The Official Pellet Grill Smoker thread.

[razorbrewer]

I've got a 4.5 lb bone-in turkey breast dry brining in the fridge that's going to be our dinner. Planning on cooking it on the MAK 2* and don't really have a firm plan yet. Thinking smoke setting for 30-45 minutes should be more than ample and then increasing to a higher heat, say 350-375 until it hits 160 and pulling for the rest/carryover to 165. Thoughts on this plan? Any better ideas? It's dry brined in Harvest Brine and I'm debating a mop of melted butter or a spritz bottle with cider vinegar? Wood pellets in the hopper are Lumberjack 100% Hickory. I have LJ Pecan Blend as well but would have to dump the hickory, which I'm leaning against unless convinced otherwise.

 

[BKING!]

I've got a 4.5 lb bone-in turkey breast dry brining in the fridge that's going to be our dinner. Planning on cooking it on the MAK 2* and don't really have a firm plan yet. Thinking smoke setting for 30-45 minutes should be more than ample and then increasing to a higher heat, say 350-375 until it hits 160 and pulling for the rest/carryover to 165. Thoughts on this plan? Any better ideas? It's dry brined in Harvest Brine and I'm debating a mop of melted butter or a spritz bottle with cider vinegar? Wood chips in the hopper are Lumberjack 100% Hickory. I have LJ Pecan Blend as well but would have to dump the hickory, which I'm leaning against unless convinced otherwise.

I did smoke for one hour then 375 deg the rest of the way. I should have increased to 425 deg in hindsight since the skin wasn’t as crispy as I’d like. Turkey should be great at 375 deg though. Duck just has more fat to render.

 

[razorbrewer]

I did smoke for one hour then 375 deg the rest of the way. I should have increased to 425 deg in hindsight since the skin wasn’t as crispy as I’d like. Turkey should be great at 375 deg though. Duck just has more fat to render.

Any guess on time at those temps?

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[BKING!]

Any guess on time at those temps?

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It was 1 hour smoke and about 1.5 hours at 375 deg.

 

[OklaDustDevil]

Agreed on the two piece diffuser. I guess my biggest question is whether I want to jump from say the Rec Tec or GMG to the Yoder or MAK. Would the main difference be the quality of the MAK or Yoder versus the Rec Tec or GMG?

As far as the cooking goes, all would be somewhat equal?

I would suggest you really think thru the purpose for which you want to use the pellet cooker, because that will drive your decision in different directions.

For example, I am a big believer that if you try to get something that will be good at everything it will be great at nothing. So I concluded I wanted a pellet cooker that would be the best smoker and I didn’t worry about grilling, as I’ll grill on my Weber kettle. Also, my main purpose was to be able to smoke automatically all night so I don’t have to stay up and feed the fire any longer.

This drove me to elect the Mak 1-star ($1700 delivered) because it is one of the smokiest pellet cookers and likely has the best controller in the industry, in that it permits you to program the cook in various phases, moving automatically between diff temp’s for diff times; one phase can be set based on meat IT using the included probe. Great company, great service, and great construction completed the picture for me.

But had I felt strongly about grilling, my decision might have swung more toward the Memphis; had I not planned to smoke automatically all night, I might have settled on the Yoder or another with a lesser controller. So, my point is, faced with all these great pellet smokers and the differences between them, really thinking thru your purpose will help you sort it all out.

 

[razorbrewer]

It was 1 hour smoke and about 1.5 hours at 375 deg.

Ended up going 45 smoke and 1.75 at 400. Very pleased with the results. Also did a cauliflower soup that turned out great.

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[Bacchus2b]

FEC-100 Turkey

20 pound bird in the FEC-100 for 1.5 hours in Smoke mode at 180 degrees, then about three more hours at 350 degrees in Cook mode. Went uncovered all the way and used a 50/50 blend of BBQ Delite Hickory and Cherry pellets. Plowboy's Yardbird rub all over.

This picture is the bird resting before being devoured. Note the juices accumulating in the pan, it was terrific! :clap2:

Say what you will about pellet poopers, but they do the job, and do it well! Lots of Black birds being posted on Facebook stickburner fan pages. I'll take this everyday!

FEC-100 Turkey by David Miller, on Flickr

 

[BKING!]

20 pound bird in the FEC-100 for 1.5 hours in Smoke mode at 180 degrees, then about three more hours at 350 degrees in Cook mode. Went uncovered all the way and used a 50/50 blend of BBQ Delite Hickory and Cherry pellets. Plowboy's Yardbird rub all over.

This picture is the bird resting before being devoured. Note the juices accumulating in the pan, it was terrific! :clap2:

Say what you will about pellet poopers, but they do the job, and do it well! Lots of Black birds being posted on Facebook stickburner fan pages. I'll take this everyday!

FEC-100 Turkey by David Miller, on Flickr

What I like is the smoke profile. Sometimes I’ll eat poultry off of a gas or charcoal smoker and I can’t eat the skin. It’s just too bitter for me! Pellet smoke adds another element to the flavor profile without creating that nasty bitter aftertaste I get sometimes from a smoker that doesn’t burn clean

 

[BKING!]

Ended up going 45 smoke and 1.75 at 400. Very pleased with the results. Also did a cauliflower soup that turned out great.

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It looks excellent!

 

[4ever3]

Now look what you farkers made me do...

 

[Westx]

Now look what you farkers made me do...

Congratulations and welcome to the dark side.

 

[rwalters]

Now look what you farkers made me do...

CONGRATS and way to pass the blame!

 

[4ever3]

CONGRATS and way to pass the blame!

Oh I didn’t blame it all on y’all, my Uncle and Cousin got it too :becky:

 

[darita]

I did smoke for one hour then 375 deg the rest of the way. I should have increased to 425 deg in hindsight since the skin wasn’t as crispy as I’d like. Turkey should be great at 375 deg though. Duck just has more fat to render.

Have you tried the boiling water trick on the duck? I'm curious if it works cuz that's what Chinese cooks have used for a long time, to get that skin crisp or at least bite thru.

 

[BKING!]

Have you tried the boiling water trick on the duck? I'm curious if it works cuz that's what Chinese cooks have used for a long time, to get that skin crisp or at least bite thru.

I thought about doing it but I wanted to follow Malcom’s recipe pretty close. I’ll try that next time though. I will also spatchcock the duck. Up until that cook I’ve always spatchcocked chicken and turkey.

 

[darita]

I thought about doing it but I wanted to follow Malcom’s recipe pretty close. I’ll try that next time though. I will also spatchcock the duck. Up until that cook I’ve always spatchcocked chicken and turkey.

Please let us know the results when you do give it a try.

 

[gtsum]

After all the turkey and ham, I needed some other protein so stopped by publix and got some 1 1/2lb bone in ribeyes for and the 11 year old and the wife a fillet. It was too late to defrost what I had in the freezer....Smoked for about an hour and then seared...got a little side tracked with the Red and also failed to clean the grill after a rib cook earlier in the week.....and over cooked them to medium (I’m definitely a MR guy). I didn’t even bother a with a sliced pic. Oh well...fire it up another day!

Memphis Elite





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[BKING!]

After all the turkey and ham, I needed some other protein so stopped by publix and got some 1 1/2lb bone in ribeyes for and the 11 year old and the wife a fillet. It was too late to defrost what I had in the freezer....Smoked for about an hour and then seared...got a little side tracked with the Red and also failed to clean the grill after a rib cook earlier in the week.....and over cooked them to medium (I’m definitely a MR guy). I didn’t even bother a with a sliced pic. Oh well...fire it up another day!

Memphis Elite





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Great job! Those Memphis grills can do some crazy searing. What temp/setting did you have it on?

 

[gtsum]

Great job! Those Memphis grills can do some crazy searing. What temp/setting did you have it on?

Thanks. 450 for a minute, flip for a minute and flip and twist and repeat. Should of done about 30-40 seconds between each flip/twist...I got confused


Memphis Elite





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[BKING!]

450 for a minute, flip for a minute and flip and twist and repeat. Should of done about 30-40 seconds between each flip/twist...I got confused


Memphis Elite



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I couldn’t imagine 700 deg!

Here is a vid where I presume the grill was set at 700 deg

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qauIFOHTIgg