Hi Everyone --
New 18.5 WSM owner here. After assembling the unit, I decided to attempt to smoke a turkey for my first cook using the recipe found at: http://virtualweberbullet.com/turkey4.html. This was a practice run for next Saturday (when we will be having Thanksgiving dinner).
The recipe called for using 1 chimney of lit coals + 1/2 chimney of unlit coals for for a 12-14 pound bird. Unfortunately, the smallest one my wife could find at the grocery store was 15.8 pounds. However, because the recipe states that the amount of charcoal used is "overkill," I decided to proceed. As a second bad variable, the day of the cook was fairly windy and extremely cold (in the 30s).
I followed the recipe by adding a full chimney of lit Kingsford into the ring, followed by a 1/2 chimney of unlit coals along with the wood chunks. I fully opened all the vents, placed the turkey on the smoker, covered it, and waited. The temperature started rising but stopped around 250 (briefly hitting 275). As I understand it, you want to aim for around 325-350 for a turkey to get crispy skin. Not surprisingly, after the 3 and 1/2 hours called for by the recipe, the Turkey was not done. I ended up leaving it on for about 5 hours before the coals started dying down. At that point, it was getting late so I finished the turkey in the oven. The meat turned out pretty good -- very juicy and with a good smoky flavor. Skin was sort of rubbery. Not a disaster by any means but still a disappointment that I wasn't able to finish it in the smoker.
Unfortunately, my wife picked up an even larger Turkey for next Saturday. I plan to correct the wind issues by cooking on my deck, which is more sheltered. However, I was hoping some of you experts could give me advice on how much charcoal to use to get the WSM hot enough to cook a larger turkey like this, or if you had any other thoughts on why I was unable to get the temperature up on my first cook.
Also, should I wait until the temperature gets into the 325 range before I put on the turkey?
Thanks in advance!
New 18.5 WSM owner here. After assembling the unit, I decided to attempt to smoke a turkey for my first cook using the recipe found at: http://virtualweberbullet.com/turkey4.html. This was a practice run for next Saturday (when we will be having Thanksgiving dinner).
The recipe called for using 1 chimney of lit coals + 1/2 chimney of unlit coals for for a 12-14 pound bird. Unfortunately, the smallest one my wife could find at the grocery store was 15.8 pounds. However, because the recipe states that the amount of charcoal used is "overkill," I decided to proceed. As a second bad variable, the day of the cook was fairly windy and extremely cold (in the 30s).
I followed the recipe by adding a full chimney of lit Kingsford into the ring, followed by a 1/2 chimney of unlit coals along with the wood chunks. I fully opened all the vents, placed the turkey on the smoker, covered it, and waited. The temperature started rising but stopped around 250 (briefly hitting 275). As I understand it, you want to aim for around 325-350 for a turkey to get crispy skin. Not surprisingly, after the 3 and 1/2 hours called for by the recipe, the Turkey was not done. I ended up leaving it on for about 5 hours before the coals started dying down. At that point, it was getting late so I finished the turkey in the oven. The meat turned out pretty good -- very juicy and with a good smoky flavor. Skin was sort of rubbery. Not a disaster by any means but still a disappointment that I wasn't able to finish it in the smoker.
Unfortunately, my wife picked up an even larger Turkey for next Saturday. I plan to correct the wind issues by cooking on my deck, which is more sheltered. However, I was hoping some of you experts could give me advice on how much charcoal to use to get the WSM hot enough to cook a larger turkey like this, or if you had any other thoughts on why I was unable to get the temperature up on my first cook.
Also, should I wait until the temperature gets into the 325 range before I put on the turkey?
Thanks in advance!
