smoking a turkey for the first time

[el gallo]

I am going to smoke a turkey as a trial run for thanksgiving. I have a 14 lbs turkey, can i half the bird to cut down on the smoke time.

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello.  The quick answer is yes you can.  It will not cut the time in half but the turkey will cook faster.  Have a read of the link below.  It's from my buddy gary s and he is talking about brisket but the concept is the same.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...r-the-misconception-of-the-1-to-1-5-hour-rule

 

[mdboatbum]

What is your plan? what kind of smoker? Temps? Prep for the bird?

As Danny said, cutting it will reduce the time, but we don't cook by time, do we?

For me, especially for the Thanksgiving bird, I like to keep it whole for the sake of presentation. It just isn't Thanksgiving without that beautiful mahogany brown bird. At 300˚-325˚ a 14 pounder should take you about 4 hours to get to 165˚ internal temp. If it's cut in half, plan on 3 hours but keep a close eye on the temperature.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[el gallo]

I just got done building my first uds so i will be using that,for temp i like to smoke a 225-250, for perp inject and rub.