Strange turkey cook so far

[Reds Fan 5]

12.5 lb spatchcocked on Bronco with KBB and pecan chunk. Salt, pepper, smoked paprika rub. Injected with unsalted butter and low salt chicken stock.

Bronco came up to temp (330) and clean smoke smoothly. Put bird on and have had the most difficulty I’ve had dialing in temp. Dark meat probe running 40 degrees ahead of breast probe. Perfect weather conditions.

Smoke is clean. Guessing I’ll miss on crispy skin. Hope the dark meat handle higher temp. May wrap legs with some foil.

[Reds Fan 5]

Dark meat already at 137 after about 50 mins at 310-330 cook temp.

[Reds Fan 5]

Ok, dark meat temp was poor probe placement. Fixed.

Cooker temp is, well, temperamental.

[Jim White]

Great catch. That's where experience comes in. You know how the cook should go under your standard conditions. Staying calm and checking on the info is a great way to go. Happy smoking and happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

[Jerod Broussard]

My probe placement is typically only off about 99% of the time. My hand held is the final say.

[Reds Fan 5]

That’s how I figured it out. Used the thermopop for temps in two or 3 spots.

[Sid P]

Happy Thanksgiving! Has the temp been see-sawing, or you can’t get it locked in where you want it?

[Reds Fan 5]

It was at 330 when I put the meat on. Dropped to 268 (had it open too long trying to get the turkey to fit). Got it back to 315, then it dropped to 300, got it back up between 325-330 but never dialed it in to a steady temp. Bird took up the entire grate so probe placement may have been an issue. In the end, great cook

[Sid P]

👍. The end result is all that matters.

[rickgregory]

Dark meat is better cooked to a higher temp than white, anyway.

[texastweeter]

I pull dark at 175, white at 160

[Reds Fan 5]

I pulled with white at 155 and dark was 175-182 depending on where I took reading. It was a great turkey in the end

[jecucolo]

I’ve had trouble keeping my pbc temp at 400*. We have sloppy weather so I’m thinking it is just high humidity.

[Reds Fan 5]

We have good smoking weather. 50s, overcast, no wind.

[MtView]

One thing I suspect about the Bronco is that the airflow may not be great when it's full. I wonder if this was part of it.

[Reds Fan 5]

MtView, that's an interesting suspicion. You may be right. My first 3 cooks on it were hanging spareribs, beef plate ribs on the rack, and two half chickens on the rack. The 12.5 turkey covered the most grate real estate.