Smoking a 13 lb turkey Sunday

A 13Lb bird is no issue to do whole. It is only the folks that like 16Lb+ that need to split aka Spatchcock the Turkey open to cook it safely. You stated you were using a Curing Brine. If that means it contains Cure#1 or MTQ then your temp/time is even less of an issue. Your MES 30 will smoke the Bird just fine but if you want Pretty Crispy Skin you will need to smoke it at 225-250*F until the thick part of the thigh reads 160*F then place the Turkey in a 425*F Oven to crisp the skin and finish cooking to an IT of 175*F in the Thigh. This should get the Breast to 165*F and a tasty Turkey. The MES just doesn't get Hot enough to make Birds with Crisp skin...Good Luck...JJ

I have the same smoker . Brining was an excellent idea . I do mine at 275 . If you have some type of temp probe / thermometer that you can stick in it when you first put it in the smoker do that , because when you insert one in after it's cooked and then remove it you lose quite a bit of moisture from the inside . I've done them breast up , breast down , flip halfway thru the process and I never have really noticed a difference . I leave mine whole and I just do 12 , 13 , 14 pounders . I suppose anything bigger in the mes would need spatchcocking or whatever , but I think maybe there wouldn't be room in the 30" to lay a big bird open ? I'm usually just cooking one for myself and give some of it to a friend or my sister , so I don't need a big bird.