Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Big Turkey on a WSM - Tips?

Success!

Since he was Amish-raised, we christened him, "Graber".











I brined him for 10 or so hours, and threw him on at 7 am with lots of roaring coals. The thermometer pegged quickly at 350, but soon settled at 295. I was entertaining adding more coals, but the probe said the meat temp was coming up nicely, so I let it ride.

Somehow, I defied all known laws of thermodynamics, because he was done in 3:15. I couldn't believe the probe got to 160 so quickly, but I confirmed with an instant-read pen thermometer, and pulled the beast to rest for 20 min. I had been planning for a 5+ hour smoke, so we had to rush like heck to get the rest of the meal turned-out.

The virtual bullet web board claimed they needed 350 degrees and 3 hours to do a 12 lb . bird, so I have no idea how I did one more than twice as heavy, in the same time, at a lower temp.

Rather than ponder this quandary, we just ate the hell out of him. Even the vegetarians admitted 'twas the best smelling turkey they've ever been around. Call me a convert - I'll never do an oven bird again if I'm not forced to.

Thanks for the tips, all.

FC