Thanksgiving Contest....Make it big and good If there are 15 entries

Big Poppa

Administrator
I will double the pot....


First place $25.. bps store credit
second $15. BPS store credit
Third $10 BPS store credit

$5 BPS Store credit to all others who enter



Make is good and big and if there are 15 teams Ill double the payout


Would love it if it featured your t day cook!
 

squirtthecat

New member
Not yer Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving..

Back story: MIL landed in the hospital last Saturday afternoon. She was finally released late Wednesday afternoon. We had no idea if we'd be having Thanksgiving turkey here, or in some vacant hospital conference room an hour away.

While picking up a grocery bag of prescriptions for her mom, Mrs makes a supermarket sweep through WalMart grabbing some things for our impromptu feast.

Fortunately, we've got a spare boulder I smoked last Sunday between visits..

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Forgive the picture quality from here on out.


So Thursday AM (they are both still sound asleep), I toss 1/2 of it (vac sealed) in a crock pot full of steaming hot tap water - set the control to 'low'.

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Toss some boudin on the MAK..

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Done.

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Mix up a bunch of canned stuff for a seat-of-the-pans green bean casserole. Toss it on the MAK.

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Mix up that southern smashed yam casserole they print on the can. (yuk... but Mrs and MIL love it) Onto the smoker it goes.

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Set the MAK to 375° and check back in 45 minutes.


Thicken up some of the boulder pan drippings with some Mies.

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Casseroles are ready.

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cont..
 

squirtthecat

New member
Not yer Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving.. (cont.)

Simple buffet line.

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Big dent taken out of the boulder.

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The ubiquitous jellied cranberry sauce. (not a fan of this either)

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Not pictured is the 'box' stuffing. It works in a pinch.


Bellies are full. Time to plan ahead for 2nd Dinner!


Pillsbury Grand biscuits on the MAK.

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Done.

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Slice thin.

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Broke out some Nalley Valley pickles. (long story.. but MIL worked at their Tacoma about a two hundred hears ago stuffing pickle jars) :cool:

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My turkey slider - with remolaude sauce! (hat tip to KyNola for that idea)

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Bellies are REALLY full. All in all, a good Turkey day! Even with the Walmart pecan pie for dessert. :eek:
 

FLBentRider

New member
Thanksgiving

20lb bird, brined in Alton Brown's brine.
Onto the MAK @275F with perfect mix
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Looking good
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I pulled it at a breast IT of 144F, I need to transport across town for the finish and my Moms.

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I need to remember to tie the legs down when using that stand. LOL

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To be continued
 

FLBentRider

New member
Thanksgiving Part 2

Breast carved
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Dark meat
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Sides
Cranberry sauce from the can
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Salad
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Baked corn
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Pilgrims
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My (first) plate
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bflodan

Member
Turkey Soup

Didnt do Thanksgiving at the house this year, was out of town with family... I did end up sneaking away with the Turkey Carcass.... So I thought Id trim it up best I could and throw all the bones onto the MAK..

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Put them on the smoke setting for about 1.5 hrs

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Pretty much grabbed a bunch of veggies and cleaned and chopped them in half and all into the pot... Added a few bunches of fresh herbs tied in cheesecloth to the pot..

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Let it go about 4 hrs and then strained...Pulled any remaining turkey and let cool a bit.. Chopped up some more veggies and simmered about 1.5 hrs to soften..

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Cooked up some egg noodles and added the pulled+leftover turkey pieces..

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Made some biscuits to go along...

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Came out amazing!! The smoke really added a different flavor level to the soup...We loved it!!! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!
 

sparky

New member
the NO turkey dinner.

got tired of turkey quick. so meat time. beef and pork. the other white meat.

brisket and goodies for it.

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rubbed it down w/ JH's brisket rub and then made a paste of horseradish / mustard / rub. my idea was to get a crust on it.

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nighty nite buddy. took brisket and folded it over on itself.

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38º and very wet the next morning. but ma, i don't wanta go outside. get you butt outside there boy and check that meat. yes, ma.

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some more goodies going on.

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snack food on bottom rack.

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my plate. ok, time to eat.

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.
 

Deb

New member
Back to school breakfast......

Kevin was home for Thanksgiving break (way to short a break), he got his fill of smoked foods, hopefully enough to get him through til Christmas....... he's on his way to the airport now but not before having a breakfast out of the pellet grill

started by putting in some black pepper bacon (home cured) , when it was almost done added an egg and a bagel
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almost there
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the breakfast - bacon, egg on a buttered bagel
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CarterQ

Moderator
Just another Turkey

Played it straight this year for Thanksgiving and kept it pretty traditional

Started with a 15lb bird

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Hit it with Plowboys Fin & Feather and butter and in the pan with some onion, celery, carrot and chicken stock.

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Onto the MAK @275

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Looking good after about 5 1/2 hours

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Sliced after a 20 minute rest

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Served with a classic bread stuffing, green beans steamed in beer with portabellas, mashed taters and cheater gravy from Costco, and my wifes Orange brandy cranberry sauce.

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Didn't get a shot of the buffet line as there were too many hungry inlaws giving me the look! The turkey came out perfect, great flavor and it was moist
 

Chili Head

New member
Turkey Breast and fixins

I made a turkey breast and a ham this year in the MAK.
I dropped the ball and only got two pictures of the thanksgiving feast... We had turkey,ham,green bean caserole, corn, homemade bread, potatoes and pumpkin pie .

For the turkey I placed it in a 9 x 13 pan and dusted it with desert gold and added chicken broth to the pan. Smoked it using apple and cherry until an it of 165.

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I also smoked a brisket tuesday that I sliced and vac packed up and gave away to friends and family this week. It turned out great!

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The diner turned out really good! The turkey was moist and flavorful and I dont think I'll ever do one in an oven or fryer again. Almost all the leftovers went home with the mother in law and a big plate went to my brother in law who couldnt make it due to the flu. I sat down to eat and remembered I had almost no pictures of the meals preperation..I did manage to get a plated picture with my phone :D

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ht01us

New member
Thanksgiving

I took Wednesday off to prepare for Thanksgiving.
Tuesday

Tuesday night I prepared an Alton Brown brine of brown sugar, salt, vegetable broth, and some spices. Simmered it a bit and then let it sit overnight in the refrigerator to cool
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Wednesday
I put the brine in a 5 gallon insulated drink container with some ice. I weighted the turkey down with a 1 gallon milk jug filled with ice. It took a long time to push through all those little ice cubes through the narrow opening in the jug. I'm thinking there might be an easier way
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Once the turkey was in the brine; I simmered the neck and some turkey trimmings with onion, carrot, celery, sage and thyme. Store that in the refrigerator for Thursday
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Wednesday night I removed the turkey from the brine and set it in the refrigerator so the skin could dry out a bit. This should lead to nice crisp skin
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Thursday
I cooked the turkey using the Amazing Ribs recipe as a start.
I cut up an apple and onion; added some cinnamon and a few twigs of thyme for the cavity. I also prepped a wet rub of EVOO with some thyme and rosemary. This will get smeared on top of the bird
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Slap 16lb 11oz turkey on the MAK. It's resting on a rack over a roasting pan filled with the gravy ingredients prepared on Wednesday. I microwaved the gravy a while before adding it to the pan. And the pan was in the smoker during the warm up. Smoke for 45 minutes; You can find my full cooking log here.
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After 45 minutes of smoke the temp bumps to 350* and I foil the drumsticks and wingsf or an hour.
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All done
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Carve it. I'm ridiculously happy with my carving of the breasts.
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One of my brother-in-laws brought over a deep fried turkey; we usually need at least 2 to feed this crowd.

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Full report with more pictures and descriptions can be found on my blog http://2for66.blogspot.com/
 
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Rip

New member
Turkey Shootout

For Thanksgiving we needed two Turkeys. My wife baked one in the oven and I smoked one on the MAK2

Neither bird was brined. The oven bird was filled with homemade stuffing and periodically basted with butter.
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For the smoked bird some of the stuffing was added to hot water and placed under the bird to catch gravy fixings. The bird was EVOO'ed, then BP Desert Gold and Little Louie's for rub. Smoke for 1 hour then 275 until breast IT hit 160, 15 minute rest before carving.
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Sorry BP, wasn't thinking contest on Thursday and didn't photograph the whole dinner, it was a feast! The smoked bird is on the left.
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To be honest, our oven cooked turkeys usually have browner skin...both birds were moist and tasty...and the winner is:
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HogSmoker

New member
OK here we go looks like we had 10 entries this week looks like BP gets too keep his double the pot money.

As always all entries looked really great at least too me, however all cannot be winners :)

In 3rd place Carter Q: the 15 ib bird done traditional style along with the bread stuffings green beans steamed in beer with portabellas even with the cheater gravy ( dock points :) ) and the wife orange brandy cranberry sauce would make any pilgrim proud.

In 2ed place FLBentRider : That bacon wrap turkey wowed me. Another Alton Brown brine turkey (I must try that ) your craved turkey breast on the platter I will dream about tonight. The baked corn and green beans and salad finishes off the meal that anybody would chow down on. Great looking bird for sure!

In 1st place goes too ht01us: I pondered on this entry for quit sometime. I was impressed with the time you took making this dinner. The Alton Brown brine the apple, onion, cinnamon and twigs of thyme in the cavity and the rub on the bird had too be one tasty delight. Again the time you took too prepare was well noted and bring in the pictures of the family was also great because family and friends makes Thanksgiving even more special.

(Note) I know this is said over and over again so I echo what many others have stated and that is thanks BP for having this site and allowing us to come and have all this fun. And thanks too all the nice folks in here who are willing to share their passion and ready to answer when someone needs some smoking help.
Everyone have a safe and Happy Holidays !
 

ht01us

New member
Holy Smokes!

OK here we go looks like we had 10 entries this week looks like BP gets too keep his double the pot money.

As always all entries looked really great at least too me, however all cannot be winners :)
Wow; Totally unexpected; I was just trying to get the count up! Thanks HogSmoker.
The turkey was definitely tasty so all that work paid off (in both satisfaction AND PRIZE MONEY!).

And as usual; all the entries look fantastic.
 

TentHunter

Moderator
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