Kelly's Korner - Brad's Perfect Traeger Turkey

Hey, All,

A few years ago, I was invited to my co-worker, mentor and honorary big brother's, Brad, for a get-together and he cooked a turkey on his Traeger that was THE best I'd ever had!  The white meat was so juicy and tender it melted in your mouth.  So he is sharing his recipe with me and you.

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BRAD'S TERRIFIC TRAEGER TURKEY

 

Brine: In a large, clean bucket (Home Depot 5-gallon plastic bucket works great) that will completely submerge turkey, mix: 2 cups of the Traeger BBQ rub (or you can substitute 1-1/2 cups of salt,1 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 tablespoons of black pepper) and mix with some water.

Add equal amounts of quartered oranges, lemons and limes (half the amount in bottom of bucket) squeezed so the juice gets into the brine.  Put in turkey bottom end up and add enough water to completely cover.  With long handle spoon stir mixture around turkey so all the spices get all in and around turkey and then add rest of citrus.

Now this needs to be in a cool place for 8-12 hours.  I know I don't have a refrigerator big enough to hold it so you can put it in a cool garage or outside.  Make sure it's covered to avoid being spilled or anything getting into it.  When you are ready to cook take it out of the brine and rinse well under running water.  Discard the brine and fruit.  Pat turkey dry and continue with rest of recipe.

Fill Traeger hopper with Apple pellets and turn on High to warm up.

Coat turkey with olive oil inside and out.  Cut up equal amounts of oranges, lemons and limes and stuff inside turkey both body cavity and neck area.   Sprinkle a light coat of Traeger's Pork and Poultry Shake or your own favorite rub over the turkey.

Cook turkey on High for about 10 minutes then turn to Smoke setting.  Cook for about 4 hours, misting the inside and outside of turkey with apple juice very frequently (Brad just used a squirter bottle) - every 20-30 minutes (to me this is what made it so juicy!).  Then turn Traeger to 325 degrees and cook until internal temp of turkey breast is 165-170 degrees.  Pull turkey off Traeger and let rest 20-30 minutes before carving.

Man, I am making myself HUNGRY!!!!  I have GOT to get me a Traeger!  And if you don't have one you can make yourself an early Christmas present of one.  Come see our selection.

Bon appetit, mes amis!  And Thank You, Brad, for sharing your great recipe!

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Monday Motivation

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Is Christmas Creep Good or Bad for the Repair Business?

Here we are in the middle of November. Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is almost 2 weeks away. When I turn on the radio, or browse the internet I am seeing more and more ads for "holiday" sales. Every year it seems that the adverstising starts a little earlier. Journalists have dubbed this phenomenon "Christmas Creep".

To be clear, I love the holiday season and always enjoy making merry with friends and family in December. The decorations and music always make me happy-I am no Grinch! However, when I was younger, the annual holiday advertising onslaught began on Thanksgiving or the day after, and it just wasn't done to advertise for Christmas and the other holidays before them. Obviously, times have changed.

The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are traditionally some of the busiest times of the year in an appliance service company. Lately I have been pondering if this Christmas Creep is impacting the work flow of the appliance repair industry. It seems likely that moving the holidays to the front of consumers minds should increase foot traffic into the stores of those repair companies that are associated with an appliance dealership. That can't be a bad thing.

What does not seem so obvious to me is how the phenomenon might change the service world. As we see more holiday advertising, it seems that less promotion is being dedicated to Thanksgiving. Will that decline in Thanksgiving promotion cause a decline in the number of service calls in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving? I don't know. I have observed that with less reminders the last minute rush seems to be gaining momentum during the last few years. Is that the result of Christmas Creep? Or is technology and the increased speed of modern life the cause? Or could there be some other cause?

Regardless of the causes, there does seem to be more of a last minute aspect to the Thanksgiving than ever before. This leaves servicers with the challenge of anticipating those last minute needs, and making sure that they are ready to provide their customers with those late requests. If you are servicer reading this, now is the time to make sure you are ready with appropriate stock on hand. If you are a consumer reading this, do yourself and your servicer a favor. Call your repair company earlier rather than later. This will be one less thing to deal with just before your big feast.

Have you seen any changes that seem to be caused by Christmas Creep? Do you think that holiday adverstising should wait until after Thanksgiving? Or maybe, do you appreciate the reminders so you can start your gift shopping earlier? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

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Are You Ready For Aunt Inga's Secret Thanksgiving Recipe? Is Your Range Hood Ready?

Creative Commons license on image.

As we get closer to Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season, it seems like a good time to bring up an often overlooked part of kitchen prep. It seems obvious to consider the range and the dishwasher. It might even come to mind to make sure the icemaker is working. When was the last time the range hood filter was checked? If its been a while, then it might be time to give it once over. When Aunt Inga starts warming up her secret Thanksgiving recipe on the stovetop, you'll want to make sure you're getting the best ventilation possible.

Range hood filters need maintenance like most other types of filters do. Range hoods typically will have one of three styles of filter. They all deserve a little attention and the all are cared for differently.

The professional style or commercial range hoods often will have a baffle type filter. According to Broan, a leading manufacturer of range hoods, this style of filters are designed to handle high grease environments like might be found in a commercial kitchen. As a result they can go longer between cleanings. Broan suggests that these should be cleaned when they become dirty and unsightly. They are usually washable in a dishwasher.

Most home kitchens do not have professional style range hoods. For these more common hoods, the big difference is whether the hood vents to outside of the home or not. As a side note, Broan advocates the vented range hood as a superior product, because in a non-vented hood many particulates are extracted from any smoke, but some gets past the filter then can recirculate into the home.

When your hood vents to the outside of the home, you should have a relatively easy fix. The filter will likely be an aluminum mesh within a frame. Being all aluminum this can be washed in the dishwasher. Some other cleaning methods I have heard of include soaking the filter in hot water to loosen any cooked on grease, then scrub vigorously. I have also seen recommendations to warm the filter in the oven over low heat to loosen grease. If you take this approach be very careful not to burn yourself cleaning the hot filter. Some degreasing oven cleaner might also be good for breaking down any build up. Broan recommends cleaning these types of filter on a monthly basis.

If your range hoods does not duct outside of the home, you might be happy to hear that you can go 3-6 months before having to deal with the filter. The downside is that at that point the filter cannot be cleaned. It must actually be replaced. The carbon used to extract smoke particles become saturated and the filter loses it effectiveness at that point.

W.L. May stocks many of the most common sizes of filters, both the aluminum mesh type as well as the carbon type used for ductless range hoods. There are a wide variety of sizes used though. If it turns out your hood has a filter of an unusual size we can still help you. The filter manufacturer will make any size filter by dimension.

Only a few more weeks to go until Thanksgiving. I think I will pass on Aunt Inga's dish, but bring on the pumpkin pie!

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Wednesday W.L.May Profile: Glyn Stubbs

Reprinted from: What's Cooking at W.L. May Co? Volume 1 Issue 12-Glyn Stubbs has never been one to just sit around and be lazy. A native Portlander, Glyn has been involved in many sports activities since his youth. A 1988 graduate of Benson High School, he played baseball, basketball, and his biggest passion, to this date, golf.

His father, a former professional golfer and tennis player, was instrumental in Glyn's developed passion for sports activities; in other words, the "fruit did not fall from the tree". Glyn developed and refined his golf game while playing 4 years in high school, and was granted a school letter his last 2 years.

Upon high school graduation, he moved to Arkansas, to attend the University of Arkansas, where he played golf for 2 years. With his Associates Degree in hand, Glyn went to work for Lowe's Home Improvement. Over a 10 year period, his hard work and dedication, led to him being named Store Manager of what, at the time, was the largest Lowe's store in their nationwide chain.        

Despite his successful career, Glyn could never squelch the "pull" he felt from home; he missed his friends and family. The pull became overwhelming and in 1999, he made the conscious decision to return to Portland; where his heart always knew was "home".

Once he returned to Portland, Glyn enrolled at Portland State University, and in 2004, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication. He landed what many sports fans would say is a dream job when he earned an internship with the Portland Trailblazers in their Media Relations Department. With all the success he enjoyed in life, it came as no surprise that the Trailblazers offered him a full-time position acting as the liaison for media relations for the visiting team; a job that found him at every home game roaming the halls or hanging out in the visitors' locker room. After a disastrous 2006 season, Glyn was the victim of downsizing as the Trailblazers slashed their staff in half, and he found himself seeking employment.

As a man with many talents, it didn't take him long to find another opportunity, and in March of 2006 he was hired by W.L. May Co in customer service. Over the last 6 years, Glyn has many achievements, but is most proud of the respect he has earned from his peers, as well as from the many customers he is responsible for providing superb support and service. When asked what his favorite part of his job was, without hesitation he stated it was working with the people on a daily basis. He values the friendships he has developed and looks forward to forging many new relationships as he moves forward. If you are in need of appliance research, or just need help with your golf game, give Glyn a call; he'll fix your swing and game in no time at all.

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Kelly's Korner - New Items

Hey, All!

We've added some new accessory items that you may need, want or like.

The first is the Every Drop portable water filter by Whirlpool.  This is a portable water filter that you can stick in a backpack, car or camping stuff that comes in its own plastic holder.  It filters  hard, soft, warm and cold water.  One filter has a 60 gallon capacity and replaces 450 plastic water bottles per filter.  They come in two colours and are $22.99 retail and the replacement filter is $13.99:

Blue:  DBWL2SM1
White:  DWWL2SM1
Replacement Filter:  DWWC2S1

Because of the unique design of this filter, it will fit a water bottle, cup, glass or pitcher and filters water through way faster that anything else I've seen.  No need to hook up to your faucets in any way, and you can have one sitting next to every faucet in your house.  Makes a great gift, too!

A couple of other items you may find useful:

GE dishwasher side mounting kit - WX13X10001 - in case you have a countertop that you can't drill into to anchor your dishwasher.

Another dishwasher mounting kit - L304458800 - for use on those solid surface counters.  These have a super sticky backing that you can stick to the underside of your counter and then anchor your dishwasher.  We've used them here on our display models and they don't budge.

Next week:  More Traeger!

Have a great week!

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Happy Veterans Day

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