First Turkey this Morning on my week-old 22.5


 
C

ChaseW

TVWBB Member
Well I did well with some chickens and ribs last week so decided to cook a turkey this morning.

The bird was WAY TOO big. It was nearly 20 pounds. I got the grill fired around 9 and put the bird on about 9:50. I've been battling temps so far. It's been swinging from 300-390 up and down. That is mainly due to the fact that it is snowing with 20 mph winds right now. (in SC...craziness). So, I'm just trying to keep it between 325 and 380. It will probably take 4-6 hours, I'm not sure. I'm just going to let it roll til it hits temp according to my maverick. I'll update as I go. Here are some preliminary pics. I injected with a butter, garlic, worcestershire, brown sugar, oregeno, lemon juice mix. I rubbed with some webers Chicken and rib rub and butter. This is just a side turkey, my mother in law is cooking family turkey so if its a disaster noone will be harmed. lol. I plan on freezing some of this one and using rest for sandwiches the next week.
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Too big?!?! No such thing! LOL

Looks great!

I see you have your helper there. That's great to get the helper to be such a big part of the big day!
 
It has been frozen at 333 degrees for the last 30-45 minutes. My vents are: one facing wind is closed, other two are about 33% open. top fully open. Turkey is at 86 and climbing. I'm going to try hard not to look at the bird until it hits temp where I placed the probe and I'll lift lid and check in a bunch of spots.

Question: I placed the probe in the breast, should I check for temperature when it hits 165 or 170 in breast?
 
I'd start at 160*F in several places in the breast to get a feel for where I am. The temp will continue to rise several degrees once you remove it (carry over) so don't over do it.

Also ck the inside of the thigh looking for 170-175*F to let it carry over to 175-180*F.

Per Butterball "Cook the turkey to internal temperatures of 175° F to 180° F in the thigh and 165° F in the breast"

When checking, I try not to poke the skin.
 
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Dwain Pannell said:
I'd start at 160*F in several places in the breast to get a feel for where I am. The temp will continue to rise several degrees (carry over) so don't over do it.

Also ck the inside of the thigh looking for 170-175*F to let it carry over to 175-180*F.

Per Butterball "Cook the turkey to internal temperatures of 175° F to 180° F in the thigh and 165° F in the breast"

When checking, I try not to poke the skin.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking. I have the Maverick alerting me at 160 in the breast I have the probe in. I'll check temps after that. It's killing me not to open lid and look but I'm determined not to until that alarm goes off.

I've been sitting at 325 top grate temp for the last 30-45 minutes. It's remarkable how steady this WSM holds even in the snow and 25 mph winds in 30-35 degree temps with absolutely no wind break. The WSM is fully exposed to wind with only a canopy over it to shield the snow and sleet mix. It's holding 325-333 solid. I've made one minor adjustment to a vent in the last hour and a half. However, I can tell it is using up a good bit of fuel. I cracked door to peak at coals and they are pretty spent after 2 and a half hours of trying to hold that temp in that weather. I may have to add a few more towards the end. If I were cooking at 225-250 it wouldn't be as spent I don't think.

Love this thing!
 
Chase,
This is just my opinion, you can lift the lid straight up, and take a quick peek if you want to. :)
Some folks are fanatical about not lifting the lid, ever, I am not one of them since everything is back to normal in a very short time.
 
Temp hit 160 in one breast at 2 hrs 40 minutes. Checked some other spots and was hitting 150-155 in some spots. So I'll let it go a little bit. Looks and smells great!
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Pulled Turkey at 3.5 hours. I was expected 4+. It's resting now on counter before cutting. I'll post some sliced pictures after cutting. WSM is sitting at 365 after taking turkey off. I'm going to let it sit and see how long it keeps above 325. It's been 4.5 hours so far in high wind and low temps. It's only my second cook so I'm interested to see how long it will go.
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Cute little duder with the injector! :)

In the future, you'll want to shelter that cooker from the wind...it just makes things that much easier. But nice looking result, hope you enjoy it! :wsm:
 
ChaseW said:
Pulled Turkey at 3.5 hours. I was expected 4+. It's resting now on counter before cutting. I'll post some sliced pictures after cutting. WSM is sitting at 365 after taking turkey off. I'm going to let it sit and see how long it keeps above 325. It's been 4.5 hours so far in high wind and low temps. It's only my second cook so I'm interested to see how long it will go.
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Beautiful results. Well done sir. ...and only 9.5 min per lb!

I think it cooked quicker than you expected due to your high 380+*F temps early on. Once your cooker is seasoned over a year of cooking it will calm down. You won't be able to hit those high temps without a trick or two up your sleeve next Thanksgiving.

As an example, I'll open the vents on my 22.5" 100% with a dry pan and still won't get above 300*F. I have to offset the lid to create more chimney effect.
 
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Chase -- that bird looks awesome. Congrats! What did you use as your charcoal set-up? As in - type/amount unlit/lit/smoke wood
 
Chris Allingham said:
Cute little duder with the injector! :)

In the future, you'll want to shelter that cooker from the wind...it just makes things that much easier. But nice looking result, hope you enjoy it! :wsm:
Click to expand...

Thanks Chris, Yeah I thought about sheltering it but since it wasn't our primary turkey and it was my second cook, I wanted to see how hard/easy temp control would be at a worst case scenario type setup. In SC, snowing, 30 mph wind, 34 degrees is about as worst case as it gets. lol I was happy with how well it settled into 330 range after an hour or so.
 
Chad Bman said:
Chase -- that bird looks awesome. Congrats! What did you use as your charcoal set-up? As in - type/amount unlit/lit/smoke wood
Click to expand...

I used Kingsford blue bag, I filled the ring all the way up to the point of overflowing, I then used tongs to fill a chimney with some from the pile, lit in chimney then poured over unlit. I added 3 good size chunks of apple wood.

It's been 5 hours and it's still cruising at 350 on that setup with no coal addition. I had to play with vents early on but they are: 1 closed, 1 50% then 1 open. The closed one is facing the wind.
 
ChaseW said:
Yeah I thought about sheltering it but since it wasn't our primary turkey and it was my second cook, I wanted to see how hard/easy temp control would be at a worst case scenario type setup.
Click to expand...
Oh, I see. You're a glutton for punishment. ;) Good job!
 
Few more pics of finished product. It is so good. A little dry in the top of the breasts but very juicy once you cut into it. The dark meat seemed to absorb more smoke flavor. I'm very happy with my first attempt.
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