Bradley Smoker

[BackPackHunter]

The digital smoker is going on sale @ Canadian Tire on Friday
The nice guy @ the sports counter gave me the deal last night

Post up your favourite recipe

[BackPackHunter]

20% off

I got jerky soaking in the fridge right now

[Big Racks]

I bought one on sale there a month ago or so, $399, regular $499 (so 20% I guess ). Haven't tried it out yet but have some moose in the freezer that'll be sliced up for jerky at some point soon.

[BackPackHunter]

I picked up a meat slicer from CT too
Worked great for cutting the jerky
150$ I think it was

[omega50]

Bradley has a recipe on their site that I really like the look of.
Basically you cold smoke a lb of frozen butter so it gets flavor while it melts in a small solid pan. Then you inject a turkey with that butter mixed with some bourbon.

Then they smoke the turkey til done.
I would stop after the butter stage and injection and roast it in the house.

[greylynx]

Omega:

What is the proper way of injecting a bird?

Does it vary from a chicken to a turkey, to a pheasant, to a ruffed grouse.

Could you maybe post pictures for us and our kind moderator will put it up in the recipe sticky land.

Thank you.

[omega50]

Originally Posted by greylynx

Omega:

What is the proper way of injecting a bird?

Does it vary from a chicken to a turkey, to a pheasant, to a ruffed grouse.

Could you maybe post pictures for us and our kind moderator will put it up in the recipe sticky land.

Thank you.

The breast meat of many non- migratory birds is fully cooked at approx 150F.
The legs not until about 165F.
This is a dilemma when roasting a whole bird because if you leave the bird in the oven until the legs are done then the breasts are overcooked.
In the case of butter/fat injection-(reverse liposuction )

I usually give double shots to the meat that could dry out first( breasts).

Brine injections give moisture in a different way- They de-nature the protein so that the cell cannot coagulate(firm) as strongly.This means that moisture is not evacuated from the cell as would be it's original nature,
The unwanted trade off of brine injection is that it essentially color fixes the myoglobin.
Laymans terms- It locks in a slight pinkish color in poultry( like a pale ham)
This leaves some people convinced that it is raw and they can't get past the pink color.

For this reason- I tend to bone and roll the Turkey Legs and butter inject the breasts left on the bone and first wing joint- and cook both separatly to the correct temps.

Like a Junkie I like to hide my injection sites under the skin where I am not creating an additional leak path.

Sorry for derail OP.

Congrats and enjoy your new Bradley

[greylynx]

Thanks Omega:

I get the idea. Like you said, a bit of Catch 22 going on.

I will start with chickens and pheasants and work my way up like with a reload.

Thank you for answering my question.

[The Fisherman Guy]

Such a good thread!

Omega, you are gaining some great appreciation for sharing your techniques - thank you and keep it up please!

FWIW, I always give breasts a double shot, life's too short for tasteless overcooked meat.

Brine your birds in a solutions of 6 parts water, 1 part brown sugar, 1 part sea salt and a few bulk packages of poultry spice and rosemary. Let the bird soak for at least a day. Bigger birds I let soak for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Place the bird, breasts down, in the smoker and smoke it for 2-3 hours. Then, remove it and place in a roasting pan breasts up with chopped parsnips, turnip, onion, carrots, 1 cup of water and half a cup of the brine.

Cover and cook at 350 for 1.75-2.5 hours depending on the size of the bird.

When cooked, pull the bird and place the roasting pan on the stove with the rous. Sift out the veggies, and purée them and add back into the rous. Add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of port to the rous, and a little flour mixed with water (to prevent clumpy gravy). Simmer on low until it's as thick as you like.

Rich, moist bird. With a gravy which could make your grandmother weep.

Omega, I'm definitely trying your smoked butter/injection trick! Thank you for sharing!

[BackPackHunter]

well my first batch of jerky didnt turn out so good
the flavour was good, I set the wood timer, n forgot to set the oven timer
so the bottom 2 racks where crispy & way over cooked,
top 2 are over cooked but not as bad,
I did this in my garage, and wow was it smoky when i remember I had jerky on the go. (dont go shopping when making jerky) will be doing it outside tonight

[omega50]

Originally Posted by BackPackHunter

well my first batch of jerky didnt turn out so good
the flavour was good, I set the wood timer, n forgot to set the oven timer
so the bottom 2 racks where crispy & way over cooked,
top 2 are over cooked but not as bad,
I did this in my garage, and wow was it smoky when i remember I had jerky on the go. (dont go shopping when making jerky) will be doing it outside tonight

what temp did you have set?

For jerky I go 120F no water in bowl- no smoke until meat is dry to touch- 3-4 hours
Then usually smoke for 1 hour 20 minutes(4 pucks)
Raising cabinet temps 10F every 1/2 hour to a max of 170F
Swapping racks low to high and front to back every 2 hours
I dab off any puddled fat(ground jerky only) with paper towels halfway through smoke cycle so that the smoke adheres to the meat surface and not just to the surface fat.

[st99]

Originally Posted by BackPackHunter

I picked up a meat slicer from CT too
Worked great for cutting the jerky
150$ I think it was

do you slice fresh meat or frozen?

I always wandered how good it would be on fresh meat.

[gtr]

Originally Posted by The Fisherman Guy

Such a good thread!

Omega, you are gaining some great appreciation for sharing your techniques - thank you and keep it up please!

FWIW, I always give breasts a double shot, life's too short for tasteless overcooked meat.

Brine your birds in a solutions of 6 parts water, 1 part brown sugar, 1 part sea salt and a few bulk packages of poultry spice and rosemary. Let the bird soak for at least a day. Bigger birds I let soak for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Place the bird, breasts down, in the smoker and smoke it for 2-3 hours. Then, remove it and place in a roasting pan breasts up with chopped parsnips, turnip, onion, carrots, 1 cup of water and half a cup of the brine.

Cover and cook at 350 for 1.75-2.5 hours depending on the size of the bird.

When cooked, pull the bird and place the roasting pan on the stove with the rous. Sift out the veggies, and purée them and add back into the rous. Add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of port to the rous, and a little flour mixed with water (to prevent clumpy gravy). Simmer on low until it's as thick as you like.

Rich, moist bird. With a gravy which could make your grandmother weep.

Omega, I'm definitely trying your smoked butter/injection trick! Thank you for sharing!

That's just plain great advice!