Frozen Turkeys....

[medic 82]

Hi Everyone,

Ok, here's the deal: I was just asked by a close friend to do some pulled pork for their daughter's college graduation party. They are expecting 100 people, no problem.

They have asked me to also prepare (4) frozen turkeys they have as well. They are 'all ready smoked' (per the label) and are around 20# birds.

I usually run my pit around 250 and I am not worried at all about the pork shoulders, but the birds concern me a little. I've not done any 20# birds so I'm not sure how long per lb @ 250 I should expect these critters to take.

Any ideas, thoughts, suggestions, 'rules-of-thumb', etc? Thanks everyone.

Mike

 

[caveman]

If you are smoking them by temp, you want to either place your themo in the thigh meat & pull it at 165° or the breast @ 170° with a #20 bird on the smoker only, between 6 - 12 hours, depending on smoke temp. There is a reference to Turkeys here: http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-turkey.html But if they want crispier skin, I would smoke it at a higher temp, oh around 300° - 325ish. Just pull it based on the thermo temp & assure them that the bird is properly cooked at the meat may very well look pink from the smoke. Also look at this link as they talk about the size of bird you're inquiring about. Good luck. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ghlight=turkey

 

[smoke 2 geaux]

Are they fully or partially cooked, or just marinated with some kind of smoke flavoring?

 

[medic 82]

It says they are fully cooked- The label is somewhat scarce of info (these birds are a gift from my friend's employer - a bird processing facility)

So, what I'm trying to determine is should I spatchcock these guys and if so, about how long would you guesstimate it will take them (pit at 250)?

Thanks as always, everyone- you're the best!

Mike

 

[bmudd14474]

I would cut it in half so that your only doing 10lb halves or completely butcher it down to individual pieces. This way you can stagger what is going on the smoker so that it all cooks evenly.