Split the turkey?

[natdiamond]

I've always used my electric smoker for turkeys with the water pan, brined with 1 lb salt 1/2 bottle of italian dressing and 3 or 4 sliced lemons in a 5 gal bucket with enough water to cover. Then when I smoke it I wrap it in 2 layers of cheesecloth and baste it with a mix of honey beer and chicken broth and use cherrywood for smoke. And I always cook turkey breast side down so the juices run into the breast (EVEN IN THE OVEN). It's not as pretty as breast side up, but the breasts are always moist and I always carve it up in the kitchen anyways.
My electric burner is out AGAIN, so I'll be smoking it on my offset smoker for the first time. I recently saw online a guy who split his turkey and smoked it.
Does anybody have any pros or cons to this?

 

[hoser]

Hi Nat, and first of all, welcome to the forum.
Lots of knowledgeable folks here who are always willing to help out if you need it, or just listen if you don't.

Re: your turkey...I may be that guy you're referring to...smoked a bird a couple months back that I had to split, simply because it would not fit in my gosm after I "leapfrogged" it. As long as you brine it, and baste as you always would it should be just fine. The plus is, I was able to get it on the table 3 hours after it went in. Here's a link.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...t=leaping+frog

Good luck with your bird!

 

[mballi3011]

Ye now that is an interesting way of smoking a turkey. It look funny too but it is the end results that we are look for. You said that the leggs got alittle dried out so could you just leave the bacon on during the whole smoke to cure that maybe. Give it a shot Nat and get back with us ok?