Smoking Turkey

[adrian from kc]

Hi everyone, I found an awesome deal on a turkey yesterday, and I would like to smoke it next weekend. One problem though, it is a 17 pound bird. This makes me concerned about danger zone issues. My idea was to cut the turkey in half, and smoke both halves at the same time. Do any of you see why this wouldn't work? By the way, I'll be using my old electric ECB water smoker that I have modified to burn charcoal in, thinking of using hickory for smoke, Adrian.

 

[wntrlnd]

You are on the right track, Adrian.   By the way, welcome to the forum!  (if you haven't already, be sure to visit the New Members section and post an introduction.  This is a very welcoming forum!)

I'm cooking my first turkey this weekend, too.  Using the Search Feature at the top of this page, I found a lot of previous posts on Splatchcocking turkeys.  I saw a couple posts where it looked like the turkeys had been quartered. 

Cutting it up is probably the best way to get through the danger zone quickly enough, as you already noted. 

While you are waiting for a more definitive answer, try searching out some previous turkey threads.  If you're like me, a lot of the time you can find answers to questions you hadn't even thought of yet.  Lol!

Good luck with your bird! 

 

[SmokinAl]

You are right to be concerned with the 40-104 rule. The only way you can do a bird that size safely is to spatchcock it. There are several threads on this here & utube has several videos showing you how to do it. It's basically cutting out the backbone & breaking the ribcage so the bird will lay flat. Good luck & let us know how it turns out with Q-view of course.

 

[chef willie]

Used to smoke a lot of turkeys in my old ECB with great results so you should have a great time. Just split that buzzard in two and enjoy the ride.