How many...

[marvin]

will one turkey (say 12lb.) feed? Just found out today the number of people eating here just went up dramatically ( 27 now to be exact). So my question is do I need to smoke 2-10lb. turkeys, 1-15lb. Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.

 

[placebo]

How bout 2-15lb'ers! Gotta have leftovers for turkey sammich's yaknow.

 

[alx]

1/2 pound of turkey per person is prolly minimum with fixins.Kids would eat less.Lots of folk would recommend more if adults,big eaters-closer to a pound....Of course you have to figure the bones make up some of the weight in the turkey....Leftovers are the best part to me...

Placebo is right on...IMHO

 

[alblancher]

What else you cooking? Seems to me that a 12lb bird will be pretty small for 27 turkey lovers but if you have a nice smoked ham and a bunch of great sides you may get by with it. You can always pick up a turkey breast and use that to supplement the meal if you are not interested in another whole bird. I would think that if you get another bird of similar size your smoke time will be a bit longer but atleast you wont have them coming off at different times. Make up your mind quick because if you are getting another frozen bird you are going to run out of time to thaw it.

Don't forget the Q-view if it's qoing in the smoker!

Al

 

[marvin]

worked it out to where all my household is responsible for is the turkey. Everyone that is coming is bringing something. I'm guessing, i'll do 2-12lb. or so? Should I smoke them separately (I have an MES) so I don't dry them out due to the extended smoking time, or will they be alright going together? Thanks again for the help.

P.S. I did do a trial run with a turkey a couple of weeks ago and it took 4 1/2 hrs. However we are expecting temps to be a bit cooler here on Turkey day (upper 40's-low 50's).

 

[rivet]

With poultry- whole bird- the Rivet-Rule-O'-Thumb is 50% is bone and thus not edible.

For 27 people at 1/3 to 1/2 LB per person you are looking at 14 LBS of meat, near 30 LBS of whole turkeys.

Recommend three 10 to 12 pounders over two 15 pounders cause your cooking times will be less. Less meat-mass, less cooking time.

You've got yourself a challenge, buddy, hang in there
cause you can make it happen really well! Keep us posted and know there is someone here who can give you advice as you cook....just post, you'll get results.

Good luck to you and congratulations on the vote of confidence from your eaters!

 

[marvin]

I'm leaning a little more towards doing two 15lb. birds with that new found knowledge, though I'm not opposed to doing three. Knowing that though, should I cook them at the same time, would the extended cooking time dry them out? or would it be easier to just do one the night before? We aren't actually eating until 5:00pm so I have a fair amount of time to work with.

And yet again. Thank you.

 

[alblancher]

I would cover my backside and put at least one bird in the oven. Not everyone will appreciate the smoked bird especially if that is all there is. I always have a bit of the traditional when I entertain just for that reason. If you do three birds put one in the oven, I would hate for you to have something go wrong with the smoke and have everyone sitting around on Thanksgiving day waiting to eat.

 

[smokingohiobutcher]

The official serving size from the major turkey companies is 1.5 pounds of bird per person, if it is the main-dish meat. If serving another meat item then serve .75 pounds per person.

Trust me, I've answered this question for the last 2 weeks!

Later SOB

 

[alx]

That would be raw with the bone..right.Pre-cooked.Ypu got some big eaters if they are eating 1.5 pounds of pure turkey meat and fixins...

 

[smokingohiobutcher]

You are correct sir!

 

[alx]

That makes alot of sense SOB.Do you figure 1/2 the bird is bone anyway???