Doing 2 11lb turkeys, how long do i cook?

[Northside Brian]

For Thanksgiving this year I am smoking my first turkey(s). I have done several chickens but they were all around 4-5 lbs. I am going to inject both with butter and use S&G on one and PBC rub on the other. After looking at the cook times sticky post, I see that most times the bird is done in 2.5-3 hrs. What I am wondering is, since I am doing 2 at once, should I expect a longer cook time? And for the record, my PBC tends to run a bit cooler than most, somewhere in the 250-270 range. I only get higher than that if the lid is cracked. Any advice would be welcome. I have 14 people counting on me not messing this up.

[HawkerXP]

Northside Brian, I just did a 13.5 LB turkey on my PBC which took 2 hours 15 min. I would think your going to have to get your pit temp up to 325 or so. Which method are you using to light it? For the lower temp cooks I follow Noah, coals started in chimney, spread on unlit coals put meat on. For hotter cooks, chicken / turkey, I've done the 10 / 10 / 10 that Fzxdoc uses. This seems to get the fire going hotter and stays hotter for me.
One word of caution, when my meat probe showed 160 I pulled it off and probed around to verify and found areas still in the 150 range. I had left the lid off during this and the drippings that were on the coals was now a flame. I put the lid on and let them extinguish but when rehanging the bird and probe inserting they lit off again. This made for a less then Norman Rockwell looking turkey. Tasted great but not pretty.
Lesson learned: Close lid as soon as meat comes off.
I also picked up from someone here that you should wait until the pit is at your cooking temp before putting the meat on. I have not tried this yet. Good luck!

[jrobertson50]

the classic response is till they are done. Better response until it hits 165. Even better response is give it 40 min a pound ish depending on temp. And pay really close attention to the internal Temp. DON"T let it over cook. and start early to give yourself more time. You can always hold it.

[JeffJ]

Yes. This.

[gcdmd]

I've found that taking turkey breast meat to 165 results in dry meat. If you pull at 155-160 and tent you should get good carryover cooking.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

40 minutes/pound comes out to 7.5 hours for his 11lbs turkeys??????

[fzxdoc]

When I smoke turkeys on my PBC, I run it at 350 degF, certainly no lower than 300. I usually do 12-14 lb turkeys at an average temperature of 330 or so, and they take about 1.5 hours. That's for a spatchcocked turkey.

Having 2 turkeys in there might lengthen your cooking time by 30 minutes or so, but I'm just guessing at that, based on how my PBC smokes 3 chickens and a dozen sausages at the same time vs a single chicken and a half dozen sausages. I've never done 2 turkeys in the PBC, but hey, there's plenty of room to do it.

As others have said, try to keep your PBC temps up if you can. Start with a full basket, take out 40 coals, and do the 15-10-10 method (from the Light My (PBC) Fire sticky topic) to start with. That smoker should be upwards of 360 or more by the time you load the birds with that lighting technique.

Let us know how your cook turns out, Northside Brian . Best of luck and have fun!

Kathryn

[gcdmd]

I am going to inject both with butter and use S&G on one and PBC rub on the other.

Try adding some truffle oil or garlic to your butter.

[Northside Brian]

How do you people keep your temps above 300? Unless i crack the lid it never goes above 280. I figure worst case scenario i cook them to internal of about 155 then throw them in a 350 oven to crisp up the skin.

[JeffJ]

I fill the chimney and light it about 2/3 and then pour the coals into the SnS. With all of the vents wide open hitting >300 has never been a problem for me in my kettle.

[lschweig]

Yes you will need to crack the lid to get the higher temps. Just don't let them get way too high!

[PappyBBQ]

i leave out one rod when I do whole turkeys. I run the remaining rebar through the hole at the top of the turkey hanger and run the rebar diagonally so that the turkey is in the middle of the barrel. If I follow the 15/10/10 method my pit will run right at 330 no problem since the 15/10/10 method really gets the fire going!