Smoke a Turkey

Do a search for turkey, Grand Master Q'er ol smokin himself has a great post on brineing a bird that will knock your socks off.
To me theres no reason to use gas other than to crisp up the skin. My personal taste put your rub under the skin and then throw it away after.

How long does a 20 lb take in a smoker?

I just checked my extensive notes. You are looking at roughly 1 hour per pound at 225 and 45 minutes per pound at 250.

Being a smart (smart-assed) Arkansas hillbilly, I reckon it orta take you anywhere from 45-60 minutes per pound at 225-250 degrees F.

Put a remote temp. probe in the thigh and pull it at 170*F. It will probably reach that temp. before 16 hours.

Does this help?

Nut,

For turkey, check out this link, it's a pretty good start about Turkey in a CS.

Turkey 101

Heres a quote from 101:

quote:

According to FSIS (Food Safety Information Service) -- Whole turkeys that weigh 12 POUNDS OR LESS are the recommended size for safe smoking. A larger turkey remains in the "Danger Zone" - between 40� F and 140� F - too long.

Here's what they recommend for smoking something over 12 lb's.

quote:

If a larger turkey has been mistakenly purchased, detach the dark meat sections (leg and thigh portions) from the breast and smoke the turkey parts separately. This procedure should result in the best possible results.

I'm not sure if a 20lb'er will fit in a CS. I never did one that big in my smaller CS's, so you might check it for fit if you haven't. Make sure you have room around the sides for the heat and smoke to rise. And as big as it is, you'll have to put it on the bottom grate and that's right next to the firebox.

We had a lengthy post about times, but didn't cover a 20lb'er.

Turkey Times

About the only reason I'd finish on the grill would be to crisp up the skin, not to finish cooking. Too long on the gas grill and smoke people will tell you to worry about the propane smell.

Here's another resource with a lot of detail:

Turkey Tips and Tricks

Unless ya got a long ,tall,basketball playing turkey,it will fit in the smokette.

I tried about 21-23 lbs ,several years back, and it was fine.

Personally,I'd section the dark from white.

Quote: "If a larger turkey has been mistakenly purchased".

We raise our own turkeys. About 1/2 of them get very large. They are called "TOM" turkeys.

And, about 1/2 of them stay smallish, in the 12-14# range, they are called "HENS".

I don't think many very large turkeys, {Toms} make it into the food chain as whole birds. Most go to further processed turkey products that have become more popular in the last 20 years.

It is more effecient, labor wise, to further process the big birds; it requires the same amount of labor for big or small turkeys.

And the old laying hens, like their chicken counter-parts get sold to Cambells Soup or simular.

Anyway, we have about forty of the big rascals, 17-20#'s in our freezer we might use as a catering option.

We smoked one the other night in the FE at 180F for 10 hours, the breast hit 140F, then turned up the heat to 250F until the breast read 158F, {another 2 hours}. It was tender and moist, the best I've ever made. We consumed it ourselves.

That doesn't sound to safe though, does it? Would you recommend cutting off the thigh/leg and cooking then separatly at 250F?

Thanks, Roger

Thank you all for your input. I nerviously cooked my 20 lb bird for Mothers Day. It took about 13 hours at 250 and is the best tasting turkey I've ever bit into. I told my wife about half-way through the cook that I should take a picture of it before carving it to let you all visually see how I did. I was so excited on how it looked and smelled, I completely forgot about the picture until it was too late......I'll try to remember next time.

Thanks again,

Ed

See there, told ya so! Done before 16 hours!