Need some turkey help!

[tddeangelo]

So...wife reserved a young fresh, never frozen turkey.

Supposed to be under 20lbs.

Finished bird clocked in at 25lbs! It's enormous!

I have a 30qt fryer I use for this and it's too small.

I have a PitBoss vertical pellet smoker. I think the bird fits in it. I think.

My thoughts are to remove legs and wings and deep fry without them, then smoke the legs/wings.

Good idea? Bad? I've fried several turkeys that came out great, but they were about 10lbs smaller and fit the fry pot.

I've never smoked one.

Wide open to ideas here!

Thanks all!

 

[DougE]

I suppose you could spatchcock the bird and cook it that way if half will fit in the fryer. If you're going to smoke a bird that big, you still need spatchcock.

 

[tallbm]

So...wife reserved a young fresh, never frozen turkey.

Supposed to be under 20lbs.

Finished bird clocked in at 25lbs! It's enormous!

I have a 30qt fryer I use for this and it's too small.

I have a PitBoss vertical pellet smoker. I think the bird fits in it. I think.

My thoughts are to remove legs and wings and deep fry without them, then smoke the legs/wings.

Good idea? Bad? I've fried several turkeys that came out great, but they were about 10lbs smaller and fit the fry pot.

I've never smoked one.

Wide open to ideas here!

Thanks all!

I think your plan is solid.

If you want amazing state fair drum and thigh flavor you can cure them with cure#1 and brine them the day before. Would be amazing smoked that way.

Also know that poultry skin turns out rubbery unless you cook at like 325F cooking temp or so. If you can't go that high then I suggest you just remove the skin before smoking and just deep fry it for crispy skin snaks and you'll be good to go. I hope this info helps!

 

[TNJAKE]

If your original plan was to fry it why not just cut it in half and do 2 cooks?

 

[tddeangelo]

I never thought of halving it.

The fryer has a thing to run through the bird to lift it out/lower it in the oil. That relies on a full, intact bird, though, as it passes through the cavity.

What's the safest way to get half a bird out of the fryer? I'd love to just halve it...that seems like a winner.

 

[tddeangelo]

I just put the bird in my fry pot. It fits with room to spare. I guess next thing would be to put it in, add water to max fill line, and see what volume that is with the bird removed.

Maybe the whole bird will work?

 

[tallbm]

I never thought of halving it.

The fryer has a thing to run through the bird to lift it out/lower it in the oil. That relies on a full, intact bird, though, as it passes through the cavity.

What's the safest way to get half a bird out of the fryer? I'd love to just halve it...that seems like a winner.

The vegetable boiling basket that came with the frying pot (if one came with it).
HOWEVER, you are going to have to SOS pad scrub the crap out of that basket to get all the fried grainy bits off but it's doable lol. Maybe soaking in water with dawn will help but just expect to do that for about 20-30 min at some point after :)