After 25 days of dieting, I'm now down 17.5 lbs. I am happy to report that I did not gain any weight after the Thanksgiving holiday. In fact, I lost one pound!
Still many pounds to go.
Monday, November 27, 2017
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Second Turkey of the Season! - 17 lbs on the 18.5" Smoker
Just Placed On The Grate
One Hour Into The Cook
Two Hours Into The Cook
My second turkey of the season was smoked in the 18.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker. It was a 17 lb turkey whereas the first turkey smoked almost two weeks ago was 10 lbs. I did not make a Turkey on Thanksgiving Day since my nephew provided it for our family party. He smoked it in his Traeger grill and also bacon wrapped it.
This time, I made sure the grate temperature was at least 325 degrees before putting the turkey in the smoker. I also made sure that I had a "thin blue smoke" rather than billowing white smoke. I kept the temperature of the smoker around 325 degrees for the majority of the cook. The ambient temperature outside was in the upper 40's. There wasn't much of a breeze outside, so the wind was not a factor. The air vents at the bottom of the smoker were at 3/4 open with the top vent fully open.
Like last time, I used Kingsford Professional Competition Briquets which burns a little hotter than the regular "Original" briquets without having to use lump charcoal. I did not put water in the water pan this time. I just foiled the pan and put it back in the smoker. The water pan in the smoker adds humidity and also regulates the temperature of the smoker for a lower temp. By eliminating the water, it allowed for a higher temperature in the smoker and I also did not notice a problem with the humidity.
A nice tip I learned from a member of the Facebook group, "Fans of the Smokey Mountain Smoker" was to mount the grate probe UNDER the grate instead of on top of the grate. It worked GREAT!! By just flipping the clip over and mounting it under the grate and inserting the probe into it kept the probe out of the way of the bird. Perfect! This turkey took up almost all of the space on the 18.5" grate, so mounting the probe underneath was a huge benefit. If you look closely in the photos just under the drumstick, you can see the probe and the edges of the clip. I'll be mounting the grate probe this way going forward for all future cooks.
I seasoned the turkey again with Weber's Kick'n Chicken seasoning but also added Rufus Teague Meat Rub sparingly. I also injected the turkey with Food Club's Chicken Broth. In addition, I brined the turkey this time for 12 hours before attempting to smoke it. 24 hours would have been better, but I wanted to cook the turkey and didn't want to wait. For the benefit of the skin, I sprayed the turkey with Vegetable Oil cooking spray so that the skin would brown up and stay crisp. I also did not stuff the cavity of the turkey this time. I didn't have anything to stuff it with, so I just skipped it. Stuffing the cavity is supposed to make the cooking more even due to the turkey having more mass, but I again, didn't notice any difference.
The finished turkey turned out great!! The higher temperature made a huge difference. The breast was very moist as was the dark meat. It didn't take as long as the 10 lb turkey that I cooked before. Having that higher temperature made for a faster cook even with a heavier bird and kept the skin nice and crisp too! I stopped the cook once the internal temperature of the breast hit 167 degrees. The temp in the thigh was at 175 degrees. Total cook time was 3 hours, 45 minutes. I think this is the way to smoke turkeys going forward.
This time, I made sure the grate temperature was at least 325 degrees before putting the turkey in the smoker. I also made sure that I had a "thin blue smoke" rather than billowing white smoke. I kept the temperature of the smoker around 325 degrees for the majority of the cook. The ambient temperature outside was in the upper 40's. There wasn't much of a breeze outside, so the wind was not a factor. The air vents at the bottom of the smoker were at 3/4 open with the top vent fully open.
Like last time, I used Kingsford Professional Competition Briquets which burns a little hotter than the regular "Original" briquets without having to use lump charcoal. I did not put water in the water pan this time. I just foiled the pan and put it back in the smoker. The water pan in the smoker adds humidity and also regulates the temperature of the smoker for a lower temp. By eliminating the water, it allowed for a higher temperature in the smoker and I also did not notice a problem with the humidity.
A nice tip I learned from a member of the Facebook group, "Fans of the Smokey Mountain Smoker" was to mount the grate probe UNDER the grate instead of on top of the grate. It worked GREAT!! By just flipping the clip over and mounting it under the grate and inserting the probe into it kept the probe out of the way of the bird. Perfect! This turkey took up almost all of the space on the 18.5" grate, so mounting the probe underneath was a huge benefit. If you look closely in the photos just under the drumstick, you can see the probe and the edges of the clip. I'll be mounting the grate probe this way going forward for all future cooks.
I seasoned the turkey again with Weber's Kick'n Chicken seasoning but also added Rufus Teague Meat Rub sparingly. I also injected the turkey with Food Club's Chicken Broth. In addition, I brined the turkey this time for 12 hours before attempting to smoke it. 24 hours would have been better, but I wanted to cook the turkey and didn't want to wait. For the benefit of the skin, I sprayed the turkey with Vegetable Oil cooking spray so that the skin would brown up and stay crisp. I also did not stuff the cavity of the turkey this time. I didn't have anything to stuff it with, so I just skipped it. Stuffing the cavity is supposed to make the cooking more even due to the turkey having more mass, but I again, didn't notice any difference.
The finished turkey turned out great!! The higher temperature made a huge difference. The breast was very moist as was the dark meat. It didn't take as long as the 10 lb turkey that I cooked before. Having that higher temperature made for a faster cook even with a heavier bird and kept the skin nice and crisp too! I stopped the cook once the internal temperature of the breast hit 167 degrees. The temp in the thigh was at 175 degrees. Total cook time was 3 hours, 45 minutes. I think this is the way to smoke turkeys going forward.
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Diet Update After 20 Days
After 20 days of dieting, I'm now down 16 lbs.
Today is Thanksgiving, so I expect that weight to go up a little after today. Christmas will be in a month, so I'll have to work hard to drop some more weight before that holiday hits too!
Overall, I'm on target still to lose 50 lbs in six months. I'm keeping my calorie intake around the 1700 calories per day range. With any luck, I should be able to drop 2 lbs per week. With 30 lbs left to hit that goal, it should take 15 weeks to get there. Let's hope by the end of February or early March, I will be able to report success!
Today is Thanksgiving, so I expect that weight to go up a little after today. Christmas will be in a month, so I'll have to work hard to drop some more weight before that holiday hits too!
Overall, I'm on target still to lose 50 lbs in six months. I'm keeping my calorie intake around the 1700 calories per day range. With any luck, I should be able to drop 2 lbs per week. With 30 lbs left to hit that goal, it should take 15 weeks to get there. Let's hope by the end of February or early March, I will be able to report success!
Sunday, November 12, 2017
10 lb Turkey On The 18.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker
Pre-Thanksgiving 10 lb. turkey on the 18.5" smoker! I
seasoned it with Weber's “Kick'n Chicken” Seasoning and injected it with
chicken broth. The skin was sprayed with vegetable oil. I probably should
have tied the legs to make it look nicer, but it really doesn't seem to have
affected the overall cook.
While I did a brine, it wasn't in it for more than 3 hours. A quick decision to do a smoke today meant I could not do the standard 24 hour brine. It would have been better tasting if it was brined longer though!
While I did a brine, it wasn't in it for more than 3 hours. A quick decision to do a smoke today meant I could not do the standard 24 hour brine. It would have been better tasting if it was brined longer though!
I put some celery sticks in the cavity. You can see it in
the top photo. The top photo was taken at 2.5 hours into the cook. The
pit temperature was averaging 285 degrees.
This turkey is dinner for my family. I’ll have just a
little for now, but the rest will be spread over the next week for my meals.
I'm still on a diet, you know!
The middle photo is the finished product after 4.5 hours of smoking time. It was wet and drizzling outside with an outside temperature in the upper 30's. Even so, I was able to keep the pit temperature around 285 degrees and at times it hit 300 degrees. The skin was crisp but could have been better. A higher temp could probably solve this. Next time, I'll brine it properly to get more flavor into the meat, but at least the turkey was not dry. Still, it could have been better. I'm happy with it as a first attempt at smoking a turkey, but I think had I waited a little longer for a clearer "thin blue smoke" before putting the turkey in the smoker, the turkey would have tasted better. This turkey had a bit of a creosote taste to it. This can happen if you put meat in a smoker too early before the coals have a chance to stabilize during the initial burning stage. I won't make that mistake again. Best to wait before putting on your bird!
Overall, the turkey came out decent for a first attempt at smoking a big bird. I'll do better next time.
The bottom photo is the pull tab off of the Kingsford Professional Competition Briquet bag. It's a "badge of honor" to get these off without tearing them!
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
What I Am Eating During My Diet
While I will be eating a variety of food during my diet, primarily I'll be eating grilled chicken.
The Weber Spirt E-310 will be doing the majority of cooking as I go through the diet. I spice up the chicken with Weber's Kick'n Chicken seasoning. When I first used this seasoning, I put way too much on the chicken to the point where I did not like the seasoning at all. But I had read that putting a smaller amount makes the difference. I have to agree! I don't put as much seasoning on the chicken like I do with rub on a pork butt or baby back ribs. Used in a smaller amount, the seasoning is great!
I bought an extra shaker of seasoning at Costco recently because I noticed that they were running out. I suppose they are not restocking the seasoning until next year since winter will be coming soon and less people will be using their outdoor grills. But as long as I can, I'll be out there cooking up chicken on my grill!
Monday, November 6, 2017
George Foreman Grills
From a post on my main blog back on July 18, 2014. I will be using these again on the current diet:
___________________________________________
I love my George Foreman grills! I have three "Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machines"!
Several years ago, I purchased the middle-sized grill in the upper left of the photos via a Groupon Goods deal but recently got two others from my mom. She had been using the small one in the upper right, but after moving to California, she left her grill at her home in Florida. My sister and I recently went to Florida to clean up the Florida home and found her grill, along with the largest one that was never used.
My sister purchased the large grill for her many years ago, but she never used it. It was still in the original box. Since she probably will not use it going forward, we shipped both grills to Illinois for me to use.
I recently went on a low calorie, low carb diet and am grilling all of my food on the small grill. I love these grills because it is so fast to cook on! I just put my food on the grill, close the lid and in about 5 to 8 minutes, the food is done! No flipping is needed since the top and bottom both cook the food at the same time. Clean up is a snap too. I just wet a sponge, suspend the grill over the edge of the sink in the countertop and wipe. In just about 30 seconds, the grill is clean and I'm ready to eat!
So far, I've lost 12 lbs in about a week and a half. My goal is to lose 50 lbs by the end of 2014. We'll see if I can do it, but 12 years ago when I did a low calorie, low carb diet, I lost 30 lbs in 3 months. Being older now, it may be harder to do, but I'm giving it the ol' college try! Wish me luck!
Friday, November 3, 2017
Time For A Diet
I'm on a diet!
My goal is at least 50 lbs in 6 months. I know I can do it as I've done it before. I'll limit my caloric intake to no higher than 1700 calories per day.
I'll eat mostly chicken and pork during the diet along with small amounts of vegetables that have lower carbs. Essentially, this is going to be similar to an Atkins diet, but the main goal is to keep the calorie count down.
A couple of years ago, I did the same thing and lost 50 lbs in about 6 months. Many years before that, I lost 30 lbs. I gained all of the weight back every time because I went back to my old ways of eating. This time, I'll need to maintain the weight loss by continuing with calorie counts under 1800.
However, I found that "cheating" on the diet once per week doesn't seem to affect the diet. So, I'll "splurge" at least once per week and eat normally, but I'll do that after I've gotten the loss of at least 20 lbs.
Wish me luck!
My goal is at least 50 lbs in 6 months. I know I can do it as I've done it before. I'll limit my caloric intake to no higher than 1700 calories per day.
I'll eat mostly chicken and pork during the diet along with small amounts of vegetables that have lower carbs. Essentially, this is going to be similar to an Atkins diet, but the main goal is to keep the calorie count down.
A couple of years ago, I did the same thing and lost 50 lbs in about 6 months. Many years before that, I lost 30 lbs. I gained all of the weight back every time because I went back to my old ways of eating. This time, I'll need to maintain the weight loss by continuing with calorie counts under 1800.
However, I found that "cheating" on the diet once per week doesn't seem to affect the diet. So, I'll "splurge" at least once per week and eat normally, but I'll do that after I've gotten the loss of at least 20 lbs.
Wish me luck!
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