The next time you buy a ham from the grocery store, forget about warming it up in the oven! Why not use your smoker to add more smoke flavor? So you may be asking, why do this when most hams are already smoked? Answer: more better smoke! Will it be too much smoke? NO!! And to top things off, add a layer of apple butter and upgrade that grocery store ham into a delicious masterpiece.
Directions
Start your smoker at 250F using cherry or hickory wood. Remove the ham from the packaging and place it face down on a cooling rack. When the smoker reaches temp, place the ham on the smoker for at least 2 hours.
At around 1 and a half hours, add the apple butter to a cast iron sauce pan and then warm it up on the smoker for 30 minutes.
At 2 hours, brush the apple butter onto the ham until it is all applied. Increase the smoker temperature to 275, then cook the ham for 1 hour. At this point, remove the ham and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice, eat, and enjoy!
Are you ready to step up your usual St Patricks day meal? Why not try corned beef and cabbage on your pellet smoker? Nothing beats the delicious flavor of smoked brisket and you get even more flavor with a corned beef brisket! Add to that a smoked cabbage stuffed with bacon, onion, and jalapeño and you have a winning meal!
Directions
First, remove the corned beef from the packaging and wash off the red liquid. Save the seasoning packet for later. Place the corned beef in a container and submerge it in water. Place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to soak overnight. This will draw out the salt from the beef. On the next day, remove the corned beef from the water and pat it dry with paper towels. Place the beef on a sheet of cellophane, then apply the garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Grind up the seasoning packet into a powder, then apply it to the corned beef. Finally apply the dried thyme. Flip the beef over and apply the same seasonings in order. Next tightly wrap the beef in the cellophane and place it back in the refrigerator for 1 more night.
On the third day, get your pellet smoker started at 275 F with cherry wood pellets. Remove the corned beef from the refrigerator and unwrap it from the cellophane. If you like, you can dust on more of the seasoning. When the smoker reaches temp, place the beef on the smoker fat side up. You should expect a 4 – 6 hour cook time and the beef should reach a finishing temp of 185 F. When the beef reaches around 150 F – 160 F you should wrap it in butcher paper or aluminum foil. This will help to make the beef tender. When the beef reaches 185 F, place it in a cooler and close the lid. Let it rest for 1 hour before unwrapping and slicing.
To prepare the cabbage, first remove the tough leaves on the outer layer. Next cut the core out of the center of the cabbage using a chefs knife. You want to get a nice sized cavity carved out, roughly the size of a can of soup. Next, place the cabbage in a foil pan, then roll up a sheet of foil to create a ring to hold the cabbage in place. Apply BBQ rub or salt and pepper to the cavity. Next add 1 tablespoon of butter to the cavity. Slice the bacon into bits then fry the bacon in a pan. Remove the bacon when it starts to foam. Remove most of the bacon grease leaving behind about 1/4 inch. Next dice the onion and jalapeños and fry them in the bacon grease until the onions begin to turn translucent. Stuff the cabbage cavity with bacon onion and jalapeño. Add the remaining to the foil pan. Add more seasoning and butter to the top of the cabbage stuffing. Place the foil pan in the smoker and cook for 2 hours. Next wrap the cabbage and extra bacon onion and jalapeño mixture in two sheets of aluminum foil. Cook for another hour then remove it from the smoker. Let the cabbage rest for 10 minutes to cool down, then open the foil and shred the cabbage.
Smoked grilled turkey breast is a great weekend meal and you don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to make it. But if you are looking for a small easy holiday meal idea this can be your delicious meaty main course. For this recipe we are using a pellet smoker but you can definitely adapt this to cook on your stick burner or drum smoker.
Directions
For this recipe, we are making an injection and skipping a brine. You can always do a brine but we found that the injection is enough to keep this turkey breast very juicy. To prepare the injection, start with 4 cloves of garlic and give them a rough chop. Next add 1 – 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary. Next, add 1 teaspoon of Plowboys Yardbird BBQ rub. Finally, add 1 stick of salted butter. Cook this mixture on a medium heat for at least 10 minutes then allow it to cool down. Next, heavily coat all sides of the turkey breast with Plowboys Yardbird BBQ rub (or you can use the rub of your choice). It’s also a good idea to loosen up and pull back the skin around the neck area. After you do that, apply some rub directly to the exposed breast meat. Next use an injector to draw in the melted butter and inject it into various areas on the turkey breast. Use up all the butter leaving behind the garlic and herbs. Allow the turkey to rest on the counter for 20 minutes while you fire up the smoker.
For this cook, use pecan wood pellets and set the temp to 250 F. When the smoker reaches temperature, add the turkey breast to the smoker and insert temperature probes if you have them. The target temperature for the smoking phase will be between 150 F and 155 F. This should take around 3 to 5 hours depending on the weight of your turkey breast. When the temperatures are close to the target range, it’s time to fire up the grill. Let your grill warm up then set it to low 300 F – 350 F. Transfer the turkey breast to the grill and place it skin side down. Cook the turkey breast with the lid closed for 10 to 15 minutes minutes then flip it to skin side up. Continue cooking with the lid closed for another 10 to 20 minutes until the meat reaches 165 F in the thick areas of the breast. Pull the turkey from the grill and allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes before carving. Slice up and enjoy!
Turkey for me, turkey for you! Smoking a whole turkey on a pellet smoker is easier than you think! The key steps are brining the turkey to retain moisture, spatchcocking (or butterfly) the turkey to ensure all parts cook evenly, and never going over the finish temperature. Everything else such as seasonings, injections, and wood selections simply enhance the final product. Nobody wants to mess up an all important Thanksgiving meal or Christmas dinner. If you have never smoked turkey on your pellet smoker before, use this recipe with chicken (and cook to temp not time). If you are a seasoned pro with smoking chickens, you can easily step up to smoking turkey (which is basically a big chicken).
Directions Thawing
This recipe needs 2 days of preparation prior to the Thanksgiving day cook. Usually your turkey will be fully frozen and if so let it thaw out in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours.
Spatchcocking
When the turkey is thawed, remove it from the packaging and remove any giblets and pop up thermometers. Next, cut out the backbone using kitchen shears or a chef’s knife. Cut from the tail along the side of the backbone up to the neck. Repeat this step on the other side of the backbone and remove it completely. Following this, cut the breastbone in the center and now you can flatten out the turkey. This flattening of the bird is called spatchcocking and it will allow the breast and thigh meat to reach their finishing temperatures at the same time. And don’t throw way that backbone, it’s perfect for making gravy or turkey broth!
Brining
The next step is to brine the turkey for 24 hours. Place the turkey in an XL Ziploc bag or a brine bucket. Add the kosher salt, peppercorns, 4 sprigs of sage, thyme, and rosemary. Next pour in the 2 containers of apple juice and add water if needed until the turkey is submerged. Next seal the Ziploc bag while forcing out any air inside the bag. Use a zip tie or thick rubber band to collapse the empty top of the bag around the turkey (see video). Place the turkey back in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Injecting
When the brine is complete, remove the turkey from the Ziploc bag. Create an injection mix by crushing and mincing 3 garlic cloves. Add this to a small sauce pan or cast iron skillet along with 2 sticks of butter. Next add a sprig of fresh sage, rosemary and thyme. Heat the injection at medium temperature until the butter is fully melted. Allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes then remove it from the heat to cool. Once cooled use your injection needle to pump the turkey up with all the injection liquid. Start your injections in the breast meat followed by the thigh meat then drumsticks and finally the wings. You should be able to leave behind the big chunks of garlic and herbs.
Seasoning
Next season both sides of the turkey with salt pepper garlic rub (spg) as a base. For this recipe we are using Killer Hogs AP Rub. Following this, apply a poultry BBQ rub such as Plowboys Yardbird. As an optional step, you can pull back the skin over the breast and thigh and apply seasoning directly to the meat. However for some, this may be too salty and if you eat the skin you will have plenty of flavor from that. When you are done seasoning, place the turkey on an extra large cooling rack (21 x 15), then place that on a foil covered baker’s big sheet.
Smoking
Turkey can be smoked at temperatures ranging from 225 F up to 325 F. However there are some food safety concerns when smoking a turkey larger than 15 pounds at 250 F or less. For this recipe we recommend smoking at 300 F which can help crisp up the skin. Use a wood such as pecan or hickory. When your smoker reaches temp, place the baking sheet with the turkey on it in the smoker. Your total cook time will vary depending on the total weight of the turkey and cooking temperature. So when cooking at 300 F you will need to allow for approximately 15 to 20 minutes per pound. While cooking you should baste the turkey every 45 minutes. If you placed your turkey on a large cooking rack and baking sheet, the juices should accumulate in the sheet. Use a baster to draw in the juices and coat the turkey skin all over. If your juices end up evaporating, you can brush melted butter on the skin. Continue this cooking process until the approximate cooking time is reached. At that point, check the temperature in the thickest part of the breast meat and you want to see at least 160 F. Check the thighs and you should be at around 170 F. Take several readings at different locations of the meat and your lowest reading is the one to go with. When the turkey reaches temp, remove it from the smoker and cover it with aluminum foil. While the turkey is covered there will be some carryover cooking bringing the temps from 160 F up to at least 165 F which is the safe recommended temperature. Let the turkey rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.