I'm just so happy with how this bird came out. It's a special one. It's the last of the batch that our son and his wife raised last year. This summer they are in the midst of moving due to a promotion and there will be no more home raised birds for the foreseeable future.
I'll state first that I started with a great 18 ½ lb bird. They're grown in a turkey tractor that was moved daily around the horse pasture to give them all of the things that turkeys pick out of the grass to eat.
I like to believe I did it justice. I brined it overnight and then smoked on my WSM for four hours at temps starting about 245° and rising over a four hour period to 277°. I only adjusted the vents once at three hours to moderate temps. (This was with a foiled and otherwise dry water pan.) I really love how the WSM can hold temperature w/out constant fiddling.
I used Mesquite lump with Box Elder, Oak, Cherry and a little Black Walnut for smoking wood.
A turkey this size is just about a perfect fit in the WSM, not like the 26 pounder I had to stand on its head.
The results:
It tastes every bit as good as it looks.
I'll state first that I started with a great 18 ½ lb bird. They're grown in a turkey tractor that was moved daily around the horse pasture to give them all of the things that turkeys pick out of the grass to eat.
I like to believe I did it justice. I brined it overnight and then smoked on my WSM for four hours at temps starting about 245° and rising over a four hour period to 277°. I only adjusted the vents once at three hours to moderate temps. (This was with a foiled and otherwise dry water pan.) I really love how the WSM can hold temperature w/out constant fiddling.
I used Mesquite lump with Box Elder, Oak, Cherry and a little Black Walnut for smoking wood.
A turkey this size is just about a perfect fit in the WSM, not like the 26 pounder I had to stand on its head.
The results:
It tastes every bit as good as it looks.
