WSM or Kettle?


 
Ray.S said:
So what's the trick to hit the breast and thigh temps. Below is what is posted on TVWB page on Whole Turkey - Basic Brine
Smoke at 325-350°F until 160-165°F in the breast, 170-175°F in the thigh, approximately 2-1/2 to 3 hours.My attemps in the past has been to hit the thight temp and with no red the breast is above and dry.
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Another reason I like the kettle is to keep the legs/thighs toward the heat source.
Some folks put bags of ice on the breast for an hour or so before cooking, I haven't tried it so I can't say how well it works.
 
I also agree with the others that higher temp is best for poultry. I do mine on my WSM at 325-350.
 
Bob Correll said:
Another reason I like the kettle is to keep the legs/thighs toward the heat source.
Some folks put bags of ice on the breast for an hour or so before cooking, I haven't tried it so I can't say how well it works.
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Bob thanks, I like the idea of the legs and thighs toward the heat source.
 
Having cooked turkey in my oven for as many Christmas's as I can remember, this year it's going to be on a Weber. In the oven it was roasted slowly for 5 or 6 hours (Delia Smith method for those in the U.K.) and always came out lovely and moist.

I am thinking not on the WSM but on the Kettle.

I assume the results will be better with the rotisserie? 10-12lb bird. Will I need a counterbalance?

Plan to brine it but haven't worked that bit out yet.
 
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I like the 'set it and forget it' ease of the WSM and the additional 'headroom' it provides. But it is smaller (I have the 18") than the kettle. Kettle gives you more horizontal space, but might require more babysitting - though it is easier to get higher heat. I tend to do the full bird on the WSM with no water pan and target temp of anywhere from 300-375. It'll fluctuate during the cook, so I don't worry about keeping it in a tight range. It might be 375 for the first hour, then gradually work its way down to 300.

Gary London said:
lan to brine it but haven't worked that bit out yet.
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I highly recommend the Apple brine from the Cooking Topics page.
 
Well, based on the advice, I think this thing is going on my Performer. The bird is currently sitting in the bourbon/maple brine in the fridge (cooking it tomorrow for a church lunch on Sunday).

I'll see how it does.
 
Ray.S said:
So what's the trick to hit the breast and thigh temps. Below is what is posted on TVWB page on Whole Turkey - Basic Brine
Smoke at 325-350°F until 160-165°F in the breast, 170-175°F in the thigh, approximately 2-1/2 to 3 hours.My attemps in the past has been to hit the thight temp and with no red the breast is above and dry.
Click to expand...

Take the turkey out of the fridge and put ziplock bags full of ice on the breasts for 30-60 minutes prior to putting it on the cooker. Works every time.
 
Ok, just got the turkey carved up for tomorrow. Cooked it on my kettle.

The brine (bourbon maple) was good, worked well. I had the probes stuck in the wrong spots (at least, one of them was reading way low), so I ended up getting it a bit overdone. Not too bad, still decent moistness, but there were a couple spots where it was getting dry. Learned a bit, I'll do better for the bird I do for the family.
 
Turkey from the WSM or the kettle can both be great, but the kettle gives me more room for a family sized bird,
and seems to work fine for me.
 
The turkey was a hit.

They descended upon the bird like a pack of velociraptors and not a bit was left. One of the guys who does a fair amount of his own meat smoking declared my bird the best of them all. Everybody else had good things to say about it. The meat showed a great smoke ring and the moisture content and taste were both quite good.

Thanks for the input!
 
For smaller turkeys I just use my kettle. This year I have an 18 pounder so going to use my WSM. Putting the bird on the top rack with no water pan with some apple wood and shooting for 325 to 350 degrees cooking temp.
 
I have a 10# turkey that is going to get a dry brine and will be cooked on my Performer with an apple/cherry mix.
 
PhilP said:
So, what is the best way to do this? Smoke it lower and slower on the WSM? Just stick with the kettle?
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I prefer cooking on my kettle however my family likes me to cook the turkey on the WSM. I don't go "low & slow" with my WSM, I put a medium size pizza tin (wrapped in foil) on the bottom shelf (no bowl) and I put the turkey on a stand on the top shelf. If your turkey is big, you don't have to stand it. Your cooking temp should be > 300 and to be honest, 400 is a good temp. It is easier to cook in the 300's, so if you don't have experience at 400, you might want to keep it between 300 & 350
 
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