If you are smoking a bird, chicken, turkey, etc., and you want gravy, but don't have room in the smoker to put a catch pan under the bird, here is a way for you to "cheat" and get the gravy fixings that you desire. I normally do this the day before I cook the bird(s).
When you spatchcock, you end up with "parts" of the bird that you would normally throw away. Instead, toss all of the discarded parts and pieces, including skin and fat (except the liver, unless everyone like the taste of liver flavored gravy), into a pan. Put some vegetables of your choice in the pan, (I use lots of onions, carrots, celery - think pot roast) and add some seasonings that you would normally use for gravy (sage, thyme, bay leaves, the rub you used on the bird, etc.), then put enough liquid in the pan to just cover everything. the liquid can be water, chicken broth, vegetable broth, etc.
Put the pan in the smoker and cook at 350 until it boils, and let it boil for an additional hour or so, approximately 3 to 4 hours.
Take the pan out to cool, then strain it. Throw out the "stuff" and keep the liquid. Now you can use the liquid straight or make grandma's gravy. Enjoy!
Here is a picture of my gravy pan for Thanksgiving 2014:
- Joined: May 10th, 2014, 12:33 pm
- Posts: 576
- Location: Sitting Near a Yoder Smoker, Smelling Sweet Blue
The spatchcocked turkey I smokeed I used a 13x21 cookie sheet. Am I better off not to use a pan and just put it on the grates?
I always cook mine on the grates...personal preference. You will have to try it both ways and decide which is best you. I generally don't like pans, because of the blockage of air flow, and it normally requires a higher set temperature to compensate for cooking inside a pan.
- Joined: January 3rd, 2015, 5:54 pm
- Posts: 17
- Location: South Mountain, Ontario, Canada
Does anyone put a dish in the smoking chamber with the foods that just has water in it to keep things moist? Is it needed or just a preference? I know when I was doing chickens on the spit on my propane bbq I would put a tinfoil tray under them to catch the grease and have about 1/2 an inch of water in it to keep things from drying out. Didn't know if it was required for smokers?
Is there really anything better than BBQ?
Nope, never used one in my YS640. It has positive airflow so any moisture would be out the exhaust pretty fast.
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