Hardwood charcoal use to cook turkey

Unknown

I cooked 19.5 turkey on large BGE Thanksgiving day.Turkey was stuffed and placed in Vrack inside large drip pan on wire rack.Turkey flavor and texture came out super but took 9.5 hours to reach 180 degree internal temperature.I used hardwood charcoal to one inch plus above vent holes but had to shake and add more charcoal three times in order to hold 325 degree temperature!Should it take that much charcoal to cook large turkey and are bigger pieces of charcoal better to use?Is there a better method to cook large turkey in shorter time and using less charcoal?The turkey I used was removed directly from refrigerator to BGE!

mad max beyond eggdome

Earle,
i used royal oak to do my 19.5 lb turkey. .. loaded up to within about 1 1/2 inches from the top of the fire ring (about as high as i could go since i had a water pan below my grid in the normal postion atop the ring. . .i held 325 for about 8 1/2 hours (had the fire going good for almost one hour before putting the bird on for 7 1/2 hours. .. last 45 minutes i was opening the vents wide open to maintain temps. . .not sure it would have held much longer. . .when things cooled, i still had some lump in the firebox, but i guess it wasn't burning as efficiently near the end. . .interesting the difference in time between 250 and 325. ..at 250, the load i put in would easily have gone 24+ hours. . .

The Naked Whiz

Earle,
One option if you can get it or if you are willing to order on the web is Wicked Good Charcoal. The stuff will burn forever. It might be good to have some on hand for long cooks at higher temperatures like those huge turkeys some of you had. You'll find it at www.wickedgoodcharcoal.com[p]TNW

mad max beyond eggdome

The Naked Whiz,
thanks whiz.. .good tip. ..

Spin

Earle,[p]Two things will shorten your cooking time.[p]Using a smaller, shallower drip pan allows the heat to better circulate around the bird during the cook. You can also space the bird up some to get it above the top edge of the drip pan.[p]Cook the stuffing separately from the bird.[p]Spin

Unknown

Earle,[p]I know a lot of the more experienced ones here (more experienced than I am) re-use the charcoal setup several times before cleaning the BGE. It seems to work for them.[p]It seems mine though works better if I remove the lump each time before a important cook.[p]I then clean it by vacuuming and start as if it were new.[p]It works better for me than re-using the same setup.[p]I do re-use the lump by simply placing it back in the BGE after cleaning and vacuuming.[p]It seems when I have a long cook, it just works better when I start with a clean bowl.[p]Just thoughts.[p]Hope all are having a nice holiday.[p]KL

Nessmuk

KL,
I churn the leftover lump as one would do with a stove that burned coal or wood.[p]I add new lump to the top of the fire box & light 3 spots.[p]I occasionally remove the ash as it serves
to hold heat & help stabalize the buring process.[p][p]

Fairalbion

Earle,[p]Our 15lb bird was fresh from the local meat market and, when we put it on after basting, was just above refrigerator temperature. [p]Preparation involved thoroughly cleaning out the egg before putting larger chunks of fresh lump at the bottom of the pile followed by a mixture of recycled and fresh lump. I filled up to the very top of the firebox.[p]I lit the fire with MAPP gas in four places and gave the egg at least 30 minutes to stabilize at around 325°. I made sure everything had warmed through thoroughly before thinking of putting the bird in place.[p]I cooked the turkey in a V rack on a 9 X 13 drip pan on a small pizza stone on the grid. The drip pan was filled w/ chicken stock which, along with the drippings, later became the gravy base.[p]Hope this helps.