Smoked turkey

[Saweb]

Hi all,
I'm planning on smoking 2, 12 pound turkeys for Thanksgiving. I'm using a PitBoss pellet smoker. I've read that in general plan to smoke at 225 for 30 minutes per pound. I've not doubled up my meats, so would I plan to smoke 2 birds for a total of 12 hours? I'm planning on wet brining them both. Thanks in advance!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Give or take an hour. 1 Turkey or 2, will take the same as one. In this case 6-7 hours. Spatchcocking the birds speeds the cooking...JJ

 

[Saweb]

Give or take an hour. 1 Turkey or 2, will take the same as one. In this case 6-7 hours. Spatchcocking the birds speeds the cooking...JJ

JJ thanks for setting me straight, much appreciated!!

 

[radioguy]

Welcome to SMF!!
Good call on brining. Search for slaughterhouse or roadside brine in the poultry section. Both are excellent. Have a great Thanksgiving!

RG

 

[gmc2003]

The above posts have you covered. However I hope your not planning on crispy skin at 225*. You'll need a little added heat booster to get the skin crispy. The first slice with crispy skin is my wifes favorite.

Chris

 

[Saweb]

Welcome to SMF!!
Good call on brining. Search for slaughterhouse or roadside brine in the poultry section. Both are excellent. Have a great Thanksgiving!

RG

RG thank you! Thanks for the brine info, Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Saweb]

The above posts have you covered. However I hope your not planning on crispy skin at 225*. You'll need a little added heat booster to get the skin crispy. The first slice with crispy skin is my wifes favorite.

Chris

Chris, thanks. I was planning on cranking the temp to 400 once the internal bird temp was 145-150. Just a bit fearful of starting the smoke at 300....?
Shawn

 

[gmc2003]

Chris, thanks. I was planning on cranking the temp to 400 once the internal bird temp was 145-150. Just a bit fearful of starting the smoke at 300....?
Shawn

Shawn, don't worry about smoking poultry at 300* plus. I usually smoke poultry at a minimum 325*. To much smoke can ruin the turkey quickly(been there - done that). Beef and pork can handle more smoke then poultry and fish. If you like a heavy smoke profile then go for low and slow. Just keep an eye on the final temp. You may want to try your process out on a whole chicken to see how it works. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. We all are here to learn.

Chris