THAT, is a LOT of GREAT eatin' stacked up there! 
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There is a fellow that has just bought a KBQ over at the main? site asking for help with smoking a turkey.
I have no experience in this one.
Can one of you guys or gals get with him on times/temps?
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It's Dan, who just joined us here at The Pit...
I just now asked him to come to this thread for help with that Turkey smoke.Last edited by BBQ_Bill; July 25, 2017, 09:23 AM. Reason: Woke up, put on my glasses and got REAL embarrassed!Comment
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I posted this: http://disq.us/p/1ksz77s in the KBQ review discussion. I believe this could be adapted to just about anything. The idea is to redirect the smoke up higher, like roof top high. But it all hinges on be able to mitigate the heat. I am pretty sure this is doable by keeping the right distance from the fire box. After one day of thinking about it I have already simplified some of the design. Using an 8" ventilator from Harbor Freight, the frame does not need to support the fan. I am current thinking about a 12" x 12" register flange as a collector. I am hoping that by keeping that flange about a foot and a half or more from the fire box, down wind, in addition to two 8" metal 90 degree elbows shaped like a drain trap will dissipate enough heat so the ducting will not melt. I suppose a heat sensor in the last elbow would be prudent.
Thoughts?Comment
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Here's my "Ed's Mighty Turkey" method. It's rooted in the BGE, but it's not hard to abstract away from that and transplant to the KBQ. Like Ernest said, keep the temps high (obviously you're not going to start at 500 as this method describes). This is a stuffed bird method, which I'm finding a bit unusual for outdoor cooking. If you're after gravy (and who wouldn't be), you'll probably want to stick to opening only the lower poppet.
Disclaimer, I haven't tried adapting it to the KBQ yet. And I expect it will be a bit quicker on it. Also, oil under the skin, not butter on the surface, for crispness. These days I'd likely dry brine rather than do the wet brine.
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Suggest you get a bird 20lb or less if it's going into the Egg. You can
try Mad Max's Turkey at http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxturkey.htm
This is a big favorite among eggers. Haven't tried it myself.
Good to check whether your setup will fit ahead of time. The one I find
best involves platesetter, a low-sided roasting pan you can fit into the
egg, and the grid. This year's went more or less like this:
21 lb free-range turkey
Prep (brining is optional):
Double-recipe of "Basic Meat Brine" or "Apple-brined turkey" from the Big
Green Egg recipe book (http://www.nakedwhiz.com/WiseOneRecipes.pdf.
Brine for about 24 hours (seems right from my experience). We use a huge
stainless pot for this, but you can use a large food grade plastic bag
that you set in some kind of container.
Remove from brine, pat dry, let sit in fridge uncovered for another 24
hours (seems to help the skin crisp up).
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Cook day:
This year the whole process from laying the fire through making gravy took
5-1/2 hours, and I was moving slowly. Smaller turkey will take less time.
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Prep including the fire was about an hour and a half at a leisurely pace:
(optional) I prepare a "dry" stuffing - no liquid in it initially.
Generally, it's ground pork or sausage, good sized cubes of bread and
herbs, mixed together in a big pot and cooked in butter until it mixes up
well. This then goes into the oven covered at 325 while the turkey is
cooking outside. More later. I didn't count stuffing making into the
5-1/2 hours. Takes me an hour or so to put it together. I can give you a
recipe if you want, but I'll bet you have one or more.
Put the giblets (and wingtips, neck) in a stock pot and simmer slowly before starting the
fire. Parsley, sage, thyme, bay leaf, a little salt and pepper - the
usual drill. Some people think the liver makes the gravy bitter - I use
it.
Simultaneous with building fire:
Salt and pepper inside of turkey. Toss in a halved lemon and halved onion
with skin on, and a bundle of herbs, if you like (remove all before
stuffing).
20 minutes to a half-hour before starting to cook put a plastic bag with
ice cubes on breast. This helps equalize breast and dark meat cooking.
Slather outside with oil, or better, butter. [Update: oil under the skin instead; ice cube treatment probably not necessary]
Butter a piece or two of bread on both sides, put in the roasting pan, and
lay the bird breast down on it. This prevents ripping the skin.
If you did rip the skin, put some cheesecloth over the section where bare
meat is exposed, and slather well with melted butter. Remove the
cheesecloth a half hour or so before the end of final cooking.
Fire:
Make sure the firebox is clean. Load charcoal up to the middle of the
fire ring. Let it burn for a while to get past white smoke phase. Put
plate setter on, legs up before getting up to initial temp of 400. Just
before putting in the bird, add a few sticks of apple or similar wood
(amount depends on how smokey you want it - 3 1" thick by 3"-4" long
sticks was subtlely smokey).
[Edit: not applicable to KBQ]
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Initial cook (1-1/2 hours):
Put the grid over the plate setter, put the roasting pan on top of it.
Check to make sure the thermometer won't break the skin when you close the
top. If your egg is like mine, it's probably hotter towards the back, so
put the legs facing towards the hinge.
Close the top and throttle the egg down to 325. Total cook for this part
is 1-1/2 hours. You can melt some butter with herbs in it (eg thyme,
sage, etc) and baste every 20 minutes or so. Once the butter is gone, the
pan drippings are good for it.
Cook stuffing covered in oven about an hour at 325 while this is going on.
[Edit: basting not needed either]
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Stuffing and turning (~40 minutes at a leisurely pace):
Take turkey off and bring inside, but leave egg going. Remove stuffing
from oven, but leave oven going.
Let it cool enough so you can work with it.
Remove the pieces of bread from the pan. Stuff the bird. Lay it breast
up in the pan.
You'll probably have more stuffing than needed for the bird. Add some
white wine to moisten it a bit or some of the pan drippings (wine turns
out less greasy and you don't have to defat the drippings now). Put it in the oven for about an hour
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Final cook (this time it was 1:50; it can take as little as an hour for
smaller birds)
Put the bird back in as before, with legs towards the back. Shut the top
and have a beer or something. Continue basting. I started checking
doneness with an instant thermometor at about 1:25. Shoot for 180 at the
thigh (or the loose drumstick method) and 165 at the breast.
Pull the bird and let it cool while you make the gravy.
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About a half hour for cool down and gravy (but nothing else is ever ready,
so it's usually longer - no harm).
Typical pan gravy. Skim off the fat, add flour (first) and white wine to
drippings, maybe some shallots, the cut-up giblets and stock from
earlier. Simmer to desired consistency.
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That's it. I've done variations on this for years now. Always comes up
excellent.
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Yep, I use the miter saw as well. It works great!Comment
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Incredible Spinaker!
We are just making it happen and in a way that is so much alike it is unbelievable that we didn't communicate and copy each others success!Comment
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Bought 3 USDA prime ribeyes from Costco for my wife's birthday dinner. Dry brined them for 24 hours with salt. Then another 12 hours with Oakridge Black Ops brisket rub.
Threw them on the KBQ for about an hour until they reached an internal temp of about 120. Tried to maintain a smoker temp of 200 throughout the whole cook. Used all post oak with only the clean smoke vent open. Then seared them for about a minute per side on top of the KBQ using the Lodge cast iron grill grate which fits perfectly by the way. They came out very moist with just a hint of smoke in the background, nothing too overwhelming. Thanks to this forum for all the great ideas, including using the top of the KBQ firebox as a final sear!
Attached FilesComment
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I've had a Lodge Sportsmans Grill for a bit over a decade. Grilled many an item and cooked and/or seared many a steak on it. As much as I like to play with my KBQ I really can't think of an advantage to just searing steaks on the Lodge grate while it is still on the Lodge.Comment
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Had my lodge sportsman grille for years and it is the king of sear. When I moved a few years ago lost the little slider air adjust door and can't find a replacement but really only use it to sear anyway. Because of Spinaker and finding how well it fits top of the KBQ meat snacks are seared while doing a long smoke. Histrix, I never had a ribeye as a snack though, sounds like a great plan. 😎Comment
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Howdy my "Smoking Brothers and Sisters!"
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I was in the Air Force, and am used to hour upon hour of intense cleaning.
However, completely removing the very stubborn smoke stains that adhere to every inside surface each time I use these two KBQs takes literally hours of steady work, and figuratively about a 5-gallon bucket of "elbow grease" to get there.
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The amount of time that I take to scrub these machines is because I want a certain "Level" of cleanliness and shine if you will, and to make that happen each time takes an incredible amount of work for this old man.
Not really whining here, just thinking that there HAS to be a better way to do this each time.
Am wanting to spend less time scrubbing and more time doing things like developing the several modifications I have in store for the KBQ.
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Was discussing with my wife my intentions of finding a food safe spray that could be applied after a thorough and intense super cleaning.
Wanting a spray that would come off with power washing instead of my time consuming heavy pressure scrubbing with Scotch-Brite pads.
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Anyone have anything they use and recommend?Comment
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A Hotsy would do it (one former employee cleaned an F150 door to bare metal with one), but I think they might be a little spendy. Have you tried oven cleaner?Comment
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