19 lb. turkey

I was just reading other posts about smoking turkeys. Is it safe to cook a bird that size in a smoker? If it fits I would prefer to cook it whole, seems like a lot less work. Any thoughts?

Garner,
No matter how you prep your bird, you can make a very nice presentation by cutting the turkey into sections, legs, thighs, wings and breasts prior to cooking. When cooking probe the breast and thighs. Pull the breast and wings at 160° and the thighs and legs at 165°. If cooking in the 275° - 300° the carryover should take the temps up another 5° resulting in a very desirable end product. If you have doubts try a smaller bird for a tester. Vacuum seal it and freeze for later use.

I agree that the turkey may be too large for a smoker that only goes up to 250 or 300. I cooked a large one last thanksgiving but it was in my FEC 100, which went up higher. I think I Cooked it around 360 or so.

I would recommend a 14 pound and under.

I think a turkey would present well butterflyed with bacon draped over the top. But that's just the relationship I have with bacon.

quote:

Originally posted by Garner:
I was just reading other posts about smoking turkeys. Is it safe to cook a bird that size in a smoker? If it fits I would prefer to cook it whole, seems like a lot less work. Any thoughts?

The biggest issue you will have is the finish temp of the two kinds/colors of meat. While Mr
T likes a little lower finish temp on dark meat then I do. I look for around 175* in the inner thigh area and 160* in the breast. The bigger the turkey the harder it is to make this happen in a whole bird.

The other issue you may have is gettin' that dang bird to fit into the smoker without having the internal temp probe from coming into contact with the bird.

I have found that 13-14# birds work better, but hey, if you already have it I'd go ahead and give it a try. If you cook at 300*, you'll probably see a temp some where in the 265-80* range on the display so don't let this freak you out. It is just a big bird.

Good luck!

Bigger birds don't mean better birds. If I want one that size, I smoke two.

In the elite you'll have problem putting it in, like Cal said, but you'll also have problems with the air circulating (or actually not) and thus the smoke and heat won't be even.

I've heard it done, but it's pushing the envelope.

Looked at the post and decided to cut the legs and thighs off and cook them separately. Should cook quite a bit faster that way. I am cooking it to stock my freezer so presentation isn't a concern on this one. Thanks to everyone for your input.

I did a 22lb two years ago at 300 in my SM025. It took 3hrs 40 min, with a 24hr brine. Turned out great. I am going a tad smaller this year with a 19lb bird. 22 was tight and I had to turn the bird just right to keep it away from the temp probe. This 19er will be tight too. I don't see any danger with a large bird, especially if you preheat the smoker. I agree it is definitely pushing the limits of the smoker and I think in the future I am going to stay down in the 12-15# range.

The upside of doing stuff that is almost too big is that you will want to get a bigger Cookshack, and that is always a good idea.