It’s that time of year again when Americans devour more turkeys than the combined populations of Texas, Florida, and Alabama.
It’s the time of year when we remember all the things we’re thankful for, even if it’s just not being a turkey, or that we still have turkeys (they almost went extinct in the 1930s).
And it’s the time of year when plumbers are happy because they know that by Black Friday, they’ll be getting lots of business.
As you start to think about the different dishes you’ll make this Thanksgiving, why not try some new recipes other than your usual baked and deep fried turkeys?
Check out some of our favorite recipes that are great additions to your Thanksgiving feast.
smoked turkey
Smoking a turkey takes a lot longer than the popular deep-fried turkey, but the end result is worth the work and the wait.
You don’t need a lot of ingredients, just butter, salt, black pepper, brown sugar, extra virgin olive oil, and cranberry juice.
Click Here to See the full recipe and Click here to see how to make it even better
pit-cooked turkey
If you don’t have a big enough smoker to smoke a turkey, then you can always cook it in one of the oldest and manliest ways possible, in a pit. It’ll take about 5 hours to cook but the meat will fall right off the bone when it’s done.
Click here for the step by step guide to pit cooking a turkey
Note: that guide it calls for using rocks to cook but you can also use around 40 lbs of charcoal briquets if you want.
trash can turkey
Don’t have a smoker and don’t feel like digging a pit? Why not use a trash can to cook the moistest and tastiest turkey ever? Plus, the look on people’s faces is priceless when you tell them you’re going to cook the turkey in a trash can.
Click here to see the step by step process for cooking a turkey in a trash can.
And Click here to see how to smoke a turkey in a trash can
Make sure you use a new trash can!
whiskey turkey
One tasty way to make a turkey is to make a glaze that consists of maple syrup, bourbon or scotch and a five spice powder for the outside glaze and then stuff the turkey with garlic cloves and with lemon halves that have cinnamon sticks and star anise shoved inside.
And check out this video for another favorite whiskey turkey method
Now that we’ve covered the turkey dishes, here are some easy side dishes that will impress everyone.
bacon bombs
People will love and hate you for this one. They’ll love you because they taste so good and they’ll hate you because bacon bombs have been known to cause heart-attacks on the spot. Ok, maybe not on the spot, but if you have cholesterol or heart problems, you’ll want to avoid this one.
You’ll need a few packs of bacon, a few sausages, and grated cheese.
Make some bacon blankets by weaving them together.
Remove the sausage from the casing and fry the sausage until brown
Lay the browned sausage and grated cheese in the middle of the bacon blanket
Roll the bacon blanket like a burrito with the sausage and cheese in the middle.
Secure with toothpicks and pop them in the oven. When it’s done cooking, let it cool a bit, then cut the bacon log up like you would a yule log, and get ready to be lavished with praise.
Check out the full bacon bomb method here(they don’t call them bacon bombs on that page, but you’ll see our name is better)
kickin cranberry sauce
This ain’t a dish you’ll be serving up to the kids, at least not legally. It’s a nice spin on a popular side dish that will disappear quickly, especially if your family is like mine.
Just preheat your oven to 350 and in a baking dish (9×13 is best size) combine 4 cups of cranberries, 2 cups of sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon cover it with foil and bake it for 30 minutes, stir it up nicely and let it bake 30 more minutes (hour total). Remove it from the oven and stir in ¼ cup of bourbon, let it cool, then refrigerate it until it’s cold.
You can make this one a few days in advance because it’s good for about a week.
Whichever of these manly Thanksgiving contributions you try, we guarantee you the best part will most likely be the time you’ll get to enjoy a beer, a dip of your favorite BaccOff, and time with (or without!) family while you wait for the star of the main event to finish up.
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at BaccOff!
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