A Noobie's 20# Xmas Turkey

[Richie Rod]

I got the courage to try a 20 lb turkey from an old post that basically said to go for it! (sorry, I don't remember the name of the original poster). The directions were easy to follow and said to use apple and maple pucks (didn't add the 3 hickory "for fun").  :)
My DBS4 is unmodified and this was the first time I was relying on it for a holiday meal. Mealtime was set at 5 pm, so here's what happened and what I learned:

Got up at 5:30 am to get bird out of the brine and let dry
Loaded alternating apple and maple pucks, pre-heated smoker, placed hot water in large aluminum pan at bottom - didn't use the small bowl
Sprayed Pam on two racks (used two for extra support) and V-shield then loaded up the bird once smoke started. Used two thermometers - one from TBE and my Taylor electronic.

Now was the time to use one of the Bradleys greatest feature, set and forget it and went back to bed.  ;D
After four hours of smoke at the 210 setting, I increased the temp to 220 for a couple of hours, finally upped it to 240 for the finish.
At 4:30 pm, the bird was only at 157 and I knew the 5 pm target wasn't gonna work for the hungry crowd. Hence, I fired up my big gas smoker to 320 and finished it there. Had a 30 minute rest period and ended up eating at about 6 pm.

Turkey was moist and had a nice smokey not overpowering taste. The only negative was a hint of under doneness at the inner joints.

Why did it take so much longer? Well, I probably made the mistake of relying on temperature settings rather than "cabinet temp." The 34 degree outside temp didn't help either.

So... would I do it again - you bet!

Rich

[Quarlow]

The outside temp is not a big concern. The wind is the bigger factor to the Bradleys. As for temp settings I would have gone full belt on that. I did a 19 lb turkey last year but I did two hrs in the smoke at full whack and then I transferred it to the Big Easy to finish. I haven't done a turkey completely in the Bradley but with the temps not getting over about 250f you could run it maxed out and not have to worry about over doing it. Did you rotate the bird? You would definitely want to if you were to do as I suggest, notice I said suggest? I know others will chime in that know more than I do, so take from this what you deem valuable.

[Habanero Smoker]

Your turkey was probably fully done. What may appear to be under done areas around the joints and bones, it common. This can be one or both of two things. Poultry cooked a low temperatures will tend to have a reddish color near the bone and joints. Also because they are processing chicken and turkey as such a young age, the bones are not fully developed and marrow will leak from the bones into the meat. This occurs at high temperatures also.

The best way to test to see if the poultry is fully cooked, is to touch the area with a white paper towel. If you see some red juices on the towel the poultry is not done, if the juices are clear then it is fully done.

[Richie Rod]

The outside temp is not a big concern. The wind is the bigger factor to the Bradleys. As for temp settings I would have gone full belt on that. I did a 19 lb turkey last year but I did two hrs in the smoke at full whack and then I transferred it to the Big Easy to finish. I haven't done a turkey completely in the Bradley but with the temps not getting over about 250f you could run it maxed out and not have to worry about over doing it. Did you rotate the bird? You would definitely want to if you were to do as I suggest, notice I said suggest? I know others will chime in that know more than I do, so take from this what you deem valuable.

Did not rotate, but I will certainly run it at max the next time.

Your turkey was probably fully done. What may appear to be under done areas around the joints and bones, it common. This can be one or both of two things. Poultry cooked a low temperatures will tend to have a reddish color near the bone and joints. Also because they are processing chicken and turkey as such a young age, the bones are not fully developed and marrow will leak from the bones into the meat. This occurs at high temperatures also.

The best way to test to see if the poultry is fully cooked, is to touch the area with a white paper towel. If you see some red juices on the towel the poultry is not done, if the juices are clear then it is fully done.

Good to know, just clear and mushy

[Quarlow]

Habs, that is good to know about the marrow. I didn't know that and was questioning this part of my bird also.