Most of us would agree, there’s nothing better than a home-cooked meal. But with our hectic schedules and the wide variety of recipes easily available, it can be overwhelming to select the right recipe.

Worry no more—because SCHEELS has created a “What’s Cookin'” YouTube series to bring you delicious, fast and easy to prepare recipes that you are sure to enjoy!

Q&A with The Man behind What’s Cookin’

Cameron Aakre • SCHEELS Creative Media Manager / Grilling Expert

Q: What’s the goal of the “What’s Cooking” series?

A: To provide simple, easy recipes that can be done on any grill.

Q: How did it start?

A: As our grilling shops continue to expand, What’s Cookin’ is a great opportunity to connect with our customers, provide added value and entertainment, and showcase unique and trending recipes.

Q: What does the production look like?

A: What began as an outdoor grilling session, soon turned into a grand production with expert recipes, building the What’s Cookin’ set, and filming 3-4 recipes at a time to capture weeks worth of content.

Q: How often are you posting new recipes?

A: We post new episodes every other week! Check us out on Youtube or at SCHEELS.com/recipes to stay up to date on what we are cookin’!

Q: Who are the experts?

A: We have experts in all store locations. We have featured associates from the Corporate Office, SCHEELS Home and Hardware, and stores in Cedar Falls, Des Moines and Iowa City.

Q: What are your favorite sauces/seasonings?

A: My favorite sauce is Beers Black Dog Original BBQ Sauce and my favorite rub is definitely Kosmos Q The Best Garlic Jalapeno Rub.

Q: What’s your most used piece of cooking equipment?

A: My Ooni pizza oven for sure. I love making pizzas.

What’s Cookin’ By The Numbers

• 52 videos
• Over 360K views
• Recipes cooked on 8 different grills!

Recipes!

You didn’t think we were going to tell you about the SCHEELS What’s Cookin’ series without giving you some recipes, did you? Check out our favorite recipes below and visit the SCHEELS youtube channel to watch the recipe video!

Smoked vs. Fried Turkey

The big debate around Thanksgiving Turkey Cooking: smoked or fried? No matter which method you choose, it’ll be a Thanksgiving meal they will truly enjoy.

INSTRUCTIONS:

SMOKED

Brine overnight in a food safe container or bag.
Cook for three hours at 275°F.
Brush on the glaze mixture with 10-15 minutes left to go in your cook, this will give your turkey its final color.
After adding the glaze, turn up your grill to 350°F to finish it off.
Pull the turkey when the internal temperature reaches 160°F.

FRIED

Brine overnight in a food-safe container or bag.
Start at 250°F and work your way up to 350°F for 45 minutes.
Brush on the glaze mixture with 10-15 minutes left to go in your cook, this will give your turkey its final color.
Pull the turkey when the internal temperature reaches 160°F.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Turkey (23 lbs)
1.5 gal hot water
4 cups apple juice
1.5 cups salt
1.5 cups bourbon
2 cups brown sugar
4 bay leaves
3 tbsp black peppercorn
Traeger poultry rub
Glaze: ½ cup butter and 1 tbsp sugar

TOOLS:
• Meat thermometer
• Tin pan
• Yeti LoadOut Bucket
• 30 qt pot
• Traeger silicone basting brush

Mississippi Pot Roast w/ Smoked Mask Potatoes

Total Time: 4.5 hrs.
Prep Time: 30 mins.
Cook Time: 4 hrs.
Servings: 10

It is recommended to peel about 5 pounds of potatoes, chopping and quartering them for the best results when mashing. Boil the potatoes, adding a little bit of salt, until at a rolling boil. Turn the burner down to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the potatoes soften up. Add in a stick of butter, 1 cup of milk and a little more salt and pepper. Then, grab a masher and mash to your desired consistency.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Prep your chuck roast by seasoning it lightly with Kosmos SPG.
Place the roast on the Traeger at 225°F super smoke
After 3 hours, place the roast in a cast iron dutch oven, top with butter, ranch packet, au jus packet and the pepperoncinis and juice. Cover with tin foil.
With about 1 hour left in the cook, add the bag of baby carrots and place the foil back over to steam the carrots.
Cook until 205°F or until the probe slides in like butter. Rest and pull the meat making sure to remove the gristle.
Mix the pulled meat back into the cast iron, soak up those juices, and enjoy with some fresh mashed potatoes.

INGREDIENTS:
3 lb chuck roast
Kosmos SPG or any beef seasoning
1 packet ranch
1 packet au jus gravy
½ jar whole pepperoncinis
5 lbs potatoes
Salt and pepper
1 stick of butter

TOOLS
• Drip EZ BBQ Prep Tub
• Lodge Cast 15” Iron Skillet
• Traeger Ironwood Series 885
• Potato Masher

Pig Shots

Total Time: 1hr. 15 mins.
Prep Time: 15 mins.
Cook Time: 1 hr.
Servings: 6

INSTRUCTIONS:

Slice sausage in 1/2 inch thick rounds and cut bacon strips in half.
Wrap half slice of bacon around each piece of sausage and secure with a toothpick.
Chop jalapeños and add to a bowl with 1 packet of cream chees and your Holy Voodoo seasoning and mix thoroughly.
Add about a tbsp of the cream cheese mixture on top of the sausage bites and add to your jerky rack, cream cheese side up.
Top with more Holy Voodoo seasoning and it’s time to grill!
Fire up the Traeger to 250°F, close the lid and cook until the bacon is crispy and golden brown for about 1 hour.
Remove the pig shots from the grill and let them cool for about 10 mins.
Drizzle with Kosmos BBQ sauce and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 package of andouille sausage
1 lb thick-cut bacon
1 cream cheese
1 can pickled jalapeños
Meat Church Holy Voodoo seasoning
Kosmos BBQ sauce
Butter

TOOLS:
• Traeger Ironwood Series 885
• Traeger Basting Brush
• Toothpicks
• LEM Jerky Racks

Tri Tip Steak

Total Time: 50 mins.
Prep Time: 30 mins.
Cook Time: 20 mins.
Servings: 2

INSTRUCTIONS:

Start your Traeger on 225°F and turn on super smoke, if available.
If your tri tip came with the fat cap on, you will want to take a sharp knife and remove it at this time. Once removed, you can coat the steak in olive oil. The olive oil is used to create something for our rub to stick to.
Apply Pit Happens rub liberally to all sides, this is where you will get a lot of your flavor!
Once the grill is up to temperature, place your steak on the grill. Also, place the Grill grates on at this time so they have time to heat up.
Once the internal temp reads 125°F on your meat thermometer, pull the steaks and crank the grill to 500°F.
After 20 minutes the grill should have time to reach temp and the grill grates should be ready to sear.
Place your steaks onto the grates pushing down slightly to get a good sear. Rotate 90° after 90 seconds, flip after another 90 seconds and rotate one more time for the last 90 seconds.
Pull your steaks at 130°-135°F and let them rest for 10 minutes.
When slicing tri tip, always make sure you are slicing against the grain.
Slice and enjoy! Happy tailgating!

INGREDIENTS:
Tri Tip Steak (2)
Pit Happens Rub
Olive Oil

TOOLS:
• Grill Grates
• Benchmade Meatcrafter Knife
• Meat Thermometer
• Traeger Ironwood 885

Duck Jalapeno Poppers

Total Time: 1.5 hrs.
Prep Time: 20 mins.
Cook Time: 1 hr. 10 mins.
Servings: 12

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut the tops off of your medium-sized jalapeños and slice them in half.
Clean out the insides with a spoon, removing the veins and the seeds. Next, with your jalapeño half, spoon in cream cheese and push down with the spoon to ensure there are no air pockets.
Top the cream cheese with some Meat Church Holy Voodoo.
Cut the duck breasts in half, or slightly smaller depending on what fits best on your jalapeños, and cover all sides of the breast with Meat Church Holy Voodoo.
Place the breasts on top of the cream cheese and wrap with 2 slices of bacon trying not to overlap too much so the bacon can properly cook.
Place the finished product on a LEM jerky rack and get ready to prepare the grill.
Turn your Traeger to 225°F super smoke and place the poppers on for about 2 ½ hours or until the bacon is to the preferred doneness.
For a little added kick of flavor, coat the poppers with Beers Black Dog BBQ sauce with the Traeger basting brush and give them 10 more minutes on the grill for the BBQ sauce to set up.

INGREDIENTS:
1 block 8 oz cream cheese
6-8 medium-sized jalapeños
6 duck breasts
Classic cut bacon
Meat Church Holy Voodoo seasoning
Beers Black Dog BBQ sauce

TOOLS:
• Benchmade Meatcrafter knife
• Spoon
• Cooking rack
• Traeger basting brush
• Traeger Ironwood 885
• LEM Jerky Racks

Marinated Elk Backstrap

Total Time: 12 hrs. 50 mins.
Prep Time: 12 hrs.
Cook Time: 20 mins.
Servings: 2

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a bowl mix together the wet ingredients; wine, oil, and soy sauce.
Once combined, add in the dry ingredients; minced garlic, rosemary, and Blackened Saskatchewan.
Place the backstrap into a Ziploc baggie and dump the mixture over the top.
Roll out all of the air and seal tight. Place into the fridge overnight.
Take the backstrap out of the baggie and remove all of the rosemary.
Give the backstrap a good coating of Blackened Saskatchewan on all sides.
Start your smoker at 225°F, once to temperature place the backstrap on the grill until the internal temperature hits 120°F.
Pull off the backstrap and turn the grill up to 700°, or as high as your cooker goes.
Once the grill is temp sear all sides, and pull off the meat when it hits 130° internal temperature.
Let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons Soy sauce
Pinch of Rosemary
Traeger Blackened Saskatchewan Rub

TOOLS:
• Meat Thermometer
• Mr. BBQ Tongs
• Masterbuilt 1050 Charcoal Grill & Smoker

This is just a snippet of what can be found on the SCHEELS What’s Cookin’ YouTube channel and at SCHEELS.com/recipes. Get cookin’ with help from SCHEELS today!