I'm going to be smoking a turkey this Thanksgiving, and so far, the largest poultry I've smoked has been pretty small (2 kilos/4-1/2 pound range). This bird will be in the 10-12 pound range, so I'm looking at roughly 6 hours of cook time. Unfortunately, that means the bird goes in the smoker at about 7 a.m. for an early afternoon feed. What I'm wondering about is a trick my mom used to do (pre-Reynold's cooking bags) for oven roast turkey, where she'd set the oven very high (450-475 ish) for the first half hour of cook, then drop it to 350. She swore it could take an hour or two off the overall cook time with no ill effects. Would this work for a smoke? Put it in the oven in the kitchen on high for a half an hour, then transfer it quickly to the smoker? I haven't been able to find anything about it either way, maybe it was just my mom's trick (and she wasn't smoking the bird).
Suggestions? Opinions?
Thanks!
-val
Suggestions? Opinions?
Thanks!
-val