To spatchcock or not, that is my question

[jitsntricks]

So I'm doing a whole bird on my PBC and a breast on my WSM this turkey day. At first I was going to hang the whole bird with the PBC turkey hanger and spatchcock the breast on the WSM BUT now I've seen quite a few people are fans of spatchcock and hang the bird on the PBC with 1 rebar. Does the spatchcock and hang on the PBC dry out the legs/thighs? I've seen posts about the foil booties on the bird prior to hanging which I think is a good idea. Just bummed if I do spatchcock the whole bird and hang then I won't have room to hang the breast as well.

I'm going to wet brine both over night, then another over night in the fridge to dry the skin. Then planning on using a mayo binder. I'm also planning on using mesquite lump so I can get the temps a bit higher and hickory chunks.

Anyway, your thoughts, opinions, tips are appreciated!

Keep the smoke rollin'!

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I halve mine and hang, and the legs and thighs are juicy and delicious.
So I say spatchcock.

[jitsntricks]

Do you keep both rebar in or take one out to crank up the heat?

[Duanessmokedmeats]

jitsntricks I have one rebar run diagonially

[LA Pork Butt]

My wife says it not only needs to taste good, but it has to look like a traditional Thanksgiving turkey, too.

[jitsntricks]

I hear that's common. We just like to have a good presentation after it's carved up.

[jfmorris]

My son says that too, haha, and pushed me to do the rotisserie the past 2 years. My wife doesn't care. I think this year I am going to spatchcock or deconstruct...

[HawkerXP]

I don't spatchcock. I follow the PBC recommendation. Hang it whole!

PBJ, PBC, PBX!

Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe | Pit Barrel® Cooker Co.

[TripleB]

Spatchcock - 100%. I was going to spatchcock my turkey on my PBC following Kathryn's post below. But now my brother wants to roast it whole, so I'm smoking it in my offset now.

How do you all hang your spatchcocked turkeys? - Pitmaster Club

[Alan Brice]

Hook 'em right under the wings and through a bit of ribcage.

[captainlee]

One in the oven whole the other on the smoker whole then into the fryer. Guess we are old school and like the look of the whole bird for carving especially for tgiving.

[Jerod Broussard]

I did one spatchcock turkey. Since then I remove both collar bones before carving, leaving the spinous mutilation to someone else. I hang the turkeys in the PBC like chickens. Legs down.

[jfmorris]

Yeah, it's easy to tear through a chicken with poultry shears. Turkey's are a whole different story.

[Dr J]

I have good experiences with spatchcock method. I get more even cooks and faster

[fitzoo7]

In my opinion:

#1 Rotisserie
#2 Spatchcock
#3 traditional, rotate the turkey every 30 minutes

[realdocBBQ]

Definitely a spatchcock fan here!

[Santamarina]

Don’t have a PBC, but I’m 100% Team Spatchcock! The only way I’ll cook a bird again. Cooks significantly faster and comes out more juicy and flavorful.

[tamidw]

We are fans of spatchcocking the turkey. So that’s what I’ve done for the last few years.

[MarkN]

The plan was to spatchcock, but after following the guidelines for defrosting a 16-lb bird, it was still frozen solid yesterday (Wednesday). It looked the the entire bird had been submerged in water, then frozen, since the inside of the turkey was a solid block of ice (maybe that's how they do it). I eventually chipped out all the ice but the meat still seemed frozen solid, so I left it whole overnight in the fridge rather than attempting to cut through ice and bone.

This morning (Thursday), the outer meat had defrosted a little and I decided to just hang it in my PBC "upside down" (the PBC website shows breast side down). I hung it drumsticks down and put one temp probe in the thigh and one in the breast. Both started at 32 degrees.

I think the water dripping off the frozen bird must have been dampening the charcoals because the PBC temp started dropping below 225 degrees. I took the lid off for a few minutes, opened the bottom vent all the way and it ran at about 245 for the rest of the cook.

After 5 hours and 32 minutes the thigh registered at 169 and the breast at 159. Pulled it, carved it after 15 minutes and it was great. Rubbery skin but moist, tasty and tender meat.

Next year I will start the defrost two days earlier than the recommendation. And try to spatchcock again.

[Alan Brice]

I'd call that success!

[wrgilb]

I spatchcocked and then parted out a 16 pounder and cooked on the Pit Boss Copperhead 7. I used a smoke tube (on the left below the breast) filled with Cookinpellets blend of hickory, cherry, hard maple and apple, no oak in this one. In the hopper I use Traeger Signature pellets. Wanted to cook at 325, but the Pit Boss goes from a 300 temp. setting to 350 setting, so the first hour I did 300 and then 350 for the next hour and a half.

Super moist, pulled at 150-153 in the breast. The thighs were 175. First picture is at the 2 hour mark.

[Alan Brice]

Yummm!

[jitsntricks]

Sorry I haven't updated. I ended up purchasing another turkey hanger and hanging both the breast and the whole bird. I timed them perfectly as they were done at the same time.

One thing though, is it's kind of tricky taking one hanger off to check the temp while the other is hanging as well, had to have a helper pull a bar out while I grabbed both hangers lol.

All in all, great birds on the PBC!