Apple wood smoked turkey breast

Recently on a windy mid  40 degree F evening I smoked a 3.1 pound turkey breast on apple wood. I tried for 325 degree F oven temperature. The thermometer inside the kamado kooker and the one that goes through the kooker wall were in agreement. It took 70 minutes for an internal temp of 165 degees F and for the little plastic monitor in the breast to pop up. Very tasty I thought.

Here are the pictures with comments:

Fire ready to cook.

Apple wood soaked for 30 minutes before putting on the coals.

The lower rack: a Weber rack to set the water pan/deflector on.

The flat 2 inch deep water pan I use: sitting on the weber rack & filled 3/4 up with water.

The turkey breast on the kooker's cast iron grill above the water pan.

About 70 minutes later. Done & delicious with a crusty skin. Simple, straightforward

and what this cooker is all about.

Slow smoked country style pork ribs on the steel kamado

Last week I did country style pork ribs. At an oven temperature of 225F it took 2 hours to get them to an internal temp of 165F.

I did them indirectly over water with soaked hickory chunks on lump charcoal. The smoking was continuous throughout the cook. Then at the end I brushed each side with Yeungling's Hot Lager BBQ sauce











 
and did another 5 minutes on each side still over water.

They were great! Smokey, juicy, not burned and full of flavor! I'll do that again.

Cornell Chicken on the Steel Kamado

In upstate NY almost every volunteer fire department raises money with chicken bar-b-ques.
The typical style is with the so-called Cornell marinade. 
http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/chicken_turkey_duck/cornell_chicken.html
This is well detailed in this website.

I cooked this recently on the kooker with bottled State Fair Speedie Sauce that is widely available here in NNY.
I cooked Chicken breasts with skin on that were marinated in the sauce for 24 hours.
Initially, I cooked them indirectly @ about 300F for approximately 50 minutes to an internal temp of 150F.

Then  I cooked them directly opening the drafts and letting the oven temp go up to 350F for about 20 minutes (turning twice) to crisp the skin and to a final internal temp of 165F.
Here is one served with salt potatoes (another unique upstate NY favorite) and a salad.

As usual with this kamado--crisp and juicy. Next time I might let the final oven temp go even higher--maybe 400 F to make it more crispy. Cooked by the firemen, these are often blackened with char. I was trying to avoid that.

Tandoori Chicken in the hole

Before I got the CharGriller Akorn Kamado Kooker, I bought these sword-like long skewers at a Middle Eastern grocery in Ottawa, Ca. I thought that I some how might be able to replicate a tandoori oven cooking experience with these. The steel kamado seems to be able to make this happen. I put skinless chicken breasts ( marinated 48 hours in yogurt and tandoori spice mix)  on the skewers which I had to bend to fit under the closed dome.






















 I put a potato under each breast to prevent the breast from falling off and stuck them in the hole of the cast iron grill. About 23 minutes later at approximately 470F they were done @ 160 F internal temperature. 

They were great! I've done these before on the Weber or the gas grill but I don't think they were ever this good before. Crisp and juicy!

Kamado Twice Smoked Ham

I smoked a 9# spiral cut pre-cooked ham last Saturday. 

I cooked it indirectly over liquid ---water and porter (not sure that the porter made a difference) with water soaked hickory chunks.

 It took about 2 hr 45 minutes to get to 133 degrees F internal temperature with an average oven temperature of approximately 250 degrees F. At about 1.5 hours into the cook I checked the accuracy of a new remote oven thermometer that I got.

 Looking at the ham, I was afraid that it was drying out. So I put foil on the grate under it and a foil tent over it.

 I didn't use a glaze as I don't really like making the meat sweet and sugary. My wife pointed out that I oriented it wrongly.. However, for all that, it came out great.

 After taking it out of the kamado, I wrapped it in foil to sit for an hour. Except for the big piece on the end which was a little dry and black, it was very moist and very smokey.
The thermometer on the kamado is now 50 to 75 degrees low compared to the new remote thermometer which I tested against an over thermometer of known accuracy. I checked the accuracy of the kamado thermometer when I put it together. I have to figure out how to adjust it.
For a finishing touch, I took down the diffuser grate and the liquid and took out the hickory chunks. Then I cooked biscuits.

Delicious. Pillsbury Buttermilk Grands fresh from the refrigerator tube! They were great!

Kamado pizza

My 1st trial of pizza was a prepared cook at home pizza from Sam's Club. We usually put Penzey's (http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html ) pizza spice on this and we did with this one too.That stuff really pumps it up and is highly recommended regardless of how you cook it.

I put some sticks of a native thornapple tree on just before putting on the pizza. I thought it was good but maybe a little too smokey. My wife loved it and gobbled up the leftovers before I had a chance to ask about it.

Here it is going on. I held the temperature as close to 375F as I could by adjusting the drafts.

Here it is done after 15 minutes both per the package directions. I did it indirectly (w/o water of course)

and on a pizza screen. I went to the local cookware store (http://www.smithrestaurantsupply.com/) to get a stone and the sales lady talked me out of it. This actually worked fine but I'd still like to try a stone. Also maybe less smokey for me next time.

Wild Turkey on the steel kamado

Someone I know @ work was telling me about hunting wild turkeys this spring. I said that I had never
had that (except from a bottle) and he offered to share some of his next kill. 2 days later, he brought in 2 fresh boned breasts. What a nice and generous treat!. My wife marinated one for  ~ 48 hours in Kraft

Honey Mustard with Oscar Meyer Bacon salad dressing per a recipe she found on line.
The result after 60 minutes in the steel kamado (after 60 minutes at ~325F indirect over water to an internal temp of 165F) was amazing. I understand that this often dry. This turkey was very moist and juicy like your average Thanksgiving bird done in the kitchen oven. You could taste the marinade but in the center it was turkey full and flavorful.

You can see @ the cuts that it is done through and white in the center. I think I'll try smoking the second breast indirectly over water w/o marinade just to compare. I'm not sure if the juiciness is due to the marinade or the kamado.