Kettle Turkey


 
K

Kevin L (NKY)

TVWBB Diamond Member
I have never done a Kettle turkey and would love to learn tips from the pros.
It would be a 12-14 lb bird and I would brine it, after that what are your tips and experiences to get a nice browm moist bird? How muck coal & wood is needed those kind of things also.

Thanks for all your help.
Kevin
 
Are you going to put the turkey down on the coal grate so that you can close the lid? Or do you have another way of getting the necessary clearance?

Last Thanksgiving I got good results when I salted the turkey meat ahead of time because it wasn't practical to brine it. I put lots of herb butter between the skin and meat and also basted occasionally with butter after it started to brown.
 
Key things are not to use too much fuel and not too big of a bird. I would rather add coals 1/2 way thru the cook because too hot makes the bird too dark. i hate black bbq!
 
Thanks for the inputs I am looking forward to doing as soon as I finish rehabing my performer I got off of CL. I wanted to keep the size down so it would I fit and cook evenly. How much coal to use and how much chunk wood? And dose the time equate to about the same as in the house oven?
Thanks again.
Kevin
 
I did a 14 lb one at thanksgiving and it fit no problem. I put a bank of unlit on each side and used 6-8 lit on each side. No wood and I had just the right amount of smoke flavor we wanted. If I recall it was done in 4 hours or so
 
I do several turkeys in my 22” kettle every year. Brine if you can, it always helps. A friend gave me this guide several years ago and it works very well. It assumes your using briquettes but I’ve eyeballed it using lump as well.

Start with 50, when they are ready divide in ½ and spread out on each side.

I've done birds up to the mid-20 lbs w/the 22" kettle.
Every hour add 8 to each side
Cook 11 minutes per pound (not-stuffed), 15 min/Lb. if stuffed.
Run with bottom and top vents wide open

Put an aluminum tray below the bird to catch drippings and make clean up easier. It also works to divide the briquettes if you don’t have the trays.

I've fit birds that weighed in the mid-20's on a 22" kettle. No need to stand them up.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Brad Olson:
Are you going to put the turkey down on the coal grate so that you can close the lid? Or do you have another way of getting the necessary clearance? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

My bad...for some reason I was thinking that Kevin's going to be doing a beer can turkey!
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Some photos of a turkey done back for x-mass. Please ignore the dirty table

Just started, I use a herb and butter paste to add flavor to the skin. It always looks horrid when cooking but taste great.




getting there


and done


once you try it this way I'll bet you nevre go back to cooking one in an oven.
 
Definitely start out low with the coals and add later if needed. A few years ago at Thanksgiving I put a 15# bird on the kettle after brining overnight. Used too many coals on both sides (indirect) - and within 45 minutes the skin was black. I kept cooking until done and after resting I removed the unsightly skin and the meat tasted great. It was my first time using a brine and I think the combination of sugar in the brine and too high a heat did the damage to the skin. But again, it was one of the tastiest birds I've cooked. Since then, I bought the WSM and prefer that for turkey, but either way is good.
 
The only time I ever did a turkey on my Performer, I used the beer-can method with the turkey down on the charcoal grate, between the two charcoal baskets. Coupled with some wood for smoke (think I used hickory, but can't remember), it turned out phenomenal. I think I must've foiled the inside wall of both charcoal baskets to prevent too much exposure to direct heat. The hinged flaps on the Performer grill work great for adding charcoal partway through any cook. After the skin browned up nicely, I foiled the turkey loosely to prevent the skin getting too dark.

YUMYUMYUM.
 
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