Multiple Turkeys

[clint_gausnell]

Hi All! This is my first post. I have been on the Traeger train for a couple of years and just addd a Kamado Joe to the backyard.

I have a question for the Traeger/Pellet experts. I want to smoke two turkeys at the same time for Thanksgiving. I'm in Utah and it will be about 35 degrees outside. Should I plan on longer cooking times with multiple birds on the grill?

Thanks in advance.

Clint

 

[noboundaries]

Clint, welcome to SMF! Glad you're here and planning for TG.

I'm not a Traeger guy, but the real question is can your Traeger maintain your set chamber temp with two turkeys loaded? If so, two turkeys of say 12 lbs each will take just as long as one 12 lb turkey. If the Traeger is unable to maintain the desired chamber temp, it will take longer.

A Traeger guy should be along shortly.

Enjoy the forum!

Ray

 

[tallbm]

Hi there and welcome!

I'm with noboundries on this.

If the smoker can produce enough heat/energy so that the temperature is uniformly consistent for both pieces of meat then it should take the same time. Your smoker might need to work harder or have a bigger fire but it is possible.

I'm sure some major physics guys here can more accurately explain how this work but in laymen's terms:

Just know that heating two things up versus a single thing means that there are two things to absorb the heat/energy versus 1 thing (captain obvious here :) ).
If you apply just enough energy for what it takes to heat 1 turkey well that would mean that 2 turkeys would split the energy so neither would be heated up appropriately because there is a lack of energy needed to complete the job.
If enough energy is produced for 2 turkeys to cook then they will absorb the energy and cook up.
This would mean that enough energy would need to be expended to produce the heat that it takes to cook two turkeys. The smoker set temp may not change when doing 1 turkey versus 2 turkeys, but the energy needed to meet the set temp may change so that the smoker set temp can be reached while 2 turkeys are absorbing the heat/energy.

There are lots of variables that could affect the absorption and such but I hope this paints the picture without getting too far out there :)

I hope this info helps :)

 

[gary s]

Good morning and welcome to the forum from a warmish November day here in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about everything.

Good advice above as long as you maintain your desired cooking temp, doesn't matter how many birds you smoke

Gary