Host: Here is a great grilling tip from Bobby Flay.
Bobby Flay: What are you going to do this Thanksgiving? Everybody knows how to roast the turkey but smoking is sweeping the country. Smoked turkey is delicious and it’s really easy to do. It just takes a little patience and a pretty good technique.
Now what we have here is a charcoal grill and I am going to show you how I set up my charcoal grill. Underneath the wire rack here which I am going to take off, we have some charcoal or some hard wood charcoal, in this case, on one side of the kettle. On the other side we have a drip can and I have some one woodchips here that I have soaked in water. This is hickory wood. You can use some kind of fuel wood like a cherry wood or an apple wood, something along those lines.
And we’re going to put the chips right at the top of the charcoal. And because they are soaked, they are not going to burn but they’re going start to smother and then create smoke. And I am going to put some more water in the bottom of the pan and this is going to help to create moisture while the turkey is smoking. So it stays nice and moist on the inside.
Now, to create the smoke, obviously, you have to start the woodchips but also we need to trap the smoke, so it stays inside. I am going to put the rack back inside and then not on the charcoal side but on the water side, we’re going to take our turkey and put it right on top of the water and then cover it up. Just let a little oxygen in but basically, the idea in here is to trap in the smoke. So you have a little bit of heat and a whole bunch of smoke. So you’re going to cook the turkey very slowly and while it is cooking, it’s going to get that nice, smoky flavor. Already we’re creating smoke in just a few seconds. Check it out.
Now one of the things you want to make sure that you have a bunch of chips soaked, so that you can keep adding them so to create the smoke and you probably want to add them about every 30-40 minutes, so that the smoke continues throughout the process.
And for a turkey this size, about a 14-16 lb. turkey, it’s probably going to take about 5-6 hours. You want to make your meat thermometer and make sure that it gets to about a 165º inside the turkey around the joints. Here it is. You see it’s got that nice sort of smoked color to it and it’s a really great way to cook and it makes the whole neighborhood smell delicious.
Whether it’s for the holidays or you just want to make an awesome turkey sandwich with some Russian dressing, smoking turkey is a real cool way to go. Check it out.
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