Times for Turkey Pieces Not Whole Bird

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floridarandy

Newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2012
29
11
Sarasota, Florida
Smokey Joe barrel smoker using lump charcoal & apple wood.  DW has requested two bone in turkey breasts (pre-split @ 3 lbs each) and 1/2 turkey bone-in split in half down the middle @ 6.5 lbs (breast, wing, and thigh).  I'm concerned that smaller individual pieces may cook faster than on whole bird.  Whole bird cooking times of 30-35 mintues at 235 degrees would mean 90 minutes on the small breasts and about 3 hours on the 1/2 bird.


 

Also, what type of weight loss would you expect for each piece so I can be sure we have enough food.


 

What say you all?



Thanks



Randy in Florida
 
Last edited:
Also, what type of weight loss would you expect for each piece so I can be sure we have enough food.

[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Randy, morning....  Cook twice as much as you think you need....  Left-overs you know.....    Dave[/font]
 
IMHO , it'll be a swim in a Brine , Cut  , Smoke at 275* to 300* until IT is 165* Even if it is a -one piece at a time- thingy, it's still a fast cook , what , you can't drink beer and tell the little Lady you gotta watch the bird - for 3 hrs
ROTF.gif


Have fun and...
 
I've got (2) 14# birds I'm wanting to smoke. They're already thawing in cold water since yesterday until tonight, then they go into the brine until Thursday morning. Going to inject with cajun butter while the smoker is getting primed.

My question is this. What do you think of halving those birds before I put them in the smoker? Wouldn't this give better smoke or would it be overkill?

This is my dual modified ECB. The legs on the top smoker slide in the top of the bottom smoker and keep stabilized. It has a decent and accurate thermometer and drilled holes in the top lid that I can adjust the heat with a slider vent that I mounted using an old disc brake shim.

 
David, morning.... splitting the birds will reduce the cooking time and add smoke uniformly....  I do it often, depending on the size of the bird..  If you take the back bone and breast bone out, put them in the smoker for nibbles during the smoke... I put the neck, gizzard etc. in the smoker to have something to eat at about hour 3....   Dave
 
David, morning.... splitting the birds will reduce the cooking time and add smoke uniformly....  I do it often, depending on the size of the bird..  If you take the back bone and breast bone out, put them in the smoker for nibbles during the smoke... I put the neck, gizzard etc. in the smoker to have something to eat at about hour 3....   Dave
Thanks David! I'm thinking too that I might be able to get all four halves on the grill, rather than stacked with a grate just underneath the top one. I loved the "nibbles" idea! I've always claimed that neck and gizzard as pre-turkey dinner morsels. YUM-O! I'm smoking with apple chunks this year. Previously I used Pecan but decided to do something different. I thought about tossing in a few whole sausages as well mid-way through the process.
 
David, morning.... splitting the birds will reduce the cooking time and add smoke uniformly....  I do it often, depending on the size of the bird..  If you take the back bone and breast bone out, put them in the smoker for nibbles during the smoke... I put the neck, gizzard etc. in the smoker to have something to eat at about hour 3....   Dave
David - please confirm that smoking time is reduced because weight is reduced.  i want to be sure my 30/lb at 235 degrees is still correct....just shorter because the pieces weigh less than the whole.

Thanks

Randy
 
please confirm that smoking time is reduced because weight is reduced.  i want to be sure my 30/lb at 235 degrees is still correct....just shorter because the pieces weigh less than the whole.

Randy, Smoking time should be reduced because smoke and heat is from all sides of the bird.... A whole bird, the cavity does not get as hot as the outside... the cavity is basically a "dead air zone" with no circulation....  Make sense ??
 
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