Thanksgiving Electric Smoking:

It has been a busy few weeks. Stewart and I both harvested Antlerless Elk during the week prior to Thanksgiving. Times are hard in Arizona, but the true American spirit cannot be broken by the White House.

During our hunt we past this camp of fellow hard working Americans who are making the best of things. God Bless America !!!!! 

We were drawn for a muzzleloader hunt and ended up with two young yet mature cow (female) elk. We filled the freezer with organic extremely low fat, low cholesterol meat. As you can see when I field dress an elk the ravens and coyotes don’t even get a meal.

We butcher our own meat and vacuum seal it before freezing it. I did save some good roasts for the smoker. The picture below was Monday before Thanksgiving.

Our old Seal-A-Meal finally died during the first quarter. Rhonda had predicted its demise and had already bought a FoodSaver V3230. I highly recommend both brands and they will pay for themselves even if you don’t hunt.

 

The picture below is of the pies Rhonda baked Wednesday, all from scratch. We buy pie pumpkins to make pumpkin pies. The crusts are all flaky.

Yes we did smoke a 12.95 pound Kroger Frozen Turkey and a 10.34 pound Cook’s Ham Butt Cut.

I started the pre-heat at 5:30am with the temperature set at 225*F with the vent closed on my Masterbuilt Electric Smoker.

I went back in and got the turkey ready. I put it on a small cookie sheet that fits into my smoker. I throw the nasty chemicals marinade packets that come with the bird away. With the vent closed the turkeys get so tender that they fall apart.

I started the Turkey smoking at 6:00am with two loads of cherry wood chips. I added another tray of chips at 7:00am.

At 8:00 I started the Ham and another load of cherry chips. I added cherry chips at 9:00 and 11:00.

I pulled the Turkey and Ham at 12:30 and brought them in to rest before carving. The internal temperature of the Turkey was 175*F. I used a Backyard Grill wireless thermometer.

I cooked another Turkey and Ham in our inside ovens also.

Even with a feast of several side dishes all made from scratch, the meat from the smoker was devoured. Our 31 guests were amazed with the tenderness and flavor of the smoked meats.

I did not have time to take pictures and wash my hands so I never got a picture of the final masterpieces.