Cooking time for spatchcocked Turkey in cold temp

[R2-Meat2]

Hello all - planning on two "firsts" this Thanksgiving (probably two too many for an audience ...). I'll be doing my first "ultimate turkey" on the WSM, and most likely it will be my first truly cold weather cook. Today it is 10 degrees in Brooklyn and who knows where we will be in a week and half.

I plan on spatchcocking the bird and aiming for a 325 grill temp. I assume with the right combo of fuel and air I can approximate 325 on the grill surface for a few hours, but don't really know how the outside temp will affect cooking time. How much time should I plan for? I understand there will be a range and I don't mind having an extra cushion but it makes a difference if we are talking about 2 hours versus 5. Any other tips on how to do this right would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[R2-Meat2]

Forgot one important detail - the bird will be about 12-15 lbs.

[Craigar]

In my opinion 325 is 325 whether it is hot, cold, day or night. Once you get to 325 and can hold it at 325 the question becomes, how much fuel are you going to burn and how long will the fuel last. Once you have reached 325 and have held it for a couple of hours or so and the fuel supply is running low, and you can't hold it at 325 the temp will drop faster than if you were cooking in warm weather. If you have time do a test burn with a full load and see how long your fuel supply will last while maintaining 325. Personally I would toss a couple of sirloin roasts on for the test because being an accountant I am cheap and hate to burn a bag charcoal just for the sake of watching it go up in smoke. Good luck!

[Huskee]

Craigar is right, 325 is 325. In cold weather, your variable becomes fuel consumption to keep a temp, not cook time. If cook temp is altered, then your variable becomes cook time. You will just use way more fuel to keep it there but your cook time will not be affected as long as your cooking temp is constant. I would guess your bird will take 2-3 hrs at 325 in the cooker, whether it's 90 outside or 9.

[_John_]

I did 2 about that size, wasn't as hard to keep temp as I thought. Both came in right at 2 hours.