Best Bird -- Kettle or WSM?


 
J Hasselberger

J Hasselberger

TVWBB All-Star
I've done turkeys in an 18.5" WSM, but just on the grate with a drip pan below (foiled pan, no water). Thinking of doing a 12-14 pound bird in a foil pan with vegetables this year.

I've never done one in a kettle, but I'm curious to try. Anyone got input on the pluses and minuses of each?

Jeff
 
Just my opinion on using a kettle vs a WSM:

Kettle Pros:
-easier to get higher temperatures (350+)
-easier cooker setup and handling
-more fuel efficient

Kettle Cons:
-more restriction on how tall of a turkey you can fit.
-burnt spots more likely due to uneven heat, although putting the bird a foil pan would help mitigate this
-easier to oversmoke and overdarken the bird. Wood goes a much longer way on the kettle than the WSM, so use less.
 
Rich Dahl said:
Done both and ether works well. The kettle can sometimes be a little hard to stabilize temps and up here the 18.5 WSM doesn't like to get real hot, but hot enough. This year I'm going to try this one on the WSM, I've done it a couple of times on the kettle with great success.
http://www.weber.com/recipes/poultry/brined-and-barbecued-turkey-with-pan-gravy
Click to expand...

Rich same here.

I just got my 22" WSM in september and hadnt done a high heat cook on it yet. Did a test cook last night to see what it would take to get it up to 350.

I was using 6 lbs of thighs not a turkey so thermal mas will be quite a bit different with a 16 lb bird but i can manage that.

My big questions were if i can get 350 with empty pan or if i need to take pan out all together.

I started with 2 fully lit mini weber chimneys with is 70 briquettes or roughly 3/4 of a standard weber chimney.

I threw it on top of of used Stubbs from my last WSM cook and threw some left over lump from a recent kettle cook on top to light right away.

I assembled WSM immediately and allowed it a few minutes to preheat and let top coals light. (MISTAKE)

It took about an hour to get to 350 and stayed there.

Last nights cook was only about an hour. i was going to let it run to see if the fuel would hold up for a full three hour cook but had some things to do around the house so i couldnt baby sit. i opted for a quick shut down.

So for the thanks giving cook i will change a few things:

1. I will load ring with a full chimney (100 briquettes) of unlit stubbs with a full chimney of lit stubbs on top. I will give the coals a few minutes to breathe.

2. I am going to start without water pan in place to get upper portions of WSM heated up faster. I will put in place once bird goes on. If i dont up get to my desired temp i may skip water pan all together

3. I will fire smoker up extra early to allow long preheat especially if the weather or wind isnt favorable ( last Thanksgiving was 33 degrees and windy) I don't expect that again but i will be ready if it happens.
 
Last year I did one on the kettle (for my niece's family) and one on the WSM (for us). The kettle (as others have noted) was easier to get up to temp (~350), but required more attention to stay there (feeding it a few coals every 30 minutes or so). The WSM took longer to warm up (it seemed to top out around 325-330), but once there, required only minor intake vent adjustments to hold that temp.

Flavor-wise, I can't really say which was better since I didn't taste the kettle-cooked bird myself. Those who ate it said it was delicious, but not terribly smokey. The WSM-cooked bird was a bit smokey, but not overly so. I used 2 chunks each of apple and cherry in each cooker. In the kettle, the wood actually caught fire and burned up quicker (perhaps explaining the less-smokey taste).

This year, I'm only doing one bird, and am a bit on the fence myself as to which to use. My wife got a huge turkey this time (just a hair under 20 lbs.), so it may come down to which vessel it fits better in. We're also not hosting the dinner (I'm just cooking the bird and transporting it to a friend's house a half-hour away), so I probably won't mind sitting and minding the kettle with a beer or two to keep me company.
 
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I have done turkeys on my WSM but never on the Performer and I plan on trying them on my Performer this year so I can do the higher temp. Hopefully it all turns out good.
 
Little hint, if your concerned about doing a direct high heat cook in the WSM with no water pan and the bird in a pan and worrying if the veggies will get burned in the bottom of the pan. Use two disposable pans together and some chicken broth in the bottom of the top pan with the veggies and your good to go.
 
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No experience with turkeys.
But with chicken I'm changing my mind. My chicken cooks better in WSM w/o waterpan @350F for 1 hour.
Or w/pizzastone @250F for 2 hours (a little bit dryer but still juicy)
I need to practice more
 
Rich Dahl said:
Little hint, if your concerned about doing a direct high heat cook in the WSM with no water pan and the bird in a pan and worrying if the veggies will get burned in the bottom of the pan. Use two disposable pans together and some chicken broth in the bottom of the top pan with the veggies and your good to go.
Click to expand...

I think that's a good tip, Rich. The bird will be just 12-14#, so it's not too big for the WSM, and as several have pointed out, it's easier to maintain temp in the WSM (provided you get it going good in the first place). I don't like the idea of having to open the lid every half hour to add fuel, so I think it's gonna be the WSM, no water pan, in double foil pans with veggies and broth.

Jeff
 
J Hasselberger said:
I think that's a good tip, Rich. The bird will be just 12-14#, so it's not too big for the WSM, and as several have pointed out, it's easier to maintain temp in the WSM (provided you get it going good in the first place). I don't like the idea of having to open the lid every half hour to add fuel, so I think it's gonna be the WSM, no water pan, in double foil pans with veggies and broth.

Jeff
Click to expand...

I think im going to start my cook the same way. I may or may not add the water pan during the cook if the bottom pan/veggies are burning.
 
Since it's just the wife and I, I'm just doing a breast. I'm still planning on using the 18" WSM for the bird. My plan is to put it in an aluminum pan with chicken broth, carrots, celery, and onions. Next I'll lay the bird on top of that. I'm going to use just a bit of apple and pecan wood for a lite smoke.
My big concern is with just the breast I don't have the giblets to put in with the vegetables for that amazing gravy.
My 18" will have the twice baked potatoes and green beans. The Performer will have some stuffing and the pumpkin pie, and the Spirit is going to be the bread baker.
Nothing will be cooked inside.
 
I am using the kettle with a rotisserie this year. I have cooked chicken, rib eye roasts and leg of lamb on the rotisserie with great results. Something about the even heat and self basting that yields great results. With a drip pan you can even make gravy. Mmmmmmmmmm............
 
Since I do a higher heat bird for crispy skin, I like the 22" kettle better. Have to watch it more, but that's alright.
 
The 15.5 lb bird ended up in the kettle. The lovely Janis bought a disposable roasting pan that had a nice rigid wire frame, which seemed like a good idea, but it didn't fit in the 18.5 WSM. I put some celery stalks, carrots, a chopped onion and some chicken broth in the pan and started the bird breast down for about an hour and a half, the flipped it over for the remainder. It seemed like the thigh was gonna get to 170 before the breast got to 160, but the breast caught up at the end. Only took about 3 hours total, which surprised me. Since it was done earlier than schedule, it rested for longer than planned (almost an hour), but that worked out very well. There was very little liquid on the cutting board and I put the serving platter with turkey into a 325 oven for just about 5-10 minutes and everything heated up nicely.

This video from the culinary institute made the carving job super easy. I've always struggled with getting the thigh off in one piece and separating the drumstick neatly. This video has the solution:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=939uGzs484M

Hope everyone had a great day with friends and family and that your turkey was the best ever. Thanks for all your help.

Jeff
 
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