Looking for some advise on turkey timing


 
Bob Hunter

Bob Hunter

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This year the timing on the bird is gonna be a bit messed up. My 14 y.o. son play ice hockey and this year we are playing in a home tournament. Usually the Thanksgiving tournaments are not much of an issue, if we are outta town we eat whatever and I smoke a bird when we get home. But this year we got scheduled a game at 12 noon on Thursday, so I'm trying to figure out which approach would be best. With a 12PM game he has to be at the rink by 11AM which means on the road to the rink at 10:30AM and we get home until roughly 2:30PM. So I think I have 3 options.
  1. Get up early and start the bird around 6:00AM the foil and hold it in a cooler until we get home. I figure the bird will be holding for 4 to 5 hours. Is this too long?
  2. Put the bird on the right at 10:30AM and pray that it doesn't finish before I get home. It's an 18lb bird and I think this is pushing the timing? I do have a Stoker which I can monitor from my phone or iPad
  3. Wait until we get home and put the bird on around 3:00PM, but this means dinner after 7:00PM, which doesnt make for a happy wife or family.

I'm in quite a quandry here, not sure which way to go. The only I do know is that the third option is not an option, in you know what I mean :)
 
Holding it for 4-5 hours seem a bit long, but maybe someone else with experience doing that can chime in. And leaving the smoker unattended would have me worried the entire time I was be gone, especially if trying to keep the temp at around 325 - 350. I tend to play it on the cautious side, so I'd go with the 7:00 dinner time.

What level does your son play at? My son is a Mite 2, so we haven't had the tournament issues.....yet.
 
I agree with Chad, your safest bet is a late dinner, just remind everyone how wonderful it will be. Grab some pizza dough, bbq sauce, few veggies and make some mini pizzas on the smoker while you wait for the turkey all while celebrating your sons victory...enjoy your favorite beverage of choice and enjoy the family....sounds like a perfect late dinner to me ;-)
 
I wouldn't want to hold it for that long. Something like pulled pork where it's basically sterile after a long cook, OK, but a turkey? No.

Unattended... I had a door flop open once during a high heat cook, temps shot up to 500ish. If I was really close I might risk it but understand if something weird happens even if there's no damage to the house, etc. the turkey's going to be charcoal. Sounds like you're a half hour away. Maybe if there's a neighbor you can call in case of trouble?

I wonder how long it would take to cook if you butterflied/spatchcocked it.
 
Thanks for the input guys, I still am not 100% sure what I'm going to do. I may go with a modified option 2. I think I can get one of his team mates dads to pick him up so I don't have to leave at 10:30. Then I will put the bird on ~ 11ish, give it time to stabilize and head over the rink about 11:30. We are 20 minutes or so from the rink. Then I will just have to split right after the game, let my wife bring him home. This gives me a 2 hour unattended window, which I am not overly worried about. My cooker runs real smooth and I never really worry about it expecially since I have a Stoker and can monitor the cook remotely. Heck I've coached hockey games while I cooked (the end of the cook) briskets and butts on plenty of times. My biggest worry is the bird finishing early, but there's no way it will finish in 2 - 2 1/2 hours so I should be good.

Chad: My son plays Bantam (14U) AA, he's been playing since he was 5. My daughter also plays, she is a Peewee 1, and plays Goalie on a co-ed team. This is actually the first time in 7 years I haven't coached. Let me tell you, I am going a bit buggy sitting in the stands.
 
Ahh, having a stoker changes things. Barring a power outage, you should probably be okay starting just before leaving and getting back asap to check on things. Good luck on the turkey, take some pics!

This is my sons second year, he started at 5 too but with Bandy. The Mite level is pretty inexpensive so we hope he'll go to Mite 3...but he's big for his age and he's getting quite a bit of ice time playing both Bandy and Hockey. So he'll probably have to move out of Mites next year and into Squirts: WAY more expensive level:( Since I can barely skate, I don't coach; not many skating opportunities in nearby Cerritos where I grew up.
 
I'll make sure I take some pics and report back on how things went.

I actually grew up in Arizona, no skating at all, lucky to have ice for our sodas. I picked up hockey later in life. And had enjoyed coaching, though it was a challenge coaching my son and I decided to turn it over to other coaches.
The biggest problem is the expense of playing ice hockey here in SoCal. Ice is really expensive, which drives up the costs of playing, especially at the Tier levels. But my kids love it, especially my son, so it's worth it.

Have a good Turkey day
 
I smoke my bird wrap it in heavy duty foil and bring it to my brother in law's house. Sometimes it sits in the cooler wrapped for 3 hours and is hot steaming and delicious when carved. No problem with the wait.

Happy Thanksgiving
 
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