17 pound turkey first smoke

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Njpmoose

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 15, 2018
7
3
Morning all, I have a 17 pound turkey to smoke today. Never smoked one before and looking for some advice on temp and a rough idea of time (so I can have it done around dinner time, I know I need to cook to temp). I was thinking 325-350 cause it’s a bigger bird on my camp chef pellet. Any help would be great. I was hoping not to spatchcock but will if it’s necessary.
 
You won’t like hearing this but I always spatchcock birds on the pellet smoker. In fact, I’ve now taken to parting out the bird and pulling when each chunk is done. I also inject and brine the night before.

If you want more smoke flavor then put the temp low for at least 30 minutes, like 160 degrees. Higher temps on a pellet smoker generate very little smoke flavor.

If you keep the bird whole I’d not go over 325.
 
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I butcher turkeys and chickens like this because I pull the breast at 157° (and hold for 1-minute) but take the dark meat to 180°ish.
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The article below is one of the best how-to for cooking a turkey I've seen.

 
Like others have said I always spatchcock turkeys. I use a mix of apple and Nicky, but I only use 3 maybe 4 chunks of wood depending on the size. They tend to pick up a lot of smoke and easy to overdue it.
 
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