Turkey

[preston1]

First off I soked two different things last weekend. Chicken on Saturday then Meat loaf on Sunday. Thanks for all of the postings on the subject. I brought dinner over to my Dad he was greatfull he does not get many home cooked meals since my mother passed away last June. Anyways I want to do two turkeys next week. I purchased two frozen 13 pound butterballs. Is it better to do them in the pan or just on the rack. I also have the nice bradley digital themometer.. How long should I plan on cooking them ?

[Habanero Smoker]

Sorry, I can't give you a time on how long they will take. I have never done just a turkey. Are you doing both together? Do you have the 6 tray model, I don't believe you will fit two in a 4 tray DBS? Doing two 13 pound turkeys at the same time would extend your smoking/cooking time a great deal. You may be better off doing them separately. If I use a butterball I always discard the pop-up before I start smoking; no particular reason for doing so.

I never used a pan for turkey. Some place a pan underneath to catch drippings. I would be concerned that if the pan had high sides, it would have an effect on how much smoke could penetrate the bird. Using a low sided pan, such as a broiling pan would only block some smoke from getting to the underside of the bird, and maybe some of the underpart of the leg and thigh.

[preston1]

Thanks, I have the four rack.

[sbarto]

I am doing two turkeys,one is a 4 lb breast and the other 12 lb whole turkey. Do you remove the turkey breast after 4 hrs and let the whole turkey cook longer or how? Thanks

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm not sure if I fully understand your question. If you are smoking/cooking both at the same time, I would remove the breast when it gets to 152°F - 155°F. If you don't feel comfortable with that temperature, then I wouldn't go any higher then 160°F. For whole turkey, you should take it out when the internal temperature reaches 162°F - 165°F measured at the thickest part of the thigh.