Turkey advice

[Colby giles]

Hello All,
This is my first year being in charge of the turkey and conveniently this will be my first turkey on my Stampede. My plan was to do a practice one last week but of course I was called into work and that fell through.
I going to be doing a 21lb fresh turkey, I will be doing a brine the day before and then just a light dry rub. I am open to all suggestions but my main question is this. Can you all share you cooking temps and time per pound at that temp? I haven’t fully decided what temp I will cool at but I want to be able to have it be done on time of course! Also how much rest time? I am still torn about doing it Spatchcock style or not . As you can tell I really don’t have a set plan yet so I am looking forward to all the suggestions! Thank you all as always for taking the to help out.

 

[Kim]

I did my first turkey on the RecTec last week and it was amazing! It was a 15 lb turkey. I let it get almost thawed in the fridge then took it out of the wrapper and put it on a rack in a pan and let it stay in the fridge another day. The fridge will help take some moisture out of the skin so that it crisps up better. Then I dried it better, salted the cavity and threw some aromatics in. I applied the Greek rub liberally and then put it in to smoke at 225 for about 2 hours. For that I put it in with the bottom side up. This lets the darker meat get a little head start on the white meat and some of the juices run down. Then I took it out of the grill and turned the heat up to 350.

When I put the turkey back on the grill, breast side up I also put the thermometer in the thigh and plugged it in. It was already higher than I expected it to be. It finished up in a couple of hours.

Edited to add that this was one of the easiest, tastiest turkeys that I have ever cooked.

 

[tegreeb]

I did a 21 pound bird as well, first time smoking one too

Brined for 2 days,butter between the skin and breast, smoked at 300 for 7 hours with apple, smoke tube 1/4 full with apple also

Been brining turkeys for 10+ years, I've produced some juicy birds. This was by far the best ever! Normally guests take a little home,the family will eat leftovers for one day and they are done. The rest is mine

This time guests took more than normal,family ate leftovers two days in a row and I'm out of turkey Good excuse to smoke another!

 

[Mike]

I have to stop looking at all these turkey photos. I have four turkeys in the freezer now and haven't been allowed to cook not a one yet. Christmas day is when I've been given the green light.

 

[Eddy]

I came here looking for turkey advice and seen there was already a post here so i will add my question here. i have a 14# turkey and want to cook it at 325 degrees... how long will it take to cook??

 

[Mike]

I came here looking for turkey advice and seen there was already a post here so i will add my question here. i have a 14# turkey and want to cook it at 325 degrees... how long will it take to cook??

@Eddy time can really vary from bird to bird, but a good ballpark figure would be around 15 minutes per pound. So in your case, around 3 1/2 hours.

If you don't already have one, check out the Lavatools Javelin thermometer pen. It's what I currently use and provides very quick readings. Once the turkey reaches 165 pull it and let it rest for another 10-15 minutes., then enjoy the best turkey ever.

 

[ccmjr77]

I have learned that every meat I cook, I have to go by temperature not time. As soon as I think a brisket will finish in 6 hours it takes 8, turkey I thought would finish in 3.5, took 2.5 when I spatchcocked it. Even Papa Murphy Pizza took less time that the instructions say. I monitor the temp and never pay much attention to time any more. But oh it taste so good....

 

[ifican]

Ill add a couple things. Probe the thickest part of the thigh for temp and I would pull before 165. If you dont use the thigh as a gauge you can undercook it and if you use the thigh as a gauge can dry out the breast (it will be done long before the thigh). Personally i like to pull about 158 if we are going to eat relatively quickly or even as low as 150ish if we are going to be eating an hour+ later. Carryover cooking will handle the rest for you. And around our place, others in my life have ruined a great smoked (you add meat preference here) by telling me we will be ready in 15 and 60-90 later we are still waiting. I like to pull and eat but it rarely works out that way so plan for the added time and temp rise before you start cutting.

 

[Kim]

Ill add a couple things. Probe the thickest part of the thigh for temp and I would pull before 165. If you dont use the thigh as a gauge you can undercook it and if you use the thigh as a gauge can dry out the breast (it will be done long before the thigh). Personally i like to pull about 158 if we are going to eat relatively quickly or even as low as 150ish if we are going to be eating an hour+ later. Carryover cooking will handle the rest for you. And around our place, others in my life have ruined a great smoked (you add meat preference here) by telling me we will be ready in 15 and 60-90 later we are still waiting. I like to pull and eat but it rarely works out that way so plan for the added time and temp rise before you start cutting.

If you start it out upside down it really does help even out the cooking time. I promise.

 

[Mike]

Counting down the days. Two more until I get to smoke my turkey!

 

[ifican]

Yeah, Smoked and Fried are my two fav's. I have a giant electric pot that i picked up specifically for gobble gobbles.

 

[bfletcher]

Edited to add that this was one of the easiest, tastiest turkeys that I have ever cooked.

Well, if your grammar didn't sell me your pics certainly did; thanks for sharing your detail!

 

[wildblue]

Little late to this party, but I will throw out there be very careful smoking one that large if you're using lower temps.
A good article about turkeys over 14lbs hanging out in the 'danger zone' too long: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a...zone-and-smoking-turkeys-over-14-pounds.9677/
TL;DR - get it over 140 internal within 4 hours.
The upside is, with low and slow, the "safe 165" mark isn't as important because it gets over 140 and stays there for longer.
Smoked turkey is the best. It's actually part or the reason I was gifted with a Rec Tec

 

[Mike]

Another successful turkey!