First Turkey on 14.5 wsm : trials and tribulations.

[ChrisInhove]

I did my first smoked turkey yesterday on the small smokey mountain. I used an approximation of the Apple brined recipe, and a small chunk of cherrywood .

I have previously found that this WSM is really very easy to maintain at low and slow cooking temperatures, but I really struggled to hold 350° for this recipe. I did use the traditional means of lighting using a Weber chimney starter, and filled the charcoal chamber with burning briquettes.

The temperature quickly rose with the door off but I struggled to keep it at that temperature using the vents only. I ended up propping a jar the door for a while then hanging on the handle bolt of the lid rim. Then as the briquettes burnt away at the higher temperature, the internal temperature dropped again so I had to feed it with further lit briquettes .

All in the rain, obviously !

It was certainly done after just over 2 1/2 hours. It was delicious and between us and our guests virtually the whole bird disappeared, after seconds and thirds !

When carving it was clear that parts the bird were done more than others, varying both between the breast meat and the thigh meat, but also from one side to the to the other depending on its proximity to the door which was variously opened or propped ajar during the cook . None was under done, however, and all very tasty .

The questions now in my mind are 1) when can I do this again ! but 2) is the small WSM suitable for this recipe at all ?

We don't eat the turkey skin so it doesn't need to be crisp, so would I be better off going for the low and slow longer cook, or even the gas grill with rotisserie and smoker box ?

Alternatively does anyone have any advice about maintaining the higher temperature on the small WSM ?

Did I mention how delicious the smoked turkey was ?

Thank you , guys - what a great forum this is!

 

[JBooker]

If you don't eat the skin then just run the small WSM with the vents only and not worry about maintaining a higher temp. Especially if time isn't a concern. Also consider getting a vertical roaster so you can stand the bird upright on the lower rack.

 

[JayHeyl]

I have the WSM 18 and even a small turkey ends up closer to the edge than I'd like. The hot air is coming up the sides so the "corners" of the bird are going to be more exposed to the heat. There's not much you can do about this since any rotation would just end with the same parts near the edge. Covering the outer bits with foil might help. The vertical roaster would help a lot with this.

Based on my experience this Thanksgiving, I think the issue with maintaining the higher temperature is more to do with exhausting the air from the smoker. Rather than propping open the door, next time try setting the lid slightly ajar or propping it up with chopsticks or pencils. That will let more air out which should pull more air it at the bottom. By keeping the bottom vents all set the same you should be able to maintain fairly even burning of the coals and avoid one side being much hotter than the other. Were I to do high heat cooks like this often I'd consider adding another top vent or just drilling a big hole in the lid and plugging it with a silicone bottle stopper or a cork.

 

[JBooker]

I do have a second vent installed where the factory thermometer is. I then drilled a hole and installed a River Country thermometer in line with the handle about as far down as the factory one was.

 

[JBooker]

This was this years 20lb bird on my Spanek vertical roaster. I use a home made hook to grab the cage through the neck hole to lift it in and out of the WSM. The cage is also suppose to help cook from the inside out by propping the cavity open, and also since its metal it helps conduct heat up in to the inside. I don't know how much it helps but this 20lb bird was done at round 5 1/2 hrs, at a temp around 270 deg F.

 

[ChrisInhove]

Thanks, guys.

I did use a cheapy vertical roaster (after your advice on a previous thread - so I do listen!).

The 14.5 wsm is so easy & efficient at maintaining low temperatures, I think just low and slow (er) is the way to go. I doubt if the fab flavours will be any different, but it would make for a less fraught cook.

Merry Xmas!

 

[JBooker]

Was the bird wider than the water pan when placed upright? I think part of the temp struggle is going to be the amount of cold meat vs the volume of the smoker. The more cold meat you stuff in to a smaller area the more coal your going to have to burn to maintain temp. Then you get to the point where your smoker wont allow you to burn any more fuel due to how much air it lets in. That's where you kind of have to step in with mods. Propping the door upside down and slightly open. Cracking the lid or installing a second lid vent.

 

[Steve Petrone]

Hey Chris, I'm only a year late! I just did a turkey breast split in halves on the small WSM.
I would suggest using lump charcoal. In my cook, I heated one full chimney of lump. Dumped it and topped it with a few more pieces of lump (not knowing if one chimney would last) and added a few pieces of wood chips for flavor. The cook started at only 247*F. in 30 minutes it hit 300. 30-45 min later it hit 347. That is enough heat to make beautiful skin. At 1.5 hours the two breast halves were at 161 and 164. Done perfectly.
This was a trial run for Thanksgiving. Then I will do a spatchcocked turkey split in half. A half on each grate.
So bottom line: lump with all vents wide open. Turkey spatchcocked. Easy as can be.