High heat turkey in disposable pan for gravy. Still use stock water pan too or skip ?


 
Charlie L

Charlie L

TVWBB Super Fan
Did my first turkey on kettle last year and loved it:
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/bbq-food-pics/first-kettle-turkey-14006/msg140010/#msg140010

I want to do the same style cook: bird in pan on top of veggies for gravy. Veggies kept bird off bottom of pan, i can use rack this year but provide great aromatics by being cooked together.

This year i have a 22 WSM so i want to use that instead of kettle so there is more head room and a larger bird

I want to do high heat again to get the crispy skin we had last time, I'm looking to get temps over 350.

Here is the question: Dry empty foiled water pan (my normal smoker set up) or take water pan out all together?

Will the height over the coals/disposable pan the bird is in provide enough protection or will the bottom still burn without water pan below to diffuse heat?

I can use my pitmasterIQ 110 to keep temps up if i have to.
 
I did this a few weeks ago with your same setup in my 22" WSM. A 17 lb turkey in a double foil pan. I left the water bowl in the smoker and didn't bother foiling it. There wasn't anything to drip into the bowl since the turkey was in a foil pan. Turned out great and ended up with a clean bowl.
 
Todd NC said:
I did this a few weeks ago with your same setup in my 22" WSM. A 17 lb turkey in a double foil pan. I left the water bowl in the smoker and didn't bother foiling it. There wasn't anything to drip into the bowl since the turkey was in a foil pan. Turned out great and ended up with a clean bowl.
Click to expand...

LOL good catch Todd. I always foil my empty water pan for easier clean up so i always say "empty foiled" by default, but yeah no drips if bird is in a pan so no foil required for this one.

What type of heat were you able to get? how long? how much charcoal?

I'm thinking of starting with one fully lit chimney of stubbs on top of a chimney's worth of unlit.
 
Charlie,
I started with a nearly full ring and put a small chimney full of lit on top. I stock up when charcoal goes on sale so I don't fret about putting too much in. I hate having to add coals during the cook. I was able to maintain 350 for the entire cook but cracked the lid at first to get up to temp. My 17 lb bird took around 3 hours or so.
 
Question: If you put the turkey in a pan to collect the juice does that impact the ability of the smoke to penetrate the bird?
 
JohnWallet said:
Question: If you put the turkey in a pan to collect the juice does that impact the ability of the smoke to penetrate the bird?
Click to expand...

Poultry is a sponge for smoke, so you dont need much. I used one chunk of apple for a turkey last year and it was more than enough.
 
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