Hot take: turkey is criminally underrated, and it has no business being locked to one Thursday in November. It’s a fall bird. Smoke one this weekend and show us in the Dead Meat Society Facebook group or tag us on Instagram.

Now, here’s what we’ve been cooking up all week…

First up, everything you need to smoke a turkey like a pro. Plus, a BBQ owner suing his own pitmaster.

And down in the recipes, a smoked pork chili verde built to feed twelve on game day.

Every week, we crown the DMS champion of BBQ. And there are only two ways to enter: 1) Submit a pic to the Dead Meat Society Facebook Group 2) Tag us on Instagram. If you aren’t sharing (and competing), what the hell are you waiting for?

And remember, the stakes have never been higher!

This week’s Smoke Show Champ is Tom Troop for the dedication to a 7-day tri-tip pastrami. Shared via the Dead Meat Society Facebook Group.

Honorable mention to Andrew Stoddard for selling us on lollipop drumsticks. Shared via the Dead Meat Society Facebook Group.

Honorable mention to Nick Michaels for the competition style whole hog. Shared via the Dead Meat Society Facebook Group.

Have a Smoke Show submission? Stop wasting your time posting on all those other sites and share it with the Facebook group that gives a damn: Dead Meat Society. Or just tag us on Instagram.

That one story that will make you infinitely more interesting than your know-it-all brother-in-law. Seriously, wtf is that guy’s deal?

A sobering thought: If Benjamin Franklin had his way and turkey became our national bird, we might not be able to eat it at all…

Perhaps instead we’d be eating Bald Eagle and Swiss sandwiches…

Good thing that never happened. But here’s the unfortunate thing that did happen:

For some reason, turkey got shoved into one day a year and treated like an obligation.

As far as we’re concerned, that is a crime.

A properly smoked turkey is one of the best things you can pull off a fire, and fall is exactly the season for it.

So before the November scramble hits, we’re going to work out exactly how to cook up that beautiful American bird (not the Bald Eagle).

Sabrina Baksh’s smoked turkey cheat sheet is the playbook that caught our eye this week.

A few of the details really shined for us…

But now we get to the trickiest part about smoking turkey… the temperature.

Something about turkey tends to make eaters nervous. Some won’t touch it if they see even a little pink (which doesn’t tell the whole story).

Sabrina’s cheat sheet admits what every pitmaster knows: people argue about breast temp. Lucky for us, there is science to settle it.

Meat safety comes from temperature and time, not a single magic number. As this pasteurization breakdown lays out, a breast held at 150 degrees for about four minutes is just as safe as one blasted to 165.

So you can pull turkey earlier and keep it juicy, as long as you follow the right timing. Let the dark meat ride to 175 to 180, where it belongs.

If it’s your first time working with turkey, it can be intimidating. It’s huge, tricky, and so, so easy to mess up…

But don’t let that fear dissuade you from giving it a shot.

As Wayne Gretsky would say if he was a pitmaster (odd analogy), you miss out on 100% of the turkeys you’re too intimidated to smoke…

We gathered up a few hard-won tips from the crew at Vindulge.

A few favorite pieces of advice: two 12-to-14-pound birds beat one giant every time, since the big ones dry out before they finish. Dry the skin uncovered in the fridge for crispy results. And when the bird finishes early, park it in a clean cooler with no ice, where it holds hot for up to four hours.

Let’s make turkey more than our once-a-year obligation. It’s a fall bird that happens to go incredible with smoke.

Learn exactly how you like to cook it now, and come November, you will be the easygoing grill hero instead of the guy sweating over a dry breast.

Like the memes you send back and forth in your group chat, except these won’t get you canceled. Oh, and lots more grill marks.

🥩 PIT BEEF: A celebrity pitmaster is getting sued by his own co-owner, who says he walked off with the Prime name and recipes.

🥩 SOLD OUT: A Bellville truck slinging brisket egg rolls sells out every day, and the pitmaster refuses to touch raw chicken.

🥩 OH CANADA: Calgary’s SmellaQue just became the first Canadian team to win The Jack, beating 98 others.

🥩 REST EASY: The BBQ world lost Patrick Hicks of Smoke’N Ash, the James Beard nominee behind Arlington’s Tex-Ethiopian barbecue. His family is keeping the doors open.

🥩 BRISKET TREASON: The Texas pitmaster who stopped selling brisket, then brought it back 👇

Did we miss something? Share it in the Dead Meat Society Facebook group or tag us on Instagram for a chance to be featured.

DMS’ CMO (Chief Meat Officer… because did you really expect DMS to have a Chief Marketing Officer?) is giving you the gospel on everything tri-tip…

Tips, tech & gear that’ll help you beat your friend’s meat. Wait, that came out wrong…

🥓 TOMAHAWK 101: Raichlen’s reverse-sear method for a tomahawk, 250 degrees to 100, rest, then sear hot.

🥓 BRUSH ALERT: Walmart recalled 4.48 million wire grill brushes, so check yours before turkey day.

🥓 COAL TALK: Lump versus briquettes, settled: lump to sear, briquettes for the long turkey smoke.

🥓 KNIFE FIGHT: Nine guests blind-tested steak knives, and Dalstrong won while the serrated sets shredded the meat.

🥓 BREAST MODE: Three ways to smoke a turkey breast on a Weber kettle (it’s almost like it matches the theme…) 👇

Did we miss something? Share it in the Dead Meat Society Facebook group or tag us on Instagram for a chance to be featured.

Like a Paula Deen cookbook, but with less butter and more BBQ sauce.

Smoked country-style ribs, braised down. Feeds twelve on game day.

Cheesy, smoky, and Fall-forward.

Honeycrisp season, straight off the grill.

Have a recipe you want to share? Share it in the Dead Meat Society Facebook group or tag us on Instagram for a chance to be featured.

A happy ending just for you.

That’s it for this week. If you make any of the recipes above, you’re legally obligated to share pics on the DMS Facebook Group or tag us on Instagram so we can feature them next week (sorry, we don’t make the rules).

And since the only thing that is better than grill marks and ice-cold beer is grill marks and ice-cold beer with a side of dad jokes, we’ll leave this right here…

Dead Meat Society Merch in the wild.

DMS steel in the wild. Thanks for the share, @mamaonthegriddle

Lock in. Grip down. Show no mercy.

The Dead Grip isn’t your average pair of tongs, it’s a forged extension of your fire-searing will. Skull-tip grippers, 2mm stainless steel, and a locking mechanism built in. From flipping ribs to rescuing runaway hot dogs, it clamps down with bite and total control.

Serious gear for serious grilling, built to dominate the pit and serve in style.

As part of our commitment to community, we will donate 10% of net profits to charities that matter.