Turkey Times

[gmebey]

Tomorrow (Saturday 11-13-09) I'm smoking my first turkey. Had great success with whole chickens and now need advice on doings turkey.

I have a Electric ECB and plan to run it at 250-275F.

How long should I plan for a 12 pound bird?

 

[beerthirty]

I've only done one turkey however it came out great. One of the things that I read on some forum was meats and poultry were better smoked hotter because there wasn't much fat to break down. I smoked at 325-350 after brining in apple juice for two days and spatchcocked it and it only took about two hours to get the breast to 165. It was the best turkey that my wife and I ever had. Very moist and tender and the skin was good and crisp. I've read that spatchcocking the birds helps to cook the bird faster. Any way the best way to tell on time is to check the temp on the thickest part of the breast and it should be between 165-170.
After pulling the bird I wrapped in foil and then wrapped in a heavy blanket and let it rest for about 45 minutes and viola! Great bird. I used a 11 lb. bird and so it wasn't real big but plenty of meat.

 

[fire it up]

For the most part poultry likes to cook at about the same rate/time.
I would figure on 3-4 hours give or take half an hour but a great thing about birds is they are a shorter smoke than things like pork and beef.
As always, temp not time but I would figure on about 4 hours myself.

 

[mballi3011]

Yea the 4 hour mark sounds like a good ESTIMATE of time. So you can plan on that but remember we smoke by temp not time.