a bit of a long story:
Over the 4th I journeyed to my inlaws' vacation home in central Wisconsin. My mother-in-law planned for a dozen people to show up for dinner on the 3rd (Independence Eve?). She had to work, so left me, my non-cooking wife, my non-cooking but grills a bit father-in-law, a small Butterball boneless turkey, and a big JennyO turkey breast to create entrees for the guests. She said, "Don't grill all of it because nobody likes leftover grilled turkey."
So, sort of as though on a desert island, we searched the cabin for tools and supplies. We came up with a Weber kettle, charcoal, lighter fluid, some foil pans, a crockpot, a small Nesco roaster, and a dwarf apple tree. There was also a big pile of prunings from a clump of other trees, but noone knew what they were.
The night before, we thawed out the turkeys. It turned out the boneless one was rather meager as it included a one-cup-plus gravy packet. We wondered why it felt so soft through the wrapping. I rubbed them with whatever spices I could find in the cupboard: paprika, pepper, allspice.
The next day, we put the boneless turkey in the crockpot on low with a splash of weary merlot. We fired up the Weber with about a dozen charcoal briquettes lined up against the wall via the indirect fence. I put a drip pan next to the charcoal filled with water. I also put a foil pie tin filled with water over the charcoal. So, the Weber was set up as close to a water smoker as I could make it. We cut about a pound or so of twigs from the apple tree and put them in a bucket of water.
When the charcoal was ready and the water steaming, we put a couple large twigs on the coals and loaded on the turkey breast. Left the top and bottom vents wide open to keep the water simmering and added 4-6 briquettes and a few twigs every half hour.
8 hours later, the turkey was a very pretty rosy pink and about 165F on the meat thermometer, far lower than its marked 180F for poultry. It seemed done, so I sliced/shredded it and put it in the Nesco with a splash of water to keep warm while everyone had hors d'ouvres. By this time, the crockpot turkey was also quite well done if not as tasty.
They gobbled most of both birds and polished them off (including the "grilled" one) for lunch on the 4th. Needless to say, I felt extremely lucky that this worked at all, and even luckier that the guests enjoyed it. Next time, I'll bring my smokette and save a ton of work and worry. Anybody know if it can be transported laying on its back or side?
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