Gobble Gobble

[smokenator]

I did a test run on a turkey this past weekend with some okay results. I was trying to keep the temp at 275/300 and could not do so with the water pan at all. My first 2 hours were at 160 and could get the temps higher until I removed the water pan. Any suggestions other than to leave the water pan out?

I had the bird wrapped in a cheese cloth soaked in butter so it still came out not dry but not real moist either. I may have removed the cheese cloth too soon causing the breast to dry out a tiny bit more than desired. Overall results were great and there were no leftovers... Can't wait till Turkey Day to give it another go!

[ecripps]

I keep the water pan in and smoke it for 4-6 hours. Then I foil it and finish it in the oven. I've seen some people use a larger water pan but that is going to be hard unless you can get the bird on the food support grill and put the pan up there as well.

[smokenator]

I finished mine in the oven too. What temp are you shooting for on the Smokenator?

[ksu1971]

I haven't cooked without the water pan in the past but I have never had any issues getting my temp up to where you wanted. What did you have your vents set to? How many lit did you start with? Remember that big old turkey will be a huge heat sink for a while so you might need to run your vents a little more open. Just keep an eye on your fuel because you will have to add fuel more often. One thing I do to get more fuel in is remove the stock water pan and sit a small loaf pan on top of the Smokenator.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. Remember 160-165 in the deep breast the bird is done don't over cook.

[smokenator]

Vents to start with were wide open top and bottom. 48 unlit, 12 starter. I bought a larger loaf pan for putting on top of the cooking grate but was going to reserve this for a longer smoke for a pork butt or brisket.

[sheepdad]

Bump the lit coals to 20 but remember that wide open bottom vents is gonna probably be too much. Leave the top vents wide open though.

[ncsmoker]

I limit the size of my turkey to about 14 lbs. as that seems to fit nicely on the grate and allows me to move it around as needed. I also use a herb butter rub under the skin. It will feed about 8 people. I try to maintain a 275- 300 degree temperature which gives me a 6hr cook time. I use apple or cherry chunks as my smoking wood. I'll be honest this past Christmas I got a new Weber Gold and had a heck of a time controling the temp and it spiked to 400 degrees one time. Ouch! Just a dark skin the bird came out just as tender as always. I do put a drip pan under the bird with a 1/4" of water in it besides the water pan in the Smokerator. I am still learning on the Gold vs the Silver and they are very different. As well as my newer Smokenator vs the Weber baskets I had used for many years.

Hope ya'll make many great turkeys.