here is what I came up with for the 4 loaves. Before adding the unique ingredients of each I mixed all the meat together with the sautéed onions, red bell peppers, garlic, then ground pepper, corn flakes, saltines, oats, then lightly dusted with BBQ rub I had left from the Butt/Chuck smoke, after mixing with my hands I then added 6 beaten eggs and sectioned off 4 pieces to make the individual 4 loaves:


Meatloaf #1 - Double OG (onion garlic)

• red and white onions diced (doubled)
• garlic freshly minced (doubled)
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• bacon wrap
  

Meatloaf #2 - Zucchini Mushroom

• red and white onions diced 
  
• garlic freshly minced
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• zucchini diced
• mushrooms diced
• bacon wrap
  

Meatloaf #3 - Jalapeño

• red and white onions diced
  
• garlic freshly minced 
  
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
• eggs beaten
• jalapeño fresh (2) de-seeded diced

Meatloaf #4 - Salsa, Black Beans & Cilantro

• red and white onions diced 
  
• garlic freshly minced 
  
• red bell peppers diced
  
• corn flakes, saltines, oats
  
• eggs beaten
• salsa
• black beans
• cilantro fresh
• chili spices(new mex, ancho pasilla)
  

After all the loaves where formed I placed each on wax paper and lightly dusted with BBQ rub.

The WSM was filled with 1.25 chimneys of Kingsford charcoal and Cherry and Hickory wood chunks. It was at 325° when I placed the waterless foiled pan on and then on the lower grate I added the Salsa Bean and the Jalapeño loaves. The upper grate was installed and the 2 bacon wrapped loaves (zucchi-mushroom, doubleOG) went on. I placed a probe in one of the loaves on the lower grate and one probe to the upper loaf to monitor temperatures.

First basting with the 2 different glazes came on when the loaves hit 155°, the WSM smoker was running around 295°. The bottom loaves got a glaze of ketchup and Tapatio hot sauce, chile powders. The upper loaves got a glaze of BBQ sauce, Ketchup, brown sugar.

After around 10-15 additional minutes the loaves reached an internal of 165° and I removed them from the smoker. The rested with a aluminum foil lightly covering the top then sliced and sampled. My impressions were the additional spices and salt could have easily been increased to all the loaves. Each had a very mild taste as I was very light on adding spices. There was no clear winner out of the 4 loaves we tried. Perhaps when the second or the third servings are devoured we'll have a favorite. The Jalapeño was not spicy at all and I could've increased the amount added to that loaf. The Salsa bean loaf flavor wasn't nearly as flavorful as I thought it would be with the strong ingredients added, especially the chili powder. They each were very delicious and had great smoke flavor and added depth with the glaze and different ingredients. I'm looking forward to the arduous task of judging the leftovers until they're finished.


Bacon Wrapped Double Onion Garlic & Zucchini Mushroom Meatloaf



Salsa Black Bean Cilantro & Jalapeño Meatloaf


Bacon Wrap Zucchini Mushroom Sliced


Salso Black Bean Cilantro Sliced


Jalapeño Sliced

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WSM - Pork Butt and Beef Chuck Roast Weekend Smoke

I purchased 3 Picnic Pork Butts and 1 Beef Chuck Roast for dinner this Sunday evening. I fully plan on having lots of leftovers and will vacuum seal most with the Foodsaver. I am getting a very late start this Sunday as it is almost noon. Didn't feel like doing my traditional overnight due to several factors including the wind and light rain that started late last night. We have an overcast day today but the wind has died down and a only a little chance of rain in evening.




I set up the WSM (Weber Smoky Mountain) with two chimneys full of unlit Kingsford charcoal and then added my smoke wood, 2  pieces of Hickory, 1 piece of Apricot, 3 pieces of Cherry wood. I foiled a water pan to obtain higher cook temperatures since I'm short on time. My usual plan would be adding the larger Brinkmann water pan filled with warm water and relax for a 12-14hr cook at 220°-230°. I currently have the 3 bottom vents open at 50/50/0 and I am more than likely going to have to adjust the vents in the cook to start low and based on time open them up to speed the cook. The WSM was running 270° so I then changed vents to 50/0/0. I don't want to be outside tending the cook and pulling pork late in the evening but for the most part I'll just let the WSM do it's thing. Meat temperatures are being monitored remotely with my Maverick thermometer with 2 probes. One is being used on the upper Pork Butt and the other in the Beef Chuck roast also on the upper grate. Made a quick rub with the following:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 kosher salt
• 3 TBS turbinado sugar
• 3 TBS granulated garlic
• 3 TBS granulated onion
• 2 TBS new mexico chile fresh ground
• 2 TBS ancho pasilla chile fresh ground
• 2 TBS minced dried garlic
• 1 TBS coarse ground black pepper
  
• 1 TBS oregano dried
• 3 tsp old bay seasoning
• 2 tsp thyme
  
• 2 tsp all spice
• 2 tsp cumin
  
• 2 tsp seasoning salt

Will update as the cook progresses -

Here is the beer assortment that my Brother brought over, he's running another Triathlon this weekend so no brew for him. I've had some of these before but the new ones are the Don De Dieu and the little Budda (novelty -lucky drink co. china). others - Celebrator  / Afflingem /  Samuel Smith

Updated 2pm - Beef was at 168° so I decided to pull it off take a few pics, foil it, then return it to the smoker until fork tender. Pork is at 155°ish

Updated 2:45pm - WSM @ 265° and upper pork @ 164°


Updated 3:20pm - WSM @ 255° opened and checked tenderness of Beef and used fork to sample end cut - delicious and internal 210°, lots of juice! I decided to leave the beef, pork looks good, put the other probe in one of the lower pork to get temps.  Upper pork 168° lower pork 162°

Update 4:30pm - WSM @ 260° - fork tender throughout, removed top foil and sample for snacking. Ready to remove and then add more pics.

Update 5:05pm  - WSM @ 270° - took off the Beef Chuck and brought inside to rest. It didn't get a lot of rest, constant fingers taking samples off. Made a couple tacos while still monitoring temps of Pork.

Corn tortillas in a pan with a tad butter to warm them up, added pulled beef when I could stop putting directly into my mouth, fresh jalapeños diced with onions and tomatoes, cilantro, queso fresco cheese, cheddar, hot sauce red, green sauce

Update End Of Cook - Pork was taken off the smoker around 5:50pm and foiled and place back on the smoker. I would have preferred not to foil the Pork as normally done during my other low and slow cooks. Finally at 7:10-7:50pm I took the foiled Pork off and left them rest. Pulled the Pork later and noticed almost no fat, all rendered off very well, only thing that really got thrown away was the bones that came out very easily. Good Pork Picnics that are cooling off in the fridge and most will go into vacuum sealed Foodsaver bags with ample amount saved for meals in the fridge separately.

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Smoked Turkey Injection Seasoning - Labor Day Weekend

Finally got around to smoking another Turkey in the WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) cooker. The last Turkey that I smoked was last year, during thanksgiving where I did a total of two in the smoker. And we did a traditional oven cooked Turkey for a total of three.

This Labor Day weekend I smoked an injected Turkey. The injection included the following:

• 1/4 Apple Juice
  
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1 tsp Granulated Garlic
• 1 tsp Granulated Onion
• 1 tsp New Mexico Chile powder
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Following the injection I next added BBQ rub both over the entire Turkey and under the skin near the breast. The first rub was one of my own from another cook and the second was a light sprinkling of Tony Chachere's which is a very salty rub, so I used it sparingly. The Turkey was then returned to the fridge as I got the WSM ready.




 WSM was setup using a chimney of Kingsford lit, another chimney of kingsford on top, and finally the smoke wood was added. So the fire had the following

• (2) chimneys - 12lbs approx Kingsford
• (3) Cherry wood chunks
  
• (2) Apricot wood chunks(one added later)

Foiled empty water pan, and an empty aluminum disposable pan to catch drippings and to hold turkey trimmings. The Turkey was then added to the top grate on the WSM and during this windy day the somewhat protected WSM was hovering around 300° with 1 vent off and 2 others at 50% open. I was using a Maverick remote temperature probe that was placed in the thicker part of the Turkey breast with the alarm set to notify at 160° internal. The entire cook was completed in 3 hours, a little faster then needed as the guests were arriving later then anticipated. So the Turkey was removed when the breast was in between 164°-170° and then it was wrapped snuggly in aluminum foil and placed in a cooler with two larger towels above and below to maintain heat. It held it's heat pretty well considering after we had worked all the appetizers and various other treats we finally got around to having our larger meal. After 4 hours the Turkey was still hot but could be carefully handled without burning when trimming.

Other meal items prepared where 10lbs Russet potatoes with additional Yams added then lightly mashed with butter, pepper, salt, granulated garlic. The gravy was comprised on the Turkey giblets and the drippings from the pan that was underneath the Turkey in the smoker. The drippings were very salty as expected mostly due to the Tony Chachere's rub I placed liberally in the body cavity. Also in the gravy were the pan leftovers from the ABT's (stuffed jalapeños) that were cooked in the oven so there was a lot of charred goodness from that. Cornbread that was cooked in the oven and had additional jalapeños and green onions added. A side salad with mixed greens, apples, walnuts, red onions and a raspberry vinaigrette.

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WSM - Whole Beef Brisket, Chicken Quarters and ABT's

Well the weekend has arrived! The Beef Brisket prices around my area haven't been on sale for quite awhile but I picked a whole un-trimmed packer Beef Brisket 12+lbs @ $2.22lb, which was a lot less then several other large supermarkets.


Prep and Rub

Purchased 2 packages of dried chiles. Pasilla Ancho and New Mexico chiles. Even though they are dried they contain a lot of moisture so I cut open the chiles and de-seeded them and then placed on a cookie sheet into a 220° oven for 20mins. After they are left out to cool then directly added to a coffee/spice grinder.

The Brisket was trimmed of a lot of fat(optional) as I wanted the rub to penetrate closer to the meat. I then added the following for the rub. Granulated Onion & Garlic, Chili(ancho pasilla), brown sugar, Chili(new mexico), fresh ground pepper, allspice, kona coffee, thyme, etc. Lightly salted with Kosher salt before adding rub.


I'm updating as the cook progresses so thats what I have thus far. The WSM is cruising along at 345° for a high heat cook and I'm enjoying my first beer and trying out my new remote Thermometer.

update - 1:50pm - peeked in on Brisket and its looking good and smells great, smoker running 345ish and the Brisket is at 150

Update 2:30pm - removed brisket from smoker, was around 160° and after foiling returned to smoker for finishing. Good color, burnt end was tasty, when sliced it'll be good to see if it needs anything additional (rub was a low salt version)

Updated 5pmish - Wind picked up last few hours and the charcoal is running low so I just let it slowly do it's thing. Smoker temperature steadily lowered and temps around 250° before brisket was removed. It's still resting but I took a small piece to appease the cook before the feast

Update: sliced after resting-
nice color inside, the flat was easy to slice as it was a little firmer than the point.  The point was very tender and moist with great flavor due to the additional fat in the area. Mostly eating the brisket as is and using the additional Red No. 5 sauce every so often. Here are the updated pics after slicing

 

Brisket flat

BBQ links to forums and helpful information

• The Virtual Weber Bullet BBQ forum (wsm smoker) 
• TVWB High heat brisket discussion (here) another (here)
• My other BBQ cook logs with Pictures Here
  

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WSM Smoker Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin Stuffed and Peppers

Another Pork loin stuffed and smoked on the Weber Smokey Mountain smoker. This was a request from a family member for our vacation up to Lake Tahoe, California. The plan was to roll slice the Pork loin and add similar stuffing ingredients as I've done before except that I will add a Bacon wrap around the Garlic/Spinach/Mushroom to give it additional flavor. I also added fresh Sourdough bread(should've toasted) in place of using croutons or bread crumb stuffing. Here are a few pics of the BBQ which turned out great.
(previous stuffed loin cooks with similar ingredients and pics here, and  here )





The meal was cooked the day before then I used my Foodsaver vacuum sealer to seal the whole meal and place in the fridge. I followed other cooks advice who use a pot full of boiling water to reheat the meal directly in the package to ensure moistness. It was the first time I reheated in this fashion as I usually will use the oven or for smaller portions the all familiar Microwave. The ABT's (stuffed jalapeños) have to be reheated in the oven to obtain the crisp bacon and allowing the firmness of the pepper to retain.

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WSM: Pork Loin Stuffed - Garlic Mushroom and Apple Cranberry

Here are the pics from the weekend using the WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) smoker. I bought a 10.14lb Pork Loin that I sliced in half and then roll sliced the two pieces for 2 different stuffings.




Pork Loin Stuffings

1. Freshly minced garlic 1 bulb, 10oz sliced mushrooms, red onions, spinach, salt pepper and some bbq rub, into skillet for just about 5 mins to meld the flavors, added a little white wine and then a package of Corn Bread stuffing mix, mixed and set aside.


2. Granny Smith apples, Cranberries(ocean spray sweetened cranberries in bag) about 1 handful, red onion, Orange rind and juice and half orange added, fresh ground pepper and salt and added to skillet for 5mins approx and a little cornbread stuffing mix that was left over.





Loin Prep / Pre Smoke

After roll slicing the 2 pork loins I salt and peppered the inside and added stuffing, rolled the stuffing, and then used 100% cotton butcher twine to tie and secure, salt pepper the outside on each. I added just a dusting of bbq spice on the Mushroom Garlic.

WSM Smoking

Used the middle grate for the Pork Loins and the empty, foiled water pan, it was around 320° when I added the loins. I had Apricot wood chunks and a chunk of Hickory for this cook.

About 25mins later I finished preparing the ABT (stuffed Jalapenos) and I added those to the upper grate. (creams cheese, red onion, bbq spice rub, covered in bacon)

Into the cook about 1.5 hours I added my first glaze to the Apple Cran loin. The glaze was heated in a saucepan till bubbling and consisted of Blackberry preserves and lemon juice. I applied the second time about 15mins before removing the loins. The Garlic Mushroom was not touched once it was on the WSM, but they both received drippings from the ABT's above, heavenly bacon drippings!

Finished

Abt's were on for approx 1h45mins and then off
Pork Loin had about a 2h45min cook to 160° internal temp. The WSM went from 320­° - 280° throughout the cook.

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WSM - Another Smoked Stuffed Pork Loin

Purchased a nice size Pork Loin that I am going to smoke on Friday evening. I liked the previous stuffed Pork loins that I did in the past and I will repeat certain aspects and document them here. This Pork loin, like the others, came in a cryovac pack and is rather large. I like to slice them directly in half and then roll-slice/cut each of them to about 1 " thickness. This allows them to be stuffed with two different ingredients and allows more space for the stuffing had I just slice down in the middle as you would for a butterfly cut.

Choices on stuffing

I like to add two different type of stuffings for variety and have found that guests enjoy tasting both as well. An apple cranberry with a fruit glaze is always popular and goes fantastic with the pork. The glaze on this can range from orange juice or other fruit juice with a little sugar or an easy glaze by using various jam or preserves heated in a saucepan. Applied near the end of the cook or throughout to layer the flavors. I have no set plans, as you can't really go wrong with this one. I also like to add either breadcrumbs or croutons to add to the body of the stuffing. It allows it all to come together nicely and the stuffing will hold together easier.



Another stuffing that I experimented with was a mushroom garlic onion spinach mix. Add fresh mushrooms and garlic and other ingredients in a skillet and eliminating some of the extra moisture. Again adding bread crumbs or croutons and your choice of spices. With this stuffing, it greatly improves when adding a creamy finishing sauce. I tried a little alfredo sauce on top of finished slices and it turned out great. I'm curious to see what other finishing sauces might pair well with this and I might delve into the tomato based ones this time. We shall see and I'll update the topic with pics and thoughts once I finish the cook tomorrow.

Any thoughts or experiences?

Here is one the cooks I did in the past using the Weber Smokey Mountain:

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Thanksgiving Smoker WSM: The Super Cub... Carcass and Carnage

Happy Thanksgiving!
So the Weber Smokey Mountain cooker turned out some great Thanksgiving day turkeys. I had (2) 15lb turkeys and used an Garlic oil, dark ale, cayenne injection and stuffed another with apple and fresh rosemary sprigs. They were on the WSM for 4hrs and the 2nd one off at 5hours. Pics were taken as soon as the Turkeys were taken off the smoker and placed in a pan to rest. I missed taking pics of the full table spread but it was fantastic and PLENTIFUL. Many left with a lot of leftovers that come in so handy later in the evening and especially the next day.

Injection Turkey

Rosemary apple

The turkeys were extremely moist and had reached 175º in the breast which was higher than I originally wanted to reach. The Rosemary Turkey stayed on longer since it was on the lower grate and I wrapped in foil to try to retain moisture and have it pull a little.

SUPER CUB

Later in the day I had family try one of my RC planes, the Super Cub. It's the easiest to fly and with the new Lipos can approach 20mins flying time. First beginner pilot went fine and performed a few loops without difficulty. The second beginner pilot performed a inside loop then immediately followed with an outside loop. THE WING FOLDED. Even though I had support tape and the struts on, the outside loop put pressure on the wing area that wasn't protected. I have his support for the parts needed and I'm guilty for allowing him to stunt fly the plane on his very first flight but I had no idea that he would attempt aerobatics =). So on Thanksgiving add that to my list of what I'm thankful for.... not allowing them to fly the Parkzone F4U Corsair I just purchased.

Super Cub aftermath

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Spareribs - Smoked St. Louis Style and ABT's

Again using the Weber Smokey Mountain cooker aka WSM. Full chimney of charcoal and fist size chunks of Hickory wood and a handful of apple during cook.

Three nice racks of Pork Spareribs, I then trimmed St. Louis style. Dry ribs with various homemade rub, sauce on the side for those who like 'em wet. I prefer BOTH!

Ribs and stuffed Jalapeños and Anaheim peppers cream cheese w/rub mixed and bacon wrapped.

*additional BBQ Smoker pictures are posted here

Trimming and easy prep for St. Louis style ribs

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Stuffed Pork Loin

Roll sliced or Roll cut the Pork loin and added 2 types of stuffing.

First stuffing= was a cran-raspberry, Granny smith apples(peeled,diced) red onion, seasoned croutons, apple juice, S&P with glaze of blackberry jam, OJ concentrate, Brown Sugar more apple juice and S&P.

Second stuffing= Mushrooms, red onion, minced garlic, fresh rosemary, seasoned croutons(this time crumbled), S&P, garlic powder.

And here is the rest of it.

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