Barbecued turkey this Christmas?
It’s bullet-shaped, 15 feet long, nearly seven feet high and covered in flags. ‘Edna’ is a competition-winning mobile barbecue that will be used to cook a turkey in Worksop this Christmas.
The hand-made giant barbecue was specially ordered from Texas. The waiting list for one is six months because of its reputation as ‘the best smoker’.
‘Edna’ is a 15 foot cooking machine
Her owners are a family of four from Worksop who call themselves the ‘Bite the Bullet BBQ team.’
Adie Platts, 37 from Wheat Croft, is known as ‘The Pitmaster’ or ‘The All-Weather Griller’ and has a reputation for cooking great-tasting meat. He first fired up his new hand-made, steel barbecue in May this year.
Since then the whole family have toured the country competing on the British Barbecue Circuit. They are one of six founding members of the British Barbecue Society which was born four years ago. It now has 28 members.
Son Jamie Platts, 13, romped home to victory while cooking on ‘Edna’ in the national ‘teen barbecuer’ competition this summer. He cooked a succulent rack of lamb.
His father, ex soldier Mr Platts, ignited his love affair with barbecues when he was in the army 20 years ago. A cooking rivalry with a friend spiralled out of control.
“You’re always trying to do better than your mate and that’s where it starts,” he said.
Jamie Platts is a budding ‘pitmaster’
“The next step then is actual competitions.”
He says cooking meat over a naked flame is not real barbecuing, that is grilling.
Real barbecuing is done by burning wood in a fire box. The smoke from the wood travels to where the meat sits and that cooks it.
Different types of wood give particular flavours to meat. Low and slow heat is best.
This Christmas, apple tree wood will be burned at 220 degrees Fahrenheit to cook the turkey for 10 hours.
Barbecuing is both a hobby and a lifestyle for the Platts family. Claire Platts 37, said: “Our kids love it. They argue about who is going to inherit Edna!”
She calls herself @BBQ widow1 on twitter because of her husband’s passion for barbecuing.
“That just about sums it up doesn’t it! My husband does get a bit obsessive,” she said.
But Mrs Platts isn’t daunted about her barbecue taking on a turkey this Christmas.
“A lot of people see turkey as dry and endless because they’re so big,” she said.
“But when you cook them on the smoker they have a really unique flavour, they’re very moist and juicy!
She added: “We’re quite renowned round here for putting on a good spread. But the trouble is we never ever get invited to barbecues anymore. Unless we’re doing the cooking!”