Turkey on 22.5" WSM Temperature Questions

I am smoking a 15lb. D'artagnan organic bird next week ( i hear organic birds cook quicker?) and i have a few questions. I have been reading that folks have trouble maintaining higher temps(325-350) in their 22.5 WSM. I am worried that i will have to finish it in the oven or it will take too long and people will be waiting to eat while i fire up more coals. Does anyone have any tested methods or recommendations for keeping the 22.5" wsm at higher temps? the weather outside will be on the cool side, i assume will be in the 40's. Thanks for the help!

Matty J said:

I am smoking a 15lb. D'artagnan organic bird next week ( i hear organic birds cook quicker?) and i have a few questions. I have been reading that folks have trouble maintaining higher temps(325-350) in their 22.5 WSM. I am worried that i will have to finish it in the oven or it will take too long and people will be waiting to eat while i fire up more coals. Does anyone have any tested methods or recommendations for keeping the 22.5" wsm at higher temps? the weather outside will be on the cool side, i assume will be in the 40's. Thanks for the help!

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Thanks for asking this question as I was about to post the IDENTICAL question.

I've never done a turkey on my 22.5, only ribs and BB, so I've never tried to keep the heat UP, but instead I've tried to control how hot it got.

I have the 22.5 and do not have an issue with keeping it at 300-350. I use the minion method for most smokes and by adjusting the amount of glowing red coals at the start will help you get the temp up there. If I am going high temp I use a full chimney glowing, then sprinkle over the ring of charcoal/lump mix, no reason for the mix other than thats what I am used to doing. Leave all vents open and watch for temp to get up. I will start closing the vents as needed about 20 degrees from my target as it is much easier to catch the temp as it goes up rather than chasing it after it gets to hot. I just did a couple fatty's last week and wanted 350 to get them done quicker. It was cold and raining which did cause me to flip the door and prop it open a bit to get the temp up quicker. In case you will need to prop the door, be careful as it gets very hot. Also find a method to do this before you even start as you might end up running around looking for something that will work as you need something that will fit under the lip so the door does not keep falling off.

I am no pro at this but have found the more lit coals at the start the higher the heat you can maintain without much hassle. Good luck.

My advice is pretty much like Mike's except more pessimistic.

I've found it's kind of a pain but doable. Definitely start with more lit charcoal than you would if you're shooting for 225 or it will take forever to get the temps up. Keep everything open. Check the temps, I don't know, maybe every 15-20 minutes. If you're lucky and you get pretty close to 350 start closing down the vents etc. etc. as Mike says. That's never happened for me, I flat line out at maybe 300. Why? I don't know. Maybe mine's better sealed due to age, gunk, being in perfect round, who knows.

So then you start playing games to get more air in there. I've found I have to prop the door - flip it upside down, pull the bottom a half inch open, and use a log or something to keep it from moving. If it's possible for the door to get knocked open and shoot your temps up to 500 it will, so be sure you prop it well. You may find that once it's hot you can shut the door and it won't drop that much. You'll just have to experiment a bit.

Thanks for all the help fellas. I really appreciate it and I will post pics after the results are in! I will search methods for propping the door open. I've never heard of that! Thanks! I also have been toying with the idea if finishing it in the oven if I feel I'm running way behind schedule. Thoughts? I tend to veer towards the "purist" view on BBQ but this is an important day after all. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

May I also suggest not using water in the water pan. When it's filled with water that will cause it to take longer to reach the higher temps you desire, if it even reaches it at all. No water in the pan will definitely help with reaching higher temps.

Sorry, after the fact, but.....

Matty J said:

I am smoking a 15lb. D'artagnan organic bird next week ( i hear organic birds cook quicker?) and i have a few questions. I have been reading that folks have trouble maintaining higher temps(325-350) in their 22.5 WSM. I am worried that i will have to finish it in the oven or it will take too long and people will be waiting to eat while i fire up more coals. Does anyone have any tested methods or recommendations for keeping the 22.5" wsm at higher temps? the weather outside will be on the cool side, i assume will be in the 40's. Thanks for the help!

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Hey Matty. Hope it went well. I know it's too late for this time, but I have the 22.5 WSM and have had trouble getting the high temps. I've never owned the smaller one, so I'm always wondering if it's just me, or the bigger WSM.

Anyway, I did a 14lb bird yesterday. As usual, I had to prop the door open about an inch. Then the temp would soar to 400 if I wasn't careful. So I watched it and kept it under control. Turned out great. Took about 3 hours.

I always add more charcoal than what the recipes say. I think the bigger WSM goes through it a little faster. I used 3 chimneys. It was still going 5 hours later, so, I guess I overestimated. Oh well.

For overnight low temp smokes I've dumped a 22lb bag of King in and it lasts about 15 hours before I have to add more. Seems like people with the smaller WSM don't have to add more as soon.

By the way, I have a 12 inch long probe that I stick through the top vent and it's always 75 degrees hotter by the top grate than what the lid probe says (and I checked them both for accuracy). Just FYI. Hope it helps in the future.

/I have some advice for you...Get a 10" disposable pie pan or a 8"x12" disposable pan..the biggest that will fit across the grates. I fill the water bowl 1/4 of the way with hot water, and then the aluminum pan and then 2 bricks on the outside of the drip pan and i slide the top rack down past the metal resting catches and place it on top of the bricks. I then use the 'beer can chicken' rack to put the (i have a 12lb) turkey vertical. The key is to get something under the turkey for it to drip into...i don't like it wallowing in a bath of fat and oil...Def less water or no water will greatly increase your temps. I was able to get my 18.5" wsm 30 deg F hotter than usual with less water. I am doing one of these tomorrow so I too will let you know. I am about to prep it tonight...looking for ideas...

Why doesn't Weber warn you that the 22.5 can't get up to 350 without propping open the door or other tricks? I did a 12 pounder in 55 degree weather. Could not get the smoker thermometer above 250 depite a ton of charcoal. Maybe it was higher than that on the upper rack I finished up in the oven but wasn't too far behind schedule.
Tasted pretty good.

John Moncrief said:

Why doesn't Weber warn you that the 22.5 can't get up to 350 without propping open the door or other tricks? I did a 12 pounder in 55 degree weather. Could not get the smoker thermometer above 250 depite a ton of charcoal. Maybe it was higher than that on the upper rack I finished up in the oven but wasn't too far behind schedule.
Tasted pretty good.

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If you fill the charcoal ring with about 2.5 chimneys full of lump, poor on a lit chimney full of lump, keep all vents 100% open, and use a dry water pan (I use a clay saucer wrapped in foil in the pan) you won't have a problem getting 325 - 350* without opening the door except to add smoke wood when the fire is buring hot and clean. This has worked for me on many cooks (chicken, pork loin roast, turkey, etc). Chris describes it here: http://virtualweberbullet.com/fireup1.html

"For 325-350° cooking:

Assemble the cooker, put the empty water pan in place, and put the lid in place. Line the water pan with wide aluminum foil for easy cleanup..."

So then.. my mistake was to use the minion method with regular Kingford charcoal instead of the lump charcoal. What is the clay saucer for? One unsettling thing I noted was that sort of rainbow streak that appeared in the outside metal of the fire chamber. Wondering if that was due to too much heat in the chamber?