1/2 of turkey not done?


 
Sheldon Koehler

Sheldon Koehler

TVWBB Super Fan
Today I smoked a turkey for dinner. I brined a 16lb bird overnight and placed it on the smoker with 1 chimney of lit and one unlit. I added 4 medium chunks of apple wood. 3 hours into it when I checked the temp, 1 side was 15 degrees warmer than the other.

I have smoked probably 4 or 5 on my WSM since I purchased it in June and have never seen this before.

Has anyone else seen this?
 
Was the bird room temp? If defrosted in the fridge - one side may have been substantially warmer or colder to start with. I've also done a number of turkeys and never have seen this problem.
 
It was thawed in the fridge for about 5 days. It was still partially frozen when I placed it in the brine, but I have never had a turkey NOT thawed after 14 hours in a brine. I admit I did not check it before placing it in the WSM.
 
Pretty good size bird. Assuming it was completely defrosted; I think I would of rotated (spin) the grate a couple of times during the cook. Usually the smoker is a pretty even cook (except for the edges) but I've seen times where one side runs a bit hotter.
Dry water pan?
 
Never had that problem, but then I've never put that large a turkey in the WSM. One possibility since it was that large is one side of the bird was closer to the outside of the smoker. The outside couple of inches of my WSM are always hotter.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Marc:
Pretty good size bird. Assuming it was completely defrosted; I think I would of rotated (spin) the grate a couple of times during the cook. Usually the smoker is a pretty even cook (except for the edges) but I've seen times where one side runs a bit hotter.
Dry water pan? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Marc, saw your post after I posted. Mine was sort of redundant.
 
Well, while the pan being empty*, then it has to be one of the three things:
a: Bird wasn't fully defrosted.
b: Uneven temps in the smoker.
c: Mutant turkey.
icon_biggrin.gif

*Had there been water in the pan it would be extra unlikely to have uneven temps. Not that that I would use water... just saying.
 
I did 2 chickens recently (4 lb'ers) on the WSM and they were put right next to each other. One bird's temp was different than the other by like 25-30 degrees. I even rotated them on the top grate from one side to the other (switched places) and they were still different. When the one bird reached the target temp, I pulled it and when the other reached the target temp, I pulled it. One was on the WSM about 30 minutes longer. Both turned out great and both were equally juicy.

Keep in mind, both were prepped the same way, not frozen and brined for 16 hours. And also put on the smoker at the same time. And both therms were tested and equal in performance.
 
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