BBQ Recipes: How to Smoke a Turkey

For those of you who heard my Food Talk premier on WOR yesterday, know that I shard the microphone with my friend Josh Ozersky, the editor of Grub Street. Mike Colameco, the host of Food Talk, mentioned that Josh, along with Robbie Richter of Hill Country BBQ, had just posted a quick clip on smoking turkeys. Here it is, copied right off the Grub Street site. Take it away boys....

Mr. Cutlets's Crash Course: Turkey

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, not a few readers have written in to ask for advice about turkeys. Though we would never consider abandoning the big bird, we've had it grilled, boiled, deep-fried, stuffed with a duck, and just about any other way you can name — usually with little improvement to show for it. But smoking seems to be the one technique that brings turkey to the next level, and so we turned to our old pal Robbie Richter, pitmaster at Hill Country BBQ. We grabbed a turkey, a big syringe, a few other supplies, and headed out to Rego Park to Robbie's mother's house to do the backyard turkey thing par excellence. The results are here to see; the list of ingredients is available after the jump.

For the Rub:
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

For the Mop:
6 oz. clear apple juice
6. oz lager beer
2 tablespoons infused schmaltz or duck fat

RUB - No, not like that!

I was just listening to Food Talk on WOR 71 radio, and the host Michael Colameco and Ed Levine were discussing a recent dinner they enjoyed at Paul Kirk & Andrew Fischel's RUB restaurant. Josh Ozersky from Grub Street and Rob Richter from the soon to be opened Hill Country restaurant and competitor at Grillin' On The Bay were also in attendance. (Boys, I must have missed the phone call.)

Mike and Ed were raving about the recent addition of spicy bacon to the menu (damn good stuff if I say so myself) and how Andrew and Scottie, pitmaster at RUB, keep the smokers full with a wide variety of offerings. From Peking duck to turkey to the more traditional items like brisket and ribs, RUB's menu offers something for everyone.

But then, Ed Levine let loose the ultimate compliment (?) - "Andrew at RUB is a barbecue slut." I haven't laughed out loud at the radio in a very long long time. I can't wait to see what Andrew thinks about this!