# How big of a turkey can I smoke



## az porky (Nov 4, 2017)

What size turkey can I smoke in my 40 electric


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## motocrash (Nov 4, 2017)

az,check out this thread : http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?threads/smoked-turkey-over-12lbs.269417/#post-1763502


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## uncle eddie (Nov 4, 2017)

I recommend two 12-15 pound birds over one 24-30 pound bird

It gets done much faster


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## cayotica (Nov 8, 2017)

az porky said:


> What size turkey can I smoke in my 40 electric


Get the smallest turkey you can find. If it’s not enough get 2....or more.  LOL.  I don’t recommend completely cooking turkey in the MES, it doesn’t get hot enough to cook the skin properly.  Not that it’s unsafe but nobody enjoys wet leathery skin.  I don’t know how long to leave it the MES but for great crispy skin finish your bird in the oven.


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## dogwalker (Nov 10, 2017)

I agree, get smaller turkeys!  Also, if you haven't spatchcocked before, definitely check it out.  That's the only way I go with chickens and turkeys now, because it cooks faster and the dark and white meat finish at the same time (I take it off when the breast is at 150 and the thigh is at 165).  Kenji of cooking labs, and others, highly recommend this, rather than taking the breast to 165 and getting dry meat.


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## motocrash (Nov 10, 2017)

Yeah,what they said....It's hard to find those jumbo rolling papers so stick with smaller turkeys.o_O


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## tallbm (Nov 10, 2017)

What I think matters most is if you can hit above 140F in under 4 hours to be safe.  So any size bird that can do so and fit in your MES is game!

As mentioned above you will very very very likely have a hard time getting edible skin with the MES 275F upper limit.  I have found that a temp about 325F the ENTIRE cook/smoke is good for producing edible (not necessarily crispy) skin.

Also I read in an excerpt from an Electric Smoker Cook Book that using a vertical  turkey/chicken roaster rack helps some with the skin.  I tried it and sure enough it did!  The rack is one of those beer can type racks, just make sure it is big enough to handle a turkey.

I think I'm going to do a 12-15 pounder this year.  I use the vertical roaster rack and I rewired my smoker so I could go to 325F on select occasions like this :cool:

Best of luck!


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## johnmeyer (Nov 10, 2017)

I think you would get much better results in the BBQ with a rotisserie, if you have one. I do this with large whole chickens all the time. I add lots of wood chips to my Weber Genesis gas BBQ chip tray and get the smoke that way. I get great skin.

If you don't have a rotisserie, I'd still recommend doing it this way. Just do it over indirect heat (i.e., make sure no heat is under the chicken/turkey). Turn the bird, or bird parts, several times in order to make sure the parts closest to the heat source don't scorch. 

I would also consider spatchcocking the turkey, in order to get uniform doneness.


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## dr k (Nov 10, 2017)

dogwalker said:


> I agree, get smaller turkeys!  Also, if you haven't spatchcocked before, definitely check it out.  That's the only way I go with chickens and turkeys now, because it cooks faster and the dark and white meat finish at the same time (I take it off when the breast is at 150 and the thigh is at 165).  Kenji of cooking labs, and others, highly recommend this, rather than taking the breast to 165 and getting dry meat.


I've seen Thermoworks talk about Kenji and the log 7 bacteria reduction lethality table so holding poultry like small chicken breast, fingers, tenderloins and nuggets for 5 minutes at 150*f is the same pasteurization as it instantly hitting 165*f. And 1 minute at 155*f. I do this with white meat only because dark meat has more connective tissue myglobin etc. Since whole poultry breast will coast up, pulling at 150*f will be great. Unfortunately my mom sees a slight pink tinge and thinks it's not cooked enough.  @daveomak sent me the log 7 table below. 
Dr. K....  here's a poultry pasteurization table....


Temperature........

...................... Time

°F (°C).............. 12% fat

136 (57.8)......... 81.4 min

137 (58.3)........ 65.5 min

138 (58.9)........ 52.9 min

139 (59.4)........ 43 min

140 (60.0)........ 35 min

141 (60.6)........ 28.7 min

142 (61.1)........ 23.7 min

143 (61.7)........ 19.8 min

144 (62.2)........ 16.6 min

145 (62.8)........ 13.8 min

146 (63.3)........ 11.5 min

148 (64.4)........ 7.7 min

150 (65.6)........ 4.9 min

152 (66.7)........ 2.8 min

154 (67.8)........ 1.6 min

156 (68.9)........ 1 min

158 (70.0)........ 40.9 sec

160 (71.1)........ 26.9 sec

162 (72.2)........ 17.7 sec

164 (73.3)........ 11.7 sec

166 (74.4)........ 0 sec

Table C.2: Pasteurization times for a 7D reduction in Salmonella for chicken and turkey (FSIS, 2005)
-Kurt


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## dogwalker (Nov 10, 2017)

My heart breaks when people ask me to cook chicken longer like that, or when they want their steak well done.  If we're at a restaurant, and my son says he wants his steak medium well, he now looks at me questioningly, and I say, "No, you don't.  You want medium rare."  To his credit, he'll say, "oh yeah, that's right."  :-)


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## cayotica (Nov 10, 2017)

motocrash said:


> Yeah,what they said....It's hard to find those jumbo rolling papers so stick with smaller turkeys.o_O


Worse is trying to figure out which end to light when smoking turkeys.


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## Delatorre226 (Jun 3, 2018)

I think it helpful!


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