Cooking Cheap

I tried the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM) on another high heat smoke. I tried it last year and although it was good I had a hard time getting the heat up and running it high (320+). That time I was supplying food for party and couldn’t be so cavalier with “it’s done when it’s done” timing.

The trick is you need a lot of burning charcoal and an empty water pan. At least two full chimneys of hot charcoal. That’s a bit tricky if you only have one chimney. From lighting the first chimney to full temp it’s going to take at least an hour. I thought about doing it the Weber kettle but I’ve done that before, I want some WSM skills.

I was running 325 until the shade covered the smoker. If I have to finish in the oven, I can do that. I’m not going to be al purist about it. In fact, this was some bargain brand, enhanced bird - so I didn’t bother to brine it or even apply a rub. I’m not a fan of the skin either so I won’t worry about that either. Actually, it cooked the turkey to 165F internal in an 1.5 hours which is what I would have guessed. (I Did guess., didn’t?) I foiled it and put in n a cooler for a while. Maybe an hour. It was just right for slicing.

There wasn’t a lot of liquid in the foil. Hmm. Not much in Smoker’s drip pan either. Most of the meat was moist enough. Of course it tasted fine, all Q tastes good. Now I know, I should have brined. A light smoke flavor which is exactly what I wanted. It’s a win on technique and there’s nothing wrong with the bird. Just might have needed some extra juice. I’ve got a summer’s worth of turkey sandwiches. That’s not a bad thing.

Remember. All things BBQ here are variations from the fount of BBQ wisdom at the Virtual Webe Bullet. See the cooking topics, and then the forums. I never Q without looking to see what’s new or checking their recipes for the starting point.