The Setup The sous vide was a new tool at the time, and like most new equipment, I was looking for reasons to use it and justify the purchase. I’d seen someone post about doing something similar on Facebook, and since I was already searing other sous vide items in the cast iron, it made…
Category: Poultry
Cherry and Apple Smoked Turkey
The Bird and the Rub I decided to smoke a turkey this year for Thanksgiving. I purchased a 15 lb. Butterball and decided this year not to brine it. I’ve read that the only time you really “need” to brine a turkey is if it’s an organic, natural bird — Butterball-type turkeys are already treated…
Smoke-First vs. Sous-Vide-First Wings — A Real Head-to-Head Test
The Setup I placed 40 wings in water to thaw them out in advance, then lightly seasoned all 40 with salt and pepper. I split them into two batches of 20, to run a real side-by-side comparison: same total time, same rub, same wood, same finish — just the order of smoking and sous vide…
Smoked Margarita Chicken and Smoked Mac and Cheese
The Marinade It was a beautiful Master’s Sunday and I decided to smoke something since it had been a couple of weeks. I purchased some chicken thighs and a small package of mild Italian sausages. I decided to go with a marinade only and never applied any seasoning to the chicken — a first for…
Easy Smoked Chicken Thighs — My Cheap, Reliable Go-To
The Easy Go-To I’d been down for a while fighting bronchitis, and hadn’t smoked in two weeks. Even though it was cold, in the 20s, I decided I needed to smoke something — this was shortly before I traveled to Las Vegas for a vendor conference during Valentine’s Day week. Chicken thighs have become my…
Smoke-free Turkey Sausage
Back when I was in diet mode, these turkey sausage patties were in heavy rotation — a simple way to get real protein into breakfast without a smoker involved at all. I made a batch, I ate off it for days, and I did it more times than I could count. It starts with Italian…
Teriyaki Smoked Chicken with Maple Wood
The Marinade Another Saturday, time to smoke something. I decided not to tackle anything too tough today, so I purchased some chicken thighs and some Italian sausages. This time I marinated for 4 hours in teriyaki, soy sauce, lime juice, and garlic. I then hit it with my standard seasonings — garlic powder, pepper, onion…
The Tequila-Lime Chicken Marinade — Three Weeks of Getting It Right
Where It Started The first version of this wasn’t even about chicken specifically — I was smoking a pork loin and some chicken thighs together and wanted to try something other than my usual paprika/garlic/onion powder rub. I mixed up a marinade of tequila, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro, split it into separate containers for…
Turkey — Fowl or Fail? (Smoking Just the Breast)
Why Just the Breast I decided to smoke a turkey on Sunday. I’ve smoked whole turkeys five or six times in the past and they always turned out good. This time, I decided to smoke just the breast. I purchased the frozen product a couple of days in advance, and thought it had thawed completely,…