I agree with the above except to say that a mild wood like apple or alder will give you a mild smoke. Hickory or mesquite will give you a bit more in your face smoke. I prefer alder and pin cherry, two weed trees around here. And I split any chicken or turkey I'm smoking. Gets you way more surface area to get that smoke into/onto. Simple to do, just cut down both sides of the backbone, remove and flatten the bird. You will hear the breastbone crack. Plus a 2D bird smokes faster than a 3D bird. Lastly, properly smoked you will get what is called a smoke ring in the flesh. That can be fairly pink. Do not check to see if its done via sight, use a thermometer. The pink will be right under the skin, not at the inner bones. Tough to do easily on a gas grill as they are too hot. The inexpensive water smokers or the vertical propane smokers sold in hardware stores work real well and most of them have a recipe book that includes a bird method. And aren't too expensive either. You must know, also, that once you get into smoking stuff there is no going back. Its like owning a boat...bigger, better, more. I had four smokers rattling around my yard at one point. Now I'm down to two, plus grills.

How different your area is from ours. We woke up to about 2" of snow and it is cold. So I put bean soup on in the slo-cooker. I'll make some biscuits to go with it. It sure smells good!!!

holy cow--what happened? i have posted those recipes before and they were fine then! how very odd...but thanx for the heads up and let me try this again. and thanx for the link, ann--there are some lovely things on it! Tommis Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake Combine in a large mixing bowl: 2 ¼ C all purpose flour ¾ C sugar Cut in 1 ½ sticks of butter, until you have a crumbly mix Set aside 1 C of this To the remaining mixture, add in: ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt ¾ C sour cream 1 beaten egg 1 ½ tsp almond extract Spread this in the bottom and sides of a 9" spring form pan Make the filling by beating together in a small bowl: 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened ½ C sugar 1 egg Pour this over the batter in the spring form pan and spoon over this about ½ C raspberry jam and then sprinkle on ½ C slivered almonds and the reserved 1 C of crumb mixture Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes and let cool for 15 minutes before removing from the spring form pan. Almond and Raspberry Pine Nut Tart (the Greens Cookbook) 1 recipe sweet tart dough (page 344) Prepare according to directions, lining a 9" tart pan and partially baking it ½ C almonds Bring a small pan of water to a boil, adding the almonds. Turn off the heat and let them sit for 1 minute. Drain them and rub them in a towel to remove the skins and dry. Grind the almonds in a food processor for about 45 seconds. Add: 1/3 C sugar Pinch of salt 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla a few drops of almond extract Process another 10 secondsÂthen add: ½ C unsalted butter at room temp 2 T flour ½ tsp baking powder Process another 10 seconds or long enough to make a smooth batter Preheat the oven to 375. Spread a thick layer of raspberry or apricot jam over the tart shell, then cover it with the almond filling. Sprinkle ½ C of pine nuts over the top and bake until the surface is firm and browned (about 30 minutes). Remove it from the oven and let it cool; then dust with powdered sugar. Serve as is or with sweetened whipped cream. Dough for a 9-inch springform pan 1 C all purpose flour pinch of salt 1 T sugar ¼ tsp grated orange peel 4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter 1 T water ½ tsp vanilla In a food processor, combine the flour, salt, sugar and orange peel. Then add the butter, cut into small pieces, and process until a coarse meal has formed (10 to 15 seconds). Combine the water and vanilla and pour it into the butter/flour mixture while the processor is running, mixing for another few seconds. DonÂt work it to the point of forming a ball. Empty it onto a work surface and form it into a ball. Flatten that into a circle, wrap in plastic and refrigerate it for ½ an hour or freeze for future use. When ready, use your hands to press the dough into the springform pan, working a rim up just past the bottom edge of the pan. Cover the shell lightly with foil and put it into the freezer for at least ½ an hour or until the dough is firmly set. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the shell into the lower 1/3 of the oven. Check after 5 minutes; use a knife point to pierce any large air bubbles. Cook until lightly brownedÂa total of 10 or 12 minutes. Fill and finish baking as per the instructions.

I make all of my bean soups and split pea soup with purchased smoked turkey legs. We rarely have smoked ham, but eat soup regularly I winter. I pressure cook the beans, and turkey leg in chicken broth with carrot, onion and celery. About 20 min when up to steam. Turkey leg will be almost falling off bone. If a very large leg chop 1/2 and freeze meat for next pot of soup. Tastes as good as ham. If you have a carcass pressure cooking would probably make it go to pieces. Simmer the carcass and strain the bones. pick out useable pieces of meat. For the price of bag of beans nothing to lose.