First spatchcock turkey on egg

Smoker317

I am a rookie egg owner, I have used an offset smoker for over ten years but just recently pulled the trigger on an XL.  I brined the turkey and removed the backbone.  I went indirect heat with the turkey over a pan of apple juice.  I only used one chunk of apple wood.  For the rub I was lazy and went with TONES six pepper blend with butter.  The 13 pound fresh turkey smoked at about 300 degree dome temp for about 4 1/2 hours.  With the snow showers and wind here in central Indiana it was too cold for us to stand outside.  Well time got away from me and I noticed my maverick remote monitor saying the legs were 175.  Yal, I also forgot to foil the wing tips... LOL. 

I stuck an instant read in the breast and it was 185. 
:((    I should mention I cooked breast up.  Overall, the flavor was great, most of the breast was moist, however part of it was on the very edge of not being moist and flat out dry.

So had I not been distracted I would have pulled the bird at 163 like usual.  Regardless, I am quite happy with the egg so far.  I am so new at this point that I can name the cooks:  ribs, butt, burgers, and pizza. 

Going to do a brisket for new years party. 

stemc33

@Smoker317‌, have you calibrated your dome thermometer? 4.5 hours at 300° for a spatchcock seems like a long time. I cooked my 12lb. Spatchcock indirect in about 1.5 hours at 325° dome. Also, did you cook the turkey on the grate with apple juice in the drip pan below the grate or did you use a roasting pan? It's good to hear that most of your cook went well.

Just curious, how did your pizza turn out?

Great avatar. I've been watching Hell's Kitchen for the past few weeks. Actually been on a HK marathon. 9 seasons in the last month. Guy cracks me up.

Smoker317

I have not calibrated my thermometer, although I say 300 was pretty much spot on for the first hour or so and then the temp dipped to 200 degrees.  I shook the grate with a 90 degree tool I had as I figured I lost good airflow.  It was the last of the BGE lump in my bag and there was a lot of dust and really small pieces.  So it took another hour to get the temp back up and stabilized after spiking to 375 or so.  Is it the gauge or just a rookie egg user?  HAHA 

Should I have sifted the lump before putting in the egg? 

I saw another thread today about how good FOGO lump is, I put it on my wishlist on Amazon to see when the price drops back down.

And I cooked on grate that set on three firebrick stones to give me enough elevation to set the pan of juice under the grate. The grate was about 3/4 or so I guess above the lip of bottom portion of the egg.

dldawes1

Smoker317 ..Welcome to the eggdiction !!!

I just did my 1st spatch turkey Thursday, so I am not much help for you on your questions. I went 400* raised direct for 90 minutes on a 12# turkey.

I also hope your other cooks have turned out well. Practice and learning your egg makes everything even better.