Gobblin’ Up ’09

The bird went in the smoke at 10am this morning.  At only ten pounds we saw no need for an ultra early start.  Plus we need more time for prep and other fixings.

There’s no big secret on our prep for the bird.  Our recipe has been modified over the years from one in the barbecuers bible, Smoke and Spice.  We inject the bird and then rub a paste between the skin and breast.  She sits in the fridge overnight.  I have always liked 18 or more hours for all the flavors of the injection and paste to go through her.

(Note: If memory serves me correct, Smoke and Spice was a gift from my mother-in-law.  Many thanks and props… and season’s greetings to our family in SC!)

We ordered in our favorite charcoal, or at least a brand that we’ve used for special occasions and works great. Wicked Good Charcoal is a 100% natural lump charcoal.  We realize there’s plenty of lump charcoal at your local market or outdoor store.  However, many of these use inferior wood and most, from our experience, contain mall pieces or fragments.  What makes Wicked Good so good in our opinion is that 90% of the bag contains big chunks of wood and we haven’t found any lumber or other non-natural items such as rocks in the bag.  It also burns clean, producing an almost white ash.  It really does make a huge difference when smoking.

The bird went into the smoker breast side down over a pan of Odell’s Easy Street wheat beer, two ripe pears, and peppercorns.  Cherry wood is being used for the smoke today.   Dinner time most likely will be around 4pm if we can get everything else in gear.

The kids got in full gear yesterday.  Hale helped prep the bird.  Taylor made a chocolate cheesecake.  Below are some random pictures from the festivities so far.  We hope your day is swell!