Newbie Turkey advice


 
M

Mike Gio

New member
Hi All!

I own a Weber Smokey Mountain, and tomorrow I'll be doing my first whole smoked turkey for a pot luck. I'm following a Stephen Raichlen recipe, which calls for a brine. I'm doing a 16 pounder, and it's currently sitting in the brining bucket.

Here's where I'm getting confused/concerned. My party is at 7. When I looked up smoking times for Turkey, it says 30-45 min/lb, which would mean that I would need anywhere between 8-12 hours of smoking time, which I presume is at 250ish degrees. But the Raichlen recipe I was using calls out for 3.5ish hours at 275 for a 12 pounder. Even adding in another 4 pounds @ 45min/lb only brings me to 9. And on top of that, I've seen lots of recipes that call out 325 deg for 3.5 hours or so.

What would you guys suggest for temp and time? Obviously I don't want to screw this up for the party.

A second question: If my bird is done significantly before my party (lets say it's done and rested >1 hour before party time), what's the best way to keep the bird perky for the party, while not giving anybody food poisoning?

Thanks in advance folks!
 
Mike Gio said:
Hi All!

I own a Weber Smokey Mountain, and tomorrow I'll be doing my first whole smoked turkey for a pot luck. I'm following a Stephen Raichlen recipe, which calls for a brine. I'm doing a 16 pounder, and it's currently sitting in the brining bucket.

Here's where I'm getting confused/concerned. My party is at 7. When I looked up smoking times for Turkey, it says 30-45 min/lb, which would mean that I would need anywhere between 8-12 hours of smoking time, which I presume is at 250ish degrees. But the Raichlen recipe I was using calls out for 3.5ish hours at 275 for a 12 pounder. Even adding in another 4 pounds @ 45min/lb only brings me to 9. And on top of that, I've seen lots of recipes that call out 325 deg for 3.5 hours or so.

What would you guys suggest for temp and time? Obviously I don't want to screw this up for the party.

A second question: If my bird is done significantly before my party (lets say it's done and rested >1 hour before party time), what's the best way to keep the bird perky for the party, while not giving anybody food poisoning?

Thanks in advance folks!
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I would allow more time to smoke the turkey. It's better to have a turkey finished early than finished late. If the bird is finished early, you can wrap it up in clean towels and store it in an empty ice chest (without ice) for a couple of hours. The towels and chest will act as insulation and keep the turkey warm. Also, keep a close eye on the meat thermometer when smoking the turkey and figure out how many degrees the meat temperature needs to rise each hour to finish the bird on time. If the meat temperature is rising too slowly, increase the temperature inside the smoker. If the meat temperature is increasing too quickly, lower the temperature inside the smoker.
 
Just be advised that when you wrap the turkey all chance of crispy skin will disappear. That said, I would agree about planning on an extra hour just to be safe. I have had things go sideways as far as timing is concerned. It just happens sometimes.
 
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