Spinning a turkey question

[Woodman]

Hello all,

 

If you have guests coming at 4:00 to eat. for Thanksgiving, what time would you place your 16lb turkey on the Joetisserie?  I’m going to cook at 375 degrees and am trying to time my cook. What would you guys do?

 

thanks for your input

[BURGER MEISTER]

Apparently no one wants to stick their neck out on this one.  But I'm a fool by heart so here goes.   My 12 # took about 3 hours but I honestly did not hold the temp at 350 like I thought it should be so if you go by that, 375 I would allow on a 16# bird, probably around 3hrs 20 minutes, but I usually go by temp vs time.   So we eat when the meat tells us.

[KJTerp]

I did at 15 pounder this weekend. It took about 2.5 hours at 350ish. But like above, went temp. I probably could have pulled it 10-15 earlier.

[K_sqrd]

We did a 23# turkey at 350 degrees last year and it took approximately 4.5 hours or about 12 min.

per pound. It was done in a roasting pan. I'd guess that cooking at 375 might take a little shorter time.

Don't forget to let it rest and give yourself time to carve it up too. Running the numbers, I get the same

time as BURGER MEISTER above and also agree that you should go by the meat temp.

[Woodman]

Thanks for the replies. I’m just trying to avoid having the bird finished way early and having to foil/wrap in a towel, then place in a cooler. Also don’t want to delay eating because we are waiting for the bird to finish cooking. 

 

With that said, I think I will allow 3 hrs and see how it goes. I’ll post results Sat. 

[daninpd]

3 hours sounds good but start checking IT at about 2:15.  Unstuffed birds can cook pretty quick.

[KJTerp]

55 minutes ago, daninpd said:

3 hours sounds good but start checking IT at about 2:15.  Unstuffed birds can cook pretty quick.

This. I thought I was good at 2 hours, temped well on the grill, so i pulled it and brought it in, and did a deep deep probe in the breast meat just for kicks, and it was still 15 degrees low, so it went back on for another 30

 

also, be fast when you temp if you turn the motor off, at the end when i temped i had a pretty sigificant flare up which charred some of the skin QUICK

[fbov]

On 11/15/2018 at 2:15 PM, Woodman said:

... I’m just trying to avoid having the bird finished way early and having to foil/wrap in a towel, then place in a cooler....

It depends what you're trying to do. Emulate an oven roast of a whole bird and you get what ovens produce: a beautiful bird with crisp skin that only needs to rest 45 min. under a foil tent. However, things sometimes go downhill once carving starts. 

 

I smoke mine like a brisket, low-n-slow, remove it at 150F internal temperature, and complete cooking wrapped in foil and towels. It never sees 165F, but spends an hour or more above 150F, about 60x longer than necessary. Plus, there are no concerns about cold spots. 

 

Conversely, the skin of smoked poultry is inedible and the bird, itself, unattractive. It's the meat that's glorious!

 

Have fun,

Frank

[retfr8flyr]

I don't think Turkey benefits from low temps, there just isn't enough fat to render. My last turkey was an 18lb bird and it only took 3 hrs, at 375°, on the Joetisserie. I pile all the lump on the back side of my BJ, I have the KJ basket with the fence, so that makes it easy and I place a foil pan under as much of the bird as I can. The after cook mess is greatly reduced that way. If you are going to do the bird over the coals the fat drippings should mostly burn up, so less clean up. Either way a high temp burn off after the cook is highly recommended.

[fbov]

6 hours ago, retfr8flyr said:

I don't think Turkey benefits from low temps, there just isn't enough fat to render. ...

I pull turkey before much fat renders. The goal is gentle cooking, like sous vide but with smoke. 

Frank

[Team PCBeach]

I have not spun a bird that big, but for me 12# birds take 2 hours at 375.  I pile most of the coals to the back but leave a good lining of coals across the bottom of the Classic.  I think this helps the skin crisp and the fat dripping directly on the coals adds a little flavor (or at least it smells good).