Every summer my Dear Old Dad would go down to Buddies hardware and buy a charcoal grill. This was a flimsy bit of business made out of stamped aluminum one grade stronger than Reynolds Wrap. It was balanced precariously on three pencil thin hollow tubes made out of the same wimpy metal as the body of the grill.
On top was a little wire mess that you placed about two inches over the coals so that the hamburgers would soak up all the flavor of the half gallon of lighter fluid DOD would use to get the festivities going. Ah, good times.
Once I was out on my own, I bought the old standby Weber Kettle One Touch. I cooked many meals with the bright red and shiny flying saucer where you could do Direct or In Direct Cooking. It came with a little booklet that explained all the neato things you can do with a Weber Kettle.
About that same time I ran across a cookbook written by Rich Davis, of KC Masterpiece fame. This book talked about how to barbecue and how barbecue was not grilling. This book was full of advice, such as never put cold meat on the grill, let it heat up to room temperature first. He advised using rubs, and there were several recipes for rub. A simple one that I like:
Turkey Rub-
INGREDIENTS:
* 3/4 cup paprika
* 1/4 cup black pepper, freshly ground
* 1/4 cup celery salt
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons onion powder
* 2 tablespoons dry mustard
* 2 teaspoons cayenne
* 2 tablespoons lemon zest
PREPARATION:
Mix everything together. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Lasts for about 4 to 5 months. Then rub on whatever you are going to barbecue-it is good on brisket, ribs, chicken, or bologna, if you like a bit of bbq bologna now and then.
Barbecued Turkey
1 turkey ready to put on the grill. Butterball’s Top 10 Questions will help with that front.
1 tablespoon oil
Turkey Rub
Rinse turkey and pat dry. Turn wings back to hold neck skin in place. Return legs to tucked position. Brush turkey with oil. Season with Rub, inside and out.
Weber Kettle-Style Charcoal Grill Preparation:
* Open all vents on the bottom section and the cover of the grill.
* Prepare charcoal by stacking 40 to 60 briquets and ignite (use 40 to 44 for smaller grills, 44 to 50 for medium grills and 50 to 60 for larger grills).
* When greyish-white in color, coals should be ready for cooking at a medium heat. If your hand can be held 5 inches above the top grill grate for 3 to 4 seconds, coals are providing medium heat temperatures.
* Divide the briquets evenly, banking one row of briquets along each side of a disposable aluminum or metal drip pan positioned on the lower grill rack below the upper rack holding the turkey, so heat flows up and around turkey. The turkey can also be placed directly in the pan. If that is the desired method, align the coals in the same manner enabling heat to move up and around the turkey.
* Replenish each row with 7, 8 or 9 briquets (depending on grill size), every 45 to 60 minutes to keep heat around 325ºF to 340ºF. Keep grill lid closed as much as possible to prevent heat loss so temperature can be kept around 325ºF.
Grill approximately 13 to 15 minutes per pound if cooking on a charcoal grill or 20 minutes per pound for a gas grill. Cook until meat thermometer inserted into the thick part of the thigh reads 180ºF or 170ºF when inserted into the breast.
I never fully mastered the art of the Texas Brisket, which can take upwards to fifteen hours to cook to
perfection, or as little as four or five hours. I was always lost somewhere in the middle. But I still ate the results, which often tasted perfect, but were a bit on the chewy side, as shoe leather is a bit chewy. So I turned my attention to something I could cook. Turkeys. Hmm, if you don’t want to bother cooking one yourself, Rudy‘s has some awesome bbqed turkey.
It is hard to image that there are too many people in America that have not had some kind of turkey cooking experience, most of them having to do with parents slaving over the odd, large carcass as it slowly thaws into something that be cooked. Leaving the many odd bits wrapped in paper inside the bird as it cooks is the stuff of Sitsom legends. In MASH Winchester famously said You can’t have prunes and walnuts dressing without the prunes. That would be walnut and walnut dressing!
I’m having a hard time staying focused here. Too many memories of birds gone bad are racing through my mind. Not to mention the once a year encounter with the odd relative that we never saw any other time and looked at us like we were the Clammets. I need to watch a football game now.
