All- I am ready to try my hand at smoking a turkey in the bradley tomorrow. It's a 13 lb bird, so how long should I plan on needing to smoke it? I'd hate to have the entire dinner waiting on the turkey to get up to temperature. I will do about 3 hrs of smoke but am having troubles finding how long it should take per pound in the smoker. Thanks for any help you can provide.
On the Perdue Turkey Cooking Times (http://www.perdue.com/Tips_From_The_Kitchen/Cooking_Times/Turkey_Cooking_Times/whole_turkey.asp) chart it says to allow 12-20 minutes per lb. Of course, always cook by temp and not time. The time is just a rough estimate of how long it should take to cook.
You might find some helpful info in this thread: Smoking a Turkey with the Bradley (http://smoking%20a%20turkey%20with%20the%20bradley)
The Perdue Turkey Cooking Times chart is based on 325°F. If you can get your Bradley up to that temp I would be very impressed.
Anywhere over 225°F your 13 pound bird will take between 6-7 hours. Finish in oven at 350°F to crisp up the skin.
Quote from: devo on November 21, 2012, 12:18:57 PM
The Perdue Turkey Cooking Times chart is based on 325°F. If you can get your Bradley up to that temp I would be very impressed.
Anywhere over 225°F your 13 pound bird will take between 6-7 hours. Finish in oven at 350°F to crisp up the skin.
Thanks...that helps a lot in planning when to get it in the smoker. I imagine I can FTC it for a while if it gets done earlier than expected.
I did one a couple weeks ago that was just under 15 lbs. It was in the Bradley for 13 hours, then I moved it inside to the oven because it was past supper time. I only had to finish it in the oven for about a half hour and it was done. I wasn't expecting it to take so long, but I don't think the bird was 100% thawed. I had it thawing in the fridge for 6 days, but my fridge is really cold - just barely keeps the beer from freezing.
The turkey tasted great and was moist, but you could have made shoes out of the skin.
I've done 12-13 pound Turkeys a couple of times, and have had excellent reviews. 7 hrs in the Bradley has finished them, I've always used 10 pucks. I haven't tried to finish one in the oven to crisp the skin, but I'm going to do that today.