How Do You Smoke a 16 - 20 lb. Turkey

upnorthguy

I smoked my third turkey a couple weeks ago on my L BGE. I am having problems with the side flame and scorching the bird.  I feel perhaps that I am putting to much lump coal in. I have been filling it to the top of the ring so the top of the coal is only a couple inches below the plate setter.  The cast iron sits on top of the inverted plate setter. The turkey itself is on the rack in the roasting pan. Previously I had ramped the fire up and then choked it down the fire would get away on me even with the slightest air. This past time using my stoker 2 I did NOT ramp the fire up and started the stoker even when the temperature was below my low target. The fire ramped up beyond my upper limit.  I suspect air was getting through the stoker 2 fan.  I had to remove the fan and close the vent completely.  It required about 30 - 45 minutes to get the grate temperature down to where I wanted it. Can anyone provide a guide as to how much lump charcoal to use or how high it should be. The side flame simply burns the bird so it is very unappealing when brought in.  I would like to get one that is nicely browned like Bobby Flay did on TV using an XL BGE. He appear to use only a fraction of the lump charcoal I have used. Thanks for any thoughts. The support at Rock's BBQ has been excellent BTW. 

onedbguru

spatchcock sounds good to me...

lousubcap

The quantity of lump loaded is not a factor (unless you run out before the end of the cook).  The air-flow thru the BGE controls the burn-rate and thus temp. As @JustineCaseyFeldown described a while ago, the speed of your car does not depend on the quantity of gas in the tank, same here.
Make sure your dome thermo is one-point calibrated with boiling water.
Any protein exposed to the direct burning lump outside your platesetter is the issue.  You need to foil protect anything that extends beyond your platesetter or go smaller.  FWIW-

Markbbq

You need a conveggtor for indirect cooking. 

lousubcap

The target is tempting but I will pass on the shot  

flexfusion

I cooked a turkey too on Thanksgiving and placed it on a rack inside a roaster pan.  Pulled when breast was 170º via Thermapin and it was not cooked.  I screwed up I believe by putting it in the roaster pan which obstructed the heat air flow in the Egg.  Next time I'll put it in the rack on top of the grill and cook indirectly.  Any comments on this are appreciated.  Never had a failure with a turkey on a Weber charcoal grill.  It was fortunate we didn't have any guests for dinner.   

StillH2OEgger

I never bother with a roasting pan, only a drip pan underneath the grid. I also spatchcock, which provides a nice even cook.

chasgh

Forgive me but if you measured the temp at  170 Im a little confused how the bird was uncooked?  An uncooked bird that measures 170 doesnt seem like it would be the result of the cooking equipment but rather the thermometer?  Or perhaps, the thermometer was stuck too far into the bird so that it was closer to the edge.

Ozzie_Isaac

You need more shielding.  Al foil or fire bricks to shield the sides of the turkey.  Or spatch **** it and let the insides and bones shield the edible meat.

SloppyJoe

Ingredients:

One unfrozen Butterball turkey, cleaned thoroughly.  Be sure to check both ends of the bird.

A Large Egg will hold up to a 20lb turkey

 

2lbs of Pecan Chunks

No Seasoning

1 whole onion cut in half

1 stalk celery

2 cups chicken broth, wine or water

1 stick of butter

Tony Chachere’s injectable creole butter

 

 

Instructions:

 

Set the EGG for indirect cooking at 350 degrees (Once the EGG is at 350 place chunks of pecan wood in the coals)  

 

Inject the Tony Chachere’s creole butter throughout and spread the rub generously over the outside of the bird.  Load the bird onto a vertical poultry roaster or V-Rack, then place into a drip pan.  Double up on the drip pans. Add the onion and celery to the drip pan.  Fill the pan with chicken broth.

 

Cook for 12 to 15 minutes per pound until the temperature in the breast meat is 160 and the temperature in the thighs is above 170.  Melt some butter over the bird before removing and tenting with foil to rest and let the juices settle. 

 

Reserve the drippings from the drip pan to make gravy. 

 

FATC1TY

flexfusion said:

I cooked a turkey too on Thanksgiving and placed it on a rack inside a roaster pan.  Pulled when breast was 170º via Thermapin and it was not cooked.  I screwed up I believe by putting it in the roaster pan which obstructed the heat air flow in the Egg.  Next time I'll put it in the rack on top of the grill and cook indirectly.  Any comments on this are appreciated.  Never had a failure with a turkey on a Weber charcoal grill.  It was fortunate we didn't have any guests for dinner.   

Sounds like bad thermometer or reading. 

170 regardless is over cooked regardless of Airflow or pan. 

CtTOPGUN

Turkeys above about 12 pounds should only be cooked at temps of about 325* or above. Smoking lower causes the internal temps to be in the dangerous zone for way too long. Some smoke flavor can be imparted at those higher cooking temps but that is not what I would really consider smoked turkey. For real smoked turkey I would do 2 smaller ones.

As far as edge protection? Foil baffles/deflectors help a lot.

  Jim

upnorthguy

I failed to mention how I start the lump coal. I use a weber starter chimney, fully loaded with lump coal.  When the flames appear at the top of the chimney, I spread them across the entire area of the coal below. Perhaps I am giving it too much of a jump start because once the temperature started rising there was no stopping the increase.  Only after removing the stoker 2 fan and closing both vents completely for 30 - 45 minutes was I able to get the temperature down to an acceptable level. Would a slower start perhaps reduce some of the side flare, perhaps keeping the hottest area directly below the plate setter. The stoker 2 worked real well after getting the temperature under control but the bird was already scorched. Thanks a lot for all your comments.

jtcBoynton

@upnorthguy  what temperature were you cooking at?  Did you get a stable temp and let the egg heat up for a while before adding the bird?  

Starting your fire with a full chimney starter of lump fully burning sounds excessive.  I try to start fires small and catch temps on the way up.  It is easier to increase egg temps than to lower them. It sounds like you had way too much fire at first.

upnorthguy

I did let it burn for maybe 15 minutes after spreading the burning lump coal out evenly.  The grate temperature was still below the minimum when I started the Stoker 2. After 10 minutes it was out of control.  I will take your suggestion and use it next time.  I will only put a small amount of lump coal in the chimney and when will not spread it.  I will leave it centered under the plate setter.  I will let the Stoker work to bring it up to the target temperature.  I have bee using a difference of 75 to 100 degrees difference between the grate and bonnet temperature.

Thanks to jtcBoynton.

ThrillSeeker

Just did three for the church this morning. All indirect at 400 degrees with a hockey puck sized chunk of cherry.