Whole Turkey - slow and low or not?


 
L

L Weiner

TVWBB Member
I am doing a whole turkey on my WSM (standard brine), about 12 lbs. I am curious, do people prefer to slow and low there turkey's around 250, or do they just crank up the WSM to 325 or so?

I know most people will say depends on if you want crisper skin, but let's put that aside, what is better?
 
I'm doing a 6 pound turkey breast on the WSM probably about 275 thinking about 3 hours cook time. I'm doing a full bird on the roti on the performer at 325, my hope is that both will finish close to each other.
 
I too prefer the higher heat cooks; I've done 225 - 350 and have settled in at 325.
 
Low n slow will cook the bird but you may be in the danger zone too long. Turkey has a certain "Kryptonite taboo" to it.

Most folks agree that turkey should be roasted at 325-350*F until you reach safe internal temps in the breast and inner thigh. Your completely thawed bird will take about 3-3.5 hrs at 325*F.
 
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Turkey is is not high in connective tissue like a butt or brisket and therefore does not require the low n slow time needed to break it down. that's why I go at about 325 with my turkeys
 
300-350 wide open vents 2 1/2 - 3 hour smoke every year for 10 years. Great results, my family will not let me do it any other way.
 
If you want to do pulled turkey than sure. Larry Wolf did a few and they looked good. If you want to slice it, than you can sacrifice the rubbery skin, and still have juicy succelent meat.
I've had turkey smoked in an old fridge/smoker for 8hrs and it was fantastic.
Bottom line IMO. Turkey is not just for Thanksgiving, do a few or more during the year and find what you like.:wsm:

Tim
 
L Weiner said:
I am doing a whole turkey on my WSM (standard brine), about 12 lbs. I am curious, do people prefer to slow and low there turkey's around 250, or do they just crank up the WSM to 325 or so?

I know most people will say depends on if you want crisper skin, but let's put that aside, what is better?
Click to expand...

I've settled on 300 degrees. Low-and-slow doesn't make sense because you don't have connective tissue to break down, and as a previous poster pointed out, the turkey will be in the danger zone for a little too long. At over 300, the huge difference in temps between the outside and the center make it tougher to know what temp to pull it off the smoker at so that the middle will end up at 165 degrees when the heat equalizes out.

Had a great result today with our turkey. Did a 13.4# free-range organic bird from a local farm. Brined it for 3 days, and put it in at 300 degrees. Pulled it when the coldest spot was 160 degrees, and left the probe in it when I put it in the cooler to rest. Thirty minutes later it leveled off at 168 degrees. Tasted fantastic, and was moist and tender even at the very outermost part of the breast.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
 
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