Burn ban hits Kansas

[Bigdog]

Fark. I was planning on smoking today, temps. in the 60's, but my county is in a burn ban. No charcoal or wood fires too. Fark. Was planning on smoking a whole turkey, a half ham, a brisket flat and some sausage. My question is what to do about the turkey. It was frozen, I thawed the last 2 days and it is ready for smoking. Can I re-freeze it, will it last the week in the fridge, or should I just cook it in the oven. Help.

[Kevin]

Cook it. A week in the fridge would be too long in my opinion.

[Bigdog]

What about re-freezing?

[Kevin]

I've never done that. Someone here should know.

[evilpsych]

you *can* refreeze it, but it will affect the flavor and texture slightly of the meat.. i've had to do it several times in the past (mainly with briskets or ribs) with no appreciable degradation of flavor.. the cut of meat does tend to be a little drier the next time you thaw it and cook it because the cell walls are getting double the puncturing due to the refreezing process..

afaik, with the times and temperatures we use for hot smoking, bacteria or other bugs really shouldn't be an issue.

although.. with poultry.. if you're gonna refreeze it.. i wouldn't wait too long to do so... haven't heard of anyone successfull 'wet-aging' a turkey..

[Wildcat]

I would put it in the oven to be safe and go ahead and get it out of the way. You never can tell when the burn ban gets lift. People are losing their homes to this fire and untol you all get a good rain the ban will stay.

[thillin]

Like wildcat said. Put the turkey in the oven at least.

[Bigdog]

Good news brothers. The police finally returned my call. The burn ban here does not include charcoal grills etc. The infamous "someone said that they were included" was wrong, as usual. I hate that, "someone said" person. Only wish the police had called last night so I could have the brisket flat ready too. I did not marinate it last night so it went into the freezer for another day. Instead, I will do the turkey, the ham and the sausage. Thanks for all who responded. Still waiting to hear from more of you on your thoughts about refreezing a turkey. Have a good one. I will. Sorry Arlin. But you could drive up and cook with me. :wink:

[kcquer]

Steve, refreezing of previously frozen meats is generally not recommended. That said, sh*t happens, and I have refrozen stuff before without any horror stories to accompany the eventual prep of the food.
Glad you're in the clear on the ban, exercise due caution and have a great smoke Brother!!

[Jeff_in_KC]

My re-frozen brisket had a decent flavor but was on the dry side yesterday. Steve, if you find yourself in that position again, I think I'd just bake the turkey in the oven and get a new one when you could smoke it.

[Sawdustguy]

I am praying for you guys to get some rain.

[qman]

My two cents on re-freezing the turkey. If it was defrosted, but still real cold, I would. But if I was not absoutly sure how it had been handled, I would advise going ahead and cooking it. Then if you did not want to use it at once, you could freeze the cooked bird [sliced, de-boned, etc] and use it later.

[Kevin]

My two cents on re-freezing the turkey. If it was defrosted, but still real cold, I would. But if I was not absoutly sure how it had been handled, I would advise going ahead and cooking it. Then if you did not want to use it at once, you could freeze the cooked bird [sliced, de-boned, etc] and use it later.

Guess that's what I meant. I have no problem freezing cooked bird. Package it up for meals for your family size.

[Bigdog]

The turkey came out great, best yet. Should have taken pics it was prurdy. Purdy, birdy. :roll: Moist and tasty. Not too smokey. It was very windy today and I had a hard time getting the pit temps. up. But once I got them up, did not have too much trouble keeping them up. I hate cooking in the wind. :mad:

I also did a half ham, and it came out great too. The turkey was on the bottom rack just above the water pan, that's water pan folks ,:roll: the ham was just above it and on top was the sausage. Did 2lbs of rope sausage. Came out great too. Actually had an empty self this time, :cry:I've never done that before. Usually over do it. The empty shelf was for the brisket flat. Found a Black Angus beef flat in a cryo pack. It will have to wait till next time.

As for wood, I use a charcoal and lump base, them add hickory, apple and mesquite. For a treat, this time I used some cherry too. Man, I sure love that cherry taste and smell. Sweeeeet. :-D

[Jorge]

The turkey came out great, best yet. Should have taken pics it was prurdy. Purdy, birdy. :roll: Moist and tasty. Not too smokey. It was very windy today and I had a hard time getting the pit temps. up. But once I got them up, did not have too much trouble keeping them up. I hate cooking in the wind. :mad:

I also did a half ham, and it came out great too. The turkey was on the bottom rack just above the water pan, that's water pan folks ,:roll: the ham was just above it and on top was the sausage. Did 2lbs of rope sausage. Came out great too. Actually had an empty self this time, :cry:I've never done that before. Usually over do it. The empty shelf was for the brisket flat. Found a Black Angus beef flat in a cryo pack. It will have to wait till next time.

As for wood, I use a charcoal and lump base, them add hickory, apple and mesquite. For a treat, this time I used some cherry too. Man, I sure love that cherry taste and smell. Sweeeeet. :-D

23:41 CST and I'm going to raid the freezer and look for some turkey scraps. Thanks :mad: Glad your cook turned out great :-D