Who's cracking a can or two of this open?

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What are your plans?

Just me and my wife this year. We have a 9lb bird we're going to cook. We have a friend that's practically family we're going to drop off a plate to on his doorstep.

It's a bit different for us this year. Since I've been together with my wife, we've served anywhere between 3-22 people on Thanksgiving. Wish we could be with friends this year, but it's best to be safe.

What are y'all planning on making and doing?

We cooked a turkey breast wrapped in bacon yesterday, it was really good. The three of us are staying home instead of the family get together of 12 or 13. We are just doing a small ham. Saving the turkey for Christmas.

No get togethers for us either. Just me, my wife, and 2 daughters.

Smoking a turkey this year for the first time. Will brine it overnight. Will be getting up at 3am to get it on the smoker.

Staying home. Just me, my girlfriend, and our pup. My GF is vegan so I’ll be roasting a game hen for myself. Roast some veggies for the two of us. Make some mashed potatoes. Nothing fancy. We both work on Friday.

I'm being lame this year. I have a honey ham from the freezer that I will munch on, with whatever sides come out of a can. #covidprepperdining

I don't eat a lot that comes out of a can ...... but I just bought a bunch of canned goods ..... just in case. #covidparanoia

Gotta work Thursday and Friday, but I get off at 10am, so I'll be home in time to deep fry the turkey. Only way to eat one

Just the wife, son and future daughter in law. It will be strange as I usually have a houseful. I'm smoking a turkey also, and we're having a big meal...and running plates to some of our relatives. I'm setting up a Zoom meeting so we can sort of be together see each other.

I've been getting the hang of my smoker, and with the smaller turkey this year I'm going to smoke it. My wife is worried... my track record of having meat off the smoker at a reasonable hour is not good.


We'll be having a small get together. My wife and I and the little guy, plus my parents and my brother. My brother is the only one not in our bubble, but we don't get to see him very often, and he has to be pretty responsible about this stuff for his work. The other usual relatives that would be coming aren't, this year.

Smoking a turkey...yum. I need to get myself a smoker.

Better get on the road today. Ann Arber is the closest place where you can get the right size rolling papers- and I hear there's been a run on ZigZags. Don't want to be stick piecing Buglers together at the last minute...

Paper?

Get some larger PVC piping, rookie.

If you have a conventional kettle-type bbq grill, you can get started now, while you get ready to buy your smoker.

1. Place the seasoned bird in a stand-up rack in a metal drip pan (we stuff the cavity with citrus rinds and herbs from the garden). Cover the bottom of the pan with water; this keeps moisture in the cooking chamber, and aids in clean-up)
2. Make two piles of charcoal on opposite sides of the cooking chamber
3. Make two packets of hardwood chips by wrapping them in al. foil; poke holes in the foil so the smoke can escape (we like lightly-flavored fruitwoods: apple, peach, etc)
4. Place bird in center of grill. Roast 1.5 hr-2 hr (depending on size)
5. Pull the bird when the internal temp reaches about 155°. Tent with foil- temp will rise to ~165° over the next several minutes.

no need to soak the chips in water; they smolder in the anaerobic setting just fine. The smoke will billow around your bird for 15-30 minutes, based upon size of hardwood packets. No need to replenish; the amount of smoke flavoring will be perfect every time.

easypeasy

The smoke has a diminishing effect on the meat the longer you're into your cook. So unless it never ignited or something else weird happened, probably no need to replenish the wood after it's spent (especially if you're using larger chunks that burn slower).

It is possible for the skin to end up rubbery coming off of the smoker. I think this has to do with turkey/chicken having a relatively lower fat content. Aggressively basting (every 40-45 minutes) during the cook and using an oil binder prior to applying your dry rub will help.

That's awesome. What kind of smoker?

I've taken up the trade myself as well this year. It's a lot of fun. I have a charcoal/wood offset smoker, and the only problem is babysitting it. If I want to get a brisket done by dinner time, I need to start smoking by 3 AM.

Thinking about splurging for a real nice pellet grill sometime in late winter/spring.

Get together like every year, literally there're too many to count.

All Hold hands, open in prayer. Tradition dictates, then stand across from your partner left hand on their right shoulder, then Paba, comes along side and lights a candle in between your armlength embrace, we say our thankfulness at the top of our lungs, shout 1,2,3, and all blow out the candle in unison.
Whomever shouts loudest gets the first piece of pie or cheesecake.

later we form a conga line after exchanging each others overcoats, and last person in the conga line, usually gandma, ahh gets the dunce cap and has to use the community fork.
Then after everyone eats, and takes turns trying to catch smoke rings with the tip of your nose, we'll go outside (rub your hands vigorously together to stay warm, and have the raw egg toss), tons of fun.

Then washing out the eggs off of faces leads to the everyone gets together and braids hairstyles.

But it all has to be covid safe this year So everyone will take a wet wipe to grab the Front Door handle with, and their car door handles as they leave.

Praise God, Happy Thanksgiving,.. I think we're 20-22,
two turkeys, ham, 3 types of potatoes, Cheesy, regular and mashed, 2 stuffing, macaroni, green bean squash,
whatd', blackberry, cherry, pumpkin, apple, and cheesecake.
whoa, what a day.

Wear a mask, be careful.

Of COURSE! all of those were a joke! C'mon people, stay healthy, Love while you can life is short.
35 people an hour are dying of Covid, somewhere in the US this week. so, Don't be stupid.

I have a Weber Smoky Mountain. A 'set-it-and-forget-it' would definitely be more my speed and appropriate for my level of skill, but I'm starting to appreciate my struggling through using this one. That said, if I continue to get more into the art of smoking, I'd probably stick with charcoal and get something that's beefier and retains heat a lot better. I'm eyeing a ceramic kamado-style smoker for whenever we get around to throwing money at the back patio.

Actually one of the most coherent posts you’ve made in this forum.
Well done. Lol
Be safe everyone.

ZigZags aren't going to cut it for this bird. I need the EZ Widers.

You don't have to get up that early to smoke a turkey....it's not a low and slow process like pork butts or brisket. There's not a lot of fat in the meat to render out, and a long cook will dry it out. Also, look up how to spatchcock the bird before putting it on the smoker...it will cook more evenly. Last year, I had it on for about 3 hrs with the smoker temp between 275 and 300 and cooked to an internal temp of 165.

I’m always down for a conga line.

Agreed. I've smoked a turkey the past couple years and have done it the same way you described.

Our turkey has been in the brine since Sunday night before heading out of town for a quick work trip.

To add, here is good chicken pot pie recipe from Thomas Keller that I make using the leftover turkey instead of chicken. Turns out great on the Big Green Egg.
http://www.morselsandsauces.com/2014/03/chicken-potpie-from-ad-hoc.html

Thanks jfan.

I am following a recipe and thought it said it would take several hours. We have about a 16 lb bird. I'll take a look again.

We are doing Thanksgiving different this year with my wife’s family. Her mother is 93 and her aunt that never married is 95 so a family dinner is out. This very easily can be the last year for the matriarchs so everyone wants to see them. What we settled on is my wife will do all the cooking except for the turkeys and the baked goods. My nieces will do those. All the food will be ready for takeout for each family. They plan on coming in shifts to keep distancing and masks will be worn. There are 20 of us so we can’t be in my mother in laws house at the same time.

My family won’t be doing Thanksgiving this year because my parents live with my baby sister and her husband has Covid.

My wife and I drove to Ocala, Fla. yesterday. When entering the room at the Marriott, I use disinfecting wipes and Lysol spray on every surface possible.

Will head to Venice in a few hours to be with my wife's mother. She is 94 and all alone. I am not thrilled about it, but it is what it is.

Heading back Friday. Looking like rain on Friday so that might slow me down. Many times I get to Macon, Ga and feel good enough I just tough out the last 3.5 hours and just push on to home. This time with projected rain, I may call it a day and hang it up before Macon and stay in Cordele, Ga. leaving 4.5 hours or so on Saturday morning.

Everywhere I've seen, it says 30-45 minutes per pound. You should run temps higher (300 or even a little over that) and so should be closer to 30 mins/lb.

Exactly. That is why for a turkey or a prime rib I like to smoke for about 45 minutes...as heavy a smoke as I can produce, then transfer operations to the kitchen oven.

Smoking is as much an art as it is a science. It's hard to maintain a consistent temp on a smoker over 5-6-7 or more hours.

A oven takes care of that allowing you more control over the cook process while still giving a good smoked flavor, not to mention you aren't having to tend to a smoker time and time again.

Yes.

When I started out, I was like 'heck no' to shuffling the meat to/from different heat sources. Now, it see how it makes a ton of sense. I'm still struggling a bit with maintaining stable temps (and it's only getting harder as we get into colder weather).

A welding blanket really helps keep the temps stable in colder weather.

There's one I really like that's fitted to my smoker (ports aren't covered up and are accessible). It's pretty expensive, though.

Tomorrow's Menu: Turkey, Ham (I prefer Ham), Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Home Made Noodles, Rolls/Butter, Lima Beans, Cottage Cheese, Home Made Turkey Stuffing and Oyster Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Creamed Corn Casserole, Asparagus Macaroni Salad, Deviled Eggs, Pumpkin, Apple, Pecan Chocolate Pie (I Never Eat Pie), Carrot Cake Olive/Pickle/Cheese Tray and Home Made Fudge.

I have been screwing with all types of grills and smokers for probably 50 years. To me, the only way to come close to maintaining a temp on a smoker is if you have a really big smoker. Restaurant sized. The kind you wheel around on a trailer. Otherwise, it is a endless dance of opening and closing vents, adding wood, etc. You end up spending more time on the back patio then you do in the house....or at least is seems that way.

I can't tell you about the pellet grills/smokers. I swore off new equipment 10 years ago after spending thousands on grills both coal and gas, rotisseries, an egg, and who knows what else? You name it.

I am down to a stand-up smoker for smoking as described before, a bigger kettle grill be be able to off set if desired, and a hibachi, large enough to grill 2 steaks. Now days, I use the hibachi more than anything else

Just going to be me, my wife and the guy that rents the spare bedroom from me. The kids are staying away this time. Despite my best efforts at masking hand sanitizing etc.. we got a positive test this past Saturday.. so it's a quarantine for us. So far it just feels like a extended cold.
Hope this goes well and I see ya'll on the other side of this mess.

Watching one of my favorite traditions the night before Thanksgiving: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

There's cranberries that grow in the tundra where we live. My wife and a friend of ours picked some this summer and we made homemade cranberry sauce with what they picked. I delivered half of the sauce to them.

It was damn good.

All. Time. Classic.

Love that movie.

As I mentioned, I smoked the turkey this year.

I absolutely CRUSHED IT. Great tasting bird and it was done on time.

I just got into smoking this year, but I want to try a turkey next year!