Advice: First Time Smoking Turkey

[TheGreatVolare]

Hey folks!

This is my first time smoking a turkey and I'm noticing something alarming. I'm cooking a 13 lb. bird keeping the temp between 225-240f. I have a probe in the turkey breast and I'm seeing the temperature rising rapidly. The bird has been cooking for about 2 hours now and it's already up to 158f. Since inserting the probe about an hour ago, I've seen the turkey temp spike from 137 to 158. I've been watching my smoker temp and it's been holding at 231 since I inserted the probe.

I'm using a recipe from Jeff Phillips' book and planned for the cooking to be finished in closer to 6.5 hours. It seems like at this rate the bird will be finished hours before I was expecting it to be done! Is this something to be concerned about and what should I do? Thanks for the advice!

 

[noboundaries]

Could be probe placement. Or it could be the bird is cooking along fine. I've never had a bird take 6.5 hours. Even at 275F, I've had 18 lb birds done in 4 to 4.5 hours.

Check the thigh temp. That's when I determine a bird is done for safety reasons.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Seems like it should have been half done Or 3/4 done at least. Oven is about 15 minutes per pound at 325 Give or take a few ..
250 adds an hour.