Smoked Turkey Breast

This past weekend I decided to try smoking a turkey breast. Here's what I used:

• 6 lb turkey breast - bone-in
• 6 bay leaves
• 6 sprigs of thyme
• 6 sage leaves
• 1 medium white onion - chopped
• 1 cup of maple syrup
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• whole head of garlic with the top part cut off
• 1/2 cup of salt
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
• applewood chips

I placed all of the ingredients in a large pot with the turkey breast and filled it with just enough water to cover the turkey. I then mixed it all up so that the salt and sugar were well dissolved. This is what it all looked like:

I then let it marinate covered in the refrigerator for 24 hours. 

The next day, I set my large Big Green Egg up for indirect cooking with the plate setter at 225 degrees F. After the coals were nice and hot, I added in a few chunks of pre-soaked apple wood and put the bird on the egg. I don't know if it made a difference, but I rinsed the breast off after taking it out of the marinade. I figured that plenty of the solution would have soaked into the meat and didn't want it super salty. Plus it helped rinse away some of the spices that were stuck to the skin.

The target temperature I was shooting for was 160F, which took around 5 hours for a 6 lb turkey breast. Here is what it looks like 5 hours later.

I let it rest for 20 minutes and am pleased to say the meat came out moist and flavorful with just the right amount of smokiness for my liking.  

Turkish Hamburger with Cheese

This recipe is for a Turkish hamburger with cheese.  What makes this hamburger different is that beef patties are smaller in size and they contain shredded mozzarella cheese in them.

Ingredients:

• 2 lb ground beef 90/10
• 1 Egg
• Medium size onion shredded
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 tblspoon salt
• 1/4 tblspoon blackpepper
• 1/4 tblspoon paprika
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix all ingredients in a cup by hand, cover it and  let it sit for an hour in the refrigerator. Take large egg size pieces and make round and flat patties.

Set your BGE at 350 and cook the patties to your desired doneness.

Here is everything in the bun. Mayo, ketchup, grilled jalapeno pepper, lettuce, tomato, onion and burger patties.  DELICIOUS.

Leg of Lamb

This is my first attempt at cooking Leg of Lamb on the BGE. Cooking is done with indirect heat.

Marination:

• 2 cups of Yogurt
• 2 tblspoon Rosemary
• 1 tblspoon Coarse Grain Black Pepper
• 1 tblspoon Salt
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Mix all the ingredients and rub it all over the leg of lamb. let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. Using butcher strings, tie the leg of lamb and squeeze 8-10 cloves of garlic around. sprinkle some more rosemary and black pepper around.

Cooking:

Set the BGE 375 Indirect heat. Place a drip pan with some apple juice (1 cup) over the place setter. Cook until internal temperature is 140F for medium rare (if you like some pinkness in the middle) or 150F for well done (I like my meat well done). here is the finished product :)

BGE Cooking Blog lunched