WSM Tureky take 2 QView

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damon555

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jun 26, 2010
464
35
Middle Tennessee
Doing another test smoke for my Thanksgiving turkey and I decided to throw some extra stuff on there so I didn't feel like I was wasting all that space. Well as it turns out I was able to fit the turkey, a brisket flat and a boston butt all on the top rack of the WSM 22.5. Still room for much more but I about went broke buying all this stuff...lol. I told the guys at work that I'd bring in some stuff this weekend so they can test out my Q on the new smoker.

Here's the breakdown....

13.5 lb bird all cleaned up

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Cooked up the brine and let it cool, added some oranges this time....

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Ready to take a long ice bath

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All brined up, rubbed and ready for the smoker.

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Here my brisket flat ready to go....sorry for the crappy pic, I only took 1.

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Boston butt all rubbed up ready to go on.

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Here's everything on the top rack. A tight fit for sure but there was room.

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The guys at work should be happy with this. I've also got a new vacuum sealer that I want to test out. For thanksgiving I plan on filling the whole thing up with turkeys.....that is if I've got it down by then. But if this one turns out good I'll take that chance after only 2 test runs. I don't want to ruin my taste for turkey by eating it to much before then!
 
Did you have to fit everything on one shelf?  I know there's a water pan but seems like the heat is a bit higher on the edges.  Any reason why you didn't use the lower shelf for the bird?

Looks like a great meal is coming!
 
Thanks guys.

Yes everything is on the top rack...I just did that to see if it would work and for easy access. I'm not sure about the sides being hotter...4 hours into the smoke and I haven't looked. I'll check the temps @ the 5 hour mark ang give an update.
 
Couldn't wait to check them....the brisket was @ 160 so I took it off, foiled it and put it back on...a taste test was very satisfactory. The butt was right @ 145 (after 4 hours) so it stays on for a while. The turkey is just about done...was @ 155....the juice was just rolling out of the hole where the thermometer went in Thumbs Up

Everything looked great. Maybe cooking a little fast but I've noticed these are about average times for both my smokers. I just go by temp anyway so I'm not at all worried!
 
Yeah... the heat comes up the sides on the WSM's, just rotate your meats when you open up the smoker to move the outside part into the middle, that way you don't overcook one side vs. the other.
 
That looks like 1 happy WSM. Cant wait to see the results.
 
The darn turkey has stalled on me for an hour and 15 minutes. I moved the temp probe and it's reading correctly. Stalled @ 160 and has dropped a few degrees.....grrrrr! Didn't think a turkey would do that. I added a few pieces of charcoal, opened up the vents to try to speed it up a little.

It's nice to run into some problems now when it really doesn't matter. That's why I'm doing these tests after all.
 
Last edited:
I know what you mean about hating to waste the extra space.  I recently purchased a vac sealer too, because I always smoke way more than I need.  Wind up giving away a lot of vacuum smoked gifts when the freezer gets too full, which my friends always appreciate.

Good luck with your turkey.  I'm definitely going to try a bird or two (or 3 or 4!) for Thanksgiving.
 
Took the turkey off the smoker and finished it up in the oven @ 350. It got to 165 in less than 15 minutes. I broke the skin taking it off the smoker so it ain't as pretty as my last try....I bet it tastes just as good though. I'll post the after pics when we're done eating.
 
Everything turned out great...I broke the skin when I was moving the turkey from the smoker to the oven to finish it off so it ended up pretty ugly but it tasted excellent.

I didn't mind the torn skin, It was going to be used for stock anyway.

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My fist WSM brisket is by far the best I've ever had....

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The pulled pork was pretty good too....but it took so long to cook we didn't eat any. I just tested it out when I pulled it to put up.

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Only my second smoke on the WSM and it's making me look like a pro....
 
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With a tear in my eye that's one fine looking and very full smoker.
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I should also comment on the sides being hotter than the middle.....I did not rotate any of the meat....I just left it in place. The temperatures along the sides of the meat, around the edges, were exactly the same as the middle. They cooking was even throughout....go figure.
 
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