I apologize in advance to all you Cajuns if I screwed this up!
Super Bowl party with a 22lb whole smoked alligator on a Weber Ranch Kettle. Boston butt on the 18" WSM, three bacon wrapped fatties with homemade sausage on GB 26", 80 jalapeno poppers, smoked queso with sausage, two bushels of oysters and sides.
Farm raised Louisiana Gator was sourced from https://bigpopslagator.com/ Larry Burt the owner was a pleasure to work with, excellent email and text commutations thru out the buying process.
Gator was shipped two-day ground, it arrived frozen and packed with dry ice. Frozen gator was stored in the freezer for two weeks. Thawed in the refrigerator for six days.
Gator was brined with 16 parts water and one-part kosher salt, sugar, and spices for 22 hours.
I did not have a large cutting board or baking tray large enough for a five- and half-foot gator. I found a ¾" thick piece of oak plywood in the garage, that measured about 24" x 30". Wood was triple covered with heavy duty aluminum foil. An old dish towel was placed under my makeshift prep board to prevent spillage and soak up juices.
My wife used two 14 ounces boxes of seasoned cornbread stuffing, Cajun Holy trinity, and homemade andouille sausage. I made andouille and southern hot link sausages on Friday and smoked them on Saturday. Gator was injected with apple juice, sugar, salt, and spices before being stuffed with a cornbread mixture. Belly cavity was trussed with butchers' twine.
Outside of the gator was given a liberal coating of rub. Now the time-consuming task of weaving five pounds of bacon or about 100 pieces. I used thin cut bacon. Several large baking trays were lined with parchment paper and used to assemble the bacon weaves. After bacon weaves were completed, they were placed in the freezer for five minutes to firm up. Parchment paper was used to roll the bacon onto the gator. Legs and end of the tail was just wrapped, with no weave. Bacon weave process took about 45 minutes.
I did not want to cook the meat on the Ranch at stock cooking grate height. I have an 11" riser that's used for a roti, so I drilled eight holes and installed SS ¼-20 x1" screws/nuts around the perimeter. Cooking grate now sits 8" high than the stock WRK.
A piece of expanded metal about 24" x 28" was placed on the WRK cooking grate and sprayed with oil. Gator was transferred from the prep board to the grill.
Pit temp was 250-275F most of the cook.
Original plan was to smoke IT to 185-190. When IT was 175F in the tail and cornbread stuffing. I sampled the tail and it was juicy and moist. Gator was removed and rested 30 minutes before pulling and serving.
Total cook time was seven hours for a 22-pound gator.
Gator is a very lean meat; bacon did an excellent job of protecting the meat during the cook. I'm sure the brine and injecting also helped keep the meat moist and tender.
Ribs, back strap were very good, almost as good as the tail meat. Flavor profile is more smoked turkey meets saltwater. The legs were dark meat, with more texture than the other parts, like a turkey leg. With a hint of fresh clean frog legs.
All meat was moist, juicy, and not dry. It was a successful cook and I will smoke a gator again soon! It was more fun than the whole pig roast
I want to give a shout out to Colin
@CatskillSmoker ... He texted me several times Sunday morning/afternoon wanting to know how the cook was progressing. If it were not for him. I probably would have forgotten to take pictures. Thanks brother!!
CHEERS !
Good grief! My worth is watering, even without pictures!
Wait...the pics just popped up! Incredible!!! Wow! Well done!
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Very impressive to say the least
Good golly you're ambitious with that cook.... Just shucking all those oysters is more than I would have bitten off. It's awesome to see the fun you're having with that Ranch Kettle. Now I know why you were so excited to find it! Can't wait to see what comes next....
That's another level for sure! Did you try those large jaw muscles?
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One hell of a cook. Really impressive looking I hope everyone appreciated it. That alligator looks like it's wearing a bacon suit. 😂
Amazing !
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Duuude, that bacon blanket on the gator is amazing. What a cool pic. Ambitious cook to say the least
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I want that!!!!
Outstanding cook!
Bacon woven whole gator. That has to be the most over the top meal I have ever seen; bravo.
Wow! That's a cook to remember.
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That looks really good!
Super impressive! I would love to try that. Unbelievable cook
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It's always better when you're cooking on a Weber!
That is insane!
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Good grief man, that's awesome!
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The really look good damn it
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Wow. Can't say I've seen that before. Thanks for the story, great to read about an experience like that. Glad it came out well! Cheers!
In search of Imperial and The Custom.
Quote from: bamakettles on February 09, 2021, 08:02:13 AM
Good golly you're ambitious with that cook.... Just shucking all those oysters is more than I would have bitten off. It's awesome to see the fun you're having with that Ranch Kettle. Now I know why you were so excited to find it! Can't wait to see what comes next....
Thanks Greg!
I have you to thank for finding the WRK in Nashville and posting it on the WKC online finds.
I'm having a blast with my first two cooks.
My next big ranch cook will be a 25-30 pound beef shoulder clod. Not sure when that will be, but I'm researching it now. Beverly has wanted me to smoke a clod for a few years.
Cheers
Quote from: HoosierKettle on February 09, 2021, 11:23:43 AM
That's another level for sure! Did you try those large jaw muscles?
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Thank you!
I placed the gator head in the refrigerator after the party and did not think about eating the jaw meat until you mentioned it in your post.
Jaw meat was removed, it had a good smokey profile, moist with lots of flavor. Thank you for the suggestion
@HoosierKettle Cheers
Quote from: Shoestringshop on February 09, 2021, 01:29:08 PM
One hell of a cook. Really impressive looking I hope everyone appreciated it. That alligator looks like it's wearing a bacon suit. 😂
Thank you Sir!
I had 24 guest at my outdoor Super Bowl party and there was a pound of gator meat left at the end of the night.
His bacon suit tasted good too lol
Cheers
Quote from: Lilyankee on February 10, 2021, 07:31:21 PM
Wow. Can't say I've seen that before. Thanks for the story, great to read about an experience like that. Glad it came out well! Cheers!
In search of Imperial and The Custom.
Thank you,
Gator cook was like most any bbq cook I've done over 30 plus years. A little planning and knowing how to control temps.
BTW your SS kettle handles were top quality and a great addition to my three grills... thank you
Cheers
Quote from: FatBottomGrills on February 09, 2021, 02:56:33 PM
Duuude, that bacon blanket on the gator is amazing. What a cool pic. Ambitious cook to say the least
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Thanks!
Bacon weave was time consuming, but well worth the time and effort.
Cheers
Quote from: AZ2FL on February 11, 2021, 06:27:25 PM
Quote from: FatBottomGrills on February 09, 2021, 02:56:33 PM
Duuude, that bacon blanket on the gator is amazing. What a cool pic. Ambitious cook to say the least
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Thanks!
Bacon weave was time consuming, but well worth the time and effort.
Cheers
The best looking Gator Jacket I've ever seen!
One of the most intense cooks I've ever seen! BBQ Pit boys don't have anything on you. When I grow up...I want to do be able to cook like this!
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Quote from: bbqking01 on February 13, 2021, 10:34:05 AM
One of the most intense cooks I've ever seen! BBQ Pit boys don't have anything on you. When I grow up...I want to do be able to cook like this!
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Thank you
@bbqking01 !
I watched the bbq pit boys gator cook, when researching whole gator cooks. Not much to gleam from their cooks.
Your grown up, I've seen many of your creative SF and kettle cooks.
Cheers
Amazing cook!! Thanks for sharing it!!
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That gator wrap is impressive, great job
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