Smokin' Number 3

[All Weather Griller]

How you doing John, I'm seeing Feeney tonight, I tell him your F@&?£d off with his lack of prescence! Lol

He had to take a year out of Q because of family commitments, although he has been evangelising the sport all the same.

I get him to send you a post later, the lanky son of a B hasn't played squash for 15 years and gave me a right run about on Sunday!!

[MrBlue]

Sure seems like a hot topic – thanks for all the advice. Being a competent cook on the grilling side of things, PRO-Q cooking can’t be a million miles from the similar scenario of always check the food before you eat it
Clairbare and I have been year round grillers for several years now, even in October and November, the grill remained a favourite cooking source – until we discovered the smoking element – now, we grill or smoke

I see this juices issue as more of a common sense thing, and the use of temp probes etc should eliminate any potential cross contamination between meats – we’ve not poisoned anyone yet, and aim to keep it that way.
Ours will be Turkey on the ground floor, and Pork on the upper – with a few thighs and a fatty wherever there’s room!

Cooking times planned as follows: Pork – 11 hrs, Turkey 8 hrs (ish), Fattie – 3 -4 hrs, Thighs – 3 hrs...........we reckon these times will be sufficient, but any advice would be most welcome.

Tomorrow will also be our first with sand and foil in the water pan, and we’re hoping for our best cook yet – bloody early start too – hoping to get Pork shoulder in about 8am – PLEASE don’t tell me it needs to go in earlier, as cooking with a pre 8 hangover isn’t good, and we hate early starts.

[MadCow]

Back to the cooking .... If you are smoking a Turkey, I would seriously consider brining it first ... it improves the flavour and texture of the meat by a huge margin ... recipe for the brine can be found at ...

http://www.americanbbq.co.uk/910/2989.html

As for cooking one thing on top of the other ... IMHO .... just always ensure that you have the cooked meats higher that the raw meats when adding meat to the cooker ... otherwise it shouldn't make any difference!!

[MrBlue]

thanks Jackie - I forgot to mention that we will be brining the bird tonight!

[MadCow]

Nice one !

[clairbare]

Well Mr Blue I shall be having a few drinks tonight and having a lie-in, doesn't take 2 to light that Baby Q

Pork has been trimmed and rubbed and is now wrapped up and back in the fridge

Now for the brining of the bird!!

Chilli cooked for tonight's dinner then it's a meat feast all the way for the next week, if all goes well

Thanks for everyone's comments - we will take plenty of pics

[clairbare]

Hey Doc, never thought of taking pictures of that - there was a lot of fat to trim off because we got a joint on offer from Tesco - unually these just get thrown in the oven for roasting, now I take the time to trim them it makes me realise they are not a good offer after all cos almost half of it it blinkin' fat

Anyway charging the camera now and will start clicking away

[Chris__M]

I see this juices issue as more of a common sense thing, and the use of temp probes etc should eliminate any potential cross contamination between meats – we’ve not poisoned anyone yet, and aim to keep it that way.

On more than one occasion I have dissuaded a friend from "helping", when they insist on using the same hand-held probe to "test" still cooking chicken, followed by hamburgers that I had already placed on a high rack, ready to serve.

[MrBlue]

A good wash between pokings will be fine, I'm sure!

[Chris__M]

A good wash between pokings will be fine, I'm sure!

Certainly- I don't have two of everything! But you will be amazed how many people will think nothing of poking a probe or fork into raw meat, followed by cooked meat, without a thought.

In this case, it was literally putting a probe into the chicken, and then immediatly sticking it into a cooked burger, without so much as a wipe. Neither item even needed their temp taking, as the chicken was visibly not-yet-cooked, and the burger was up off the flame, waiting to be served.

I immediately thought "What the hell are you doing?", and then said pretty much the same. They didn't actually know, they were merely copying what they (thought they) had seen other people do, but without knowing why they were doing it (or why they shouldn't be doing it).

That in itself is forgivable, and I would normally deal with by explaining. But the same friend did exactly the same thing two weeks later, so they are now banned from the grill area (as in "bugger off and put the kettle on"), until they learn to listen.