21lb turkey about how long

If the 21 lb bird cooked at the same rate per lb as your other bird that would be a 7 3/4 hrs time for this bird. BUT one must remember that no two pieces of meat will cook at the same rate.

My guess would be 6 3/4 to 7 1/4 hrs, but hey, this is only guessing. The probe will only be able to answer your question in the end. Happy thanksgiving to you.

thanks cal. no two birds will cook the same. thank goodness for cs. i have a cs025. best smoker in the world

i brined mine for 24 hours and smoked it @ 250
it was a 12 pound bird and it took 3:15 to reach 160 degrees !

Here's why you can't go on time:

http://forum.cookshack.com/eve...1001264/m/8342935996

thanks smokin on the prairie. smoked 2 more 8lb breast this morning in 2.45hrs @ 275 F. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

The label on our bird says a 21# bird should take around 5-5.5 hrs at 325*. That's unstuffed and unbrined.

Brining 101 says a brined bird will cook faster than an unbrined bird, but I couldn't find roughly how much faster in 101 or in the forum. I found this on the Virtual Weber site and thought it might help as a rough guide:

"So, if you're used to cooking an unbrined chicken or turkey for a certain length of time, start checking the internal temp about 2/3 of the way through the normal cooking time."

To make scheduling easier, we're estimating our 21# bird @ 325* will cook one hour faster than the unbrined version. So, that'd be 4-4.5 hrs (roughly what our 21# brined bird took last year at 325*). We'll watch them closely. A maverick probe will go into the traditional bird. The Cookshack probe goes into the smoked turkey breast (8 lber at 275*. Planning 2.5-3 hrs).

OK. My soul is out there. I'll let you know how our planning went when we're done.

Greetings from Alaska! Just to add more to the mix, I just smoked a 24# turkey (SM020) and it was done in four hours (yes, four). I brined it for 36 hours, so I expected it to be done in six to eight hours, but not four. I was puzzled, so I checked it in four locations (breast x2 and thigh x2), plus had my wife check it. Then, I pulled in the ultimate turkey taster/tester--my mother in law! She confirmed it, so we are done. Hope this helps others as much as these forums have been helping me. Thanks for everyone else adding their comments.

thanks to all and have a happy thanksgiving.GO GAMECOCKS BEAT CLEMSON

Well. The 8 lb breast we smoked at 275* in the smoker (turkey 101 to the T including cheesecloth) finished exactly as planned at 2.5 hrs and pulled at exactly 160* in the breast. The traditional 21 lb bird in the oven finished in 3.5 hrs ( ), and we ran it up to over 175* in the breast. It finished very fast so my wife let it run a while longer than I thought she should.

Thank goodness for brining. Both were moist and very tasty. The smoked bird got the most votes so Cookshack does it again. Actually, people loved the smoked flavor. Mild but not overpowering. 2 oz oak, 2 oz cherry.

Dinner turned out awesome. My son came over with his new finance and her family. Good times.

quote:

Greetings from Alaska! Just to add more to the mix, I just smoked a 24# turkey (SM020) and it was done in four hours (yes, four). I brined it for 36 hours, so I expected it to be done in six to eight hours, but not four. I was puzzled, so I checked it in four locations (breast x2 and thigh x2), plus had my wife check it. Then, I pulled in the ultimate turkey taster/tester--my mother in law! She confirmed it, so we are done. Hope this helps others as much as these forums have been helping me. Thanks for everyone else adding their comments.

Hard to beat Mother in law aproved! What temp did you smoke that turkey at?

I'm with ya Killer, these cs020s are one fine turkey smokers. I just have to check every time to make sure I don't get the turkey to far back and into the internal probe, not that I've learned this lesson YET on turkeys, well maybe a short teaching session, now that I think about it. Oh well!

I've done a small 13lber in 2hrs 20min, so I'm a believer too!

Hey Chef-Boy-Arnie, thanks for the note. I set the smoker at 250, but I'm not really sure it reached that temp. I put it in at 5 AM thinking it'd be ready around noon for our 2 PM dinner, and when I got up to check it at 9 (yes, I slept in...), the smoker (not the bird) read 201. I paused for a moment and thought I should check things out. My probe went on the fritz a few weeks back, so I inserted a standard meat thermometer into the breast when I put it in at 5AM. Thus, I had to open the smoker to check and saw the temp at 160...and now you know the rest of the story. After reading the post by cal, I wonder if I might have put it too close to the probe on the inside (?). It was a big turkey and I had to put it in at an angle. Regardless, I'll cook a 12 pounder Sunday, then another turkey at Christmas, both with the same brine. I think I'll change from apple to cherry, though. I have been at this for about 18 months, taking good notes and I'm learning every time I cook something. So far, everything has been awesome. Now, I gotta go and check my candied silver salmon (sorta like jerky, but even better)! Cheers!