1 or 2 turkeys in 18.5"


 
T

TylerH-RVA

New member
Hi all. First post here. Been seeing some conflicting articles about how to best smoke a whole turkey. I was thinking a 20lb turkey wouldn't fit, but two smaller (~12ish lb) would fit. One on the bottom rack, one on the top? Any thoughts on this?

Also, I've seen people saying not to use a water pan in order to get the heat up to 300-350 for a 4-6 hour cook time. Would that change with 2 birds going at once? Thanks in advance.
 
I'd run the WSM at 375 certainly not below 350. I would be surprised if they went 5 hours. Make sure you have plenty of charcoal (18LBS will be calling it close) you'll burn through some charcoal running 350/375

Sorry for the late edit, phone rang had to answer it

In regards to the water pan, I would foil it really good and even have a catch tray in it. I wouldn't have water in it. It's going to get big messy, so find a tray that's a little too big and force it to work, otherwise you'll cleaning the water pan for days
 
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Not in a WSM, but I do all my turkeys spatchcocked now and even quartered, so unless you are going for presentation of the entire bird, pre-quarter the turkeys down into white/dark meat quarters...takes up a lot less room and you can remove each quarter as it comes up to the correct temperature too. I pull white quarters off around 150, and dark quarters around 175, and then rest, and rest, and rest....

Added bonus is you can take all the parts you removed (necks, backbone, giblets etc) and make gravy in advance too...
 
What Grant said. No matter what cooker I'm using, these days I only cook turkey cut up into parts.

Cooks faster, easier to fit and handle and carve, and you can cook each part separately to the correct temp.

For the WSM, dry pan or no pan. And basically use the same temps that you would use if roasting in the kitchen oven. So 325+.

Check out the Zen of this turkey butchering video.

 
I've cooked both whole and butterflied turkeys in the 18.5" WSM. Yes, you can cook two 12-pound turkeys in the 18.5" WSM. See this article:

https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/turkey-selection-preparation/#twoturkeys

Personally, I would do two smaller turkeys in the WSM, they cook quickly in the 300-375*F range. Don't get too hung up on exact cooker temperature. Foil the water pan, don't use water, start a chimney full of charcoal and place it over a bed of unlit charcoal with just a couple of wood chunks nestled into the unlit. Start with all vents wide open. If you need to partially close the bottom vents to stay below 375, that's fine but anything between 300-375 will work. It won't be 6 hours, it's probably 2 or 2.5 hours, maybe 3 hours for two turkeys. You're looking for 160-165 in the breast so you don't overcook the turkey.

https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/turkey-selection-preparation/#timetemp

And yes, you can cook one large turkey in the 18.5" WSM. People report having done 25-30 pounders...but at some point you've got to do them vertically on the lower grate.

https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/turkey-selection-preparation/#howbig

See this page for links to many of the turkeys I've smoked in the 18.5" WSM at high temp/no water:

https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/holiday-barbecue-recipes-resources/#turkey

Good luck!
 
I'm planning on doing one big spatchcocked bird - only had 16+ at butcher - in my 18,5", so we'll have to compare after! :)

What wood will you use? A couple posts on there seem to like cherry or apple, or a combination of both.
 
Apple or cherry or both is my go-to for poultry. Cherry provides that very intense color you see on many turkeys.
 
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