What's the best way to hold a turkey that gets done too soon?

[fzxdoc]

I'm making 2 turkeys for Thanksgiving--one roasted in a convection roast oven and the second one smoked in my Pit Barrel Cooker. Both turkeys will be spatchcocked. Hopefully they will be about the same size. (I've ordered them, spatchcocked, from the butcher).

Now here's the rub (pun intended): I figure that one will be done sooner than the other, especially since "done" in a smoker is a bit of a moving target. For a spatchcocked 14 lb turkey I've read smoking times here anywhere from 1.5 hours to 3 hours. That's a pretty wide window.

So I'm wondering how to keep one turkey warm without drying it out while the other one finishes up.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Kathryn

[Jerod Broussard]

I was going to recommend the "Full Nelson."

Meathead recommends a cambro, or some variation thereof.

[_John_]

Just finished my second, done within 10 minutes of my first at 2 hours. I kept it right at 325 and it came out perfect. I had a half hour drive so I set it in a plastic pan and draped pretty loosely with foil. The smell was so amazing I almost pulled over to grab a bite. The skin didn't suffer much at all, maybe a little around the thigh where the juices were pooling.

[Huskee]

I guess I would try to oven it at 160, although most ovens only go down to 170, which will overcook the breasts given enough time. Otherwise faux cambro. Maybe a quick broil to crisp back up before slicing?

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for the suggestions, Jerod, John and Huskee.

John, it was encouraging to hear that the cooking time for both of your turkey cooks was pretty reproducible. I'm definitely going to do the one-rebar hang so I can pull the other rebar out to keep that temp up.

I'd so like to have both turkeys synchronized as far as cook times go, but if not, I'll try the faux cambro method.

Kathryn