Turkey - Whole or Butterflied?


 
A

Alexander

TVWBB Fan
I am going to be smoking my first turkey today. 17.5 lbs. It is a Butterball All Natural Fresh Turkey. Which of the two is a better way to smoke this bird, Whole (vertical or horizontal) or Butterflied?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
 
If your looking for picture perfect presentation than yes, whole is the only way to go. If not, I vote butterflied, cooks faster and less chance of drying out
 
I have an 18 WSM. If it does not fit butterflied, I guess I can split the bird and use both racks. Any opinion on this? My main concern is drying out. I do have a Maverick remote temp. I plan to use.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Alexander:
My main concern is drying out. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That will happen if you overcook whether you butterfly or not.
 
I butterflied a bird last week for a church dinner and it turned out fabulous. I would highly recommend it.

22 lb bird cooked in 2 1/2 hours. Awesome.

Good Luck,
Brett
 
Brett did your 22 lb bird cook in 2.5 hours? What temp?

My 15lb butterflied turkey took 5 hrs but the smoker was around 260-280 most of the time except near the end.
 
Alexander how did your turkey turn out?

I did two 15lb butterflied one on the top rack and one on the bottom. I probed the breast on the bottom rack figuring it would be done first but when it hit 160 the top rack breast was 170.
 
I did a 12lb butterflied turkey last Saturday. It just barely fit on my 18" WSM with legs tied. I find this method allows for a more uniform cook. Thighs were done when the breast was done. I suggest cracking the leg bone pre-cook to help with the dark meat cook. I just learned this tip from another thread here a few weeks ago. Either way, if you have the time, present it how you want it.
 
I deconstruct by that I remove the legs portions, and then the back bone including the wish bone. I then cook the legs and breast in the same cooker but saparate.

They usually finish close and if the breast is cooked soones it's easy to removbe and let the legs continue until done.

There's a link below on how Julia and Jacques demoed it on TV a while back.

Decconstructed Turkey

the episode is also on Hulu
 
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