First turkey...total time in smoker?

[JazzFan]

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.

[TedEbear]

On the Perdue Turkey Cooking Times 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

[devo]

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.

[JazzFan]

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.

[irnman1827]

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.

[Eman]

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.