Poll: Whole, spatchcocked, split or parted out on T-Day?

[fzxdoc]

Not to worry, jfmorris , not only did the chicken for the stuffing get smoked on the PBC, all 5 turkey half-breasts did as well, along with three racks of andouille sausages to help flavor them as they smoked by dripping sausage fat into the fire.

OmegaDog12 , I'm not at home for a while yet, but when I get back to my computer, I'll try to remember to send you the recipe for meaty meaty stuffing. It's super easy.

[Pobeque]

Parted out.....cooked 2 birds this year. First bird, I boned out and stuffed the leg quarters and roasted the breast. 2nd bird, confit legs and roasted breast

[Smokey-Dave]

I ended up spatchcocking and smoking one bird and roasting the other one whole. My family loves the traditional oven-roasted turkey (wet-brined overnight), but I wanted to try smoking a turkey this year, so instead of one big turkey we had two 9 pounders. I dry-brined the spatchcocked one and used a wet rub of seasonings and coconut oil right before I put it in the smoker. The family loved both birds, so we may have a new holiday tradition around here!

[HouseHomey]

Looks great!!

[RobertC]

HouseHomey Turkey ballotine, 15 pounds before boning. Hung and smoked in a PBC.

[surfdog]

The definitive answer. ;-)

[surfdog]

99% of the time...whole.
For two reasons, first...it’s how I’ve down them for years. And second, it simply presents better...and I can be a bit of a traditionalist in that regard.

If presentation is not important...spatchcock is dead simple...but piecing it out is darn near foolproof.

These days, I put whole birds on my WSCGC or rotisserie on my Summit 6-burner gasser.
If I "just want turkey" I’ll piece it out and cook separately.

[Texas Larry]

Here’s my spatchcocked birds in progress.

[DSW0557]

Wanted to try spatch for the first time ever this year so did a 12# practice bird two days ago and it turned out FAB!

Brined it for 12 hours, then rubbed herb butter between skin and bird and added little S&G rub. After sitting for an hour in the fridge, loaded it up on my GMG DB at 325. Also foiled the wing tips and drum tips.

I had previously kludged up a series of mods on the GMG (rotisserie, short legged elevation racks, thermal insulation, multiple temp gauges, extended legs, 4 rotating and locking wheels, two prep racks).

I used my home made shortie-leg racks (2.5 inch elevation from top of GMG rack) to get the meat up into the heated smoke flow region where I had measured a difference of 45 to 65 degrees; depending upon where you place the meat on the rack; ie, to the R (hotter towards the stack) or L (cooler away from the stack) The spatch bird fit nicely on the shortie-leg rack with drum tips pointing out towards the opening.

Then after bird was placed breast side up and temp probed, I put a pan of trim, giblets, neck, veggies, and chicken stock underneath it all and partially covered it with foil. Once the bird hit 152 IT, I upped the temp to 390 until it browned and hit 164 IT.

Took it off, cut it apart and took a bite. Incredible! Incredible! Breast meat was so moist, with such a soft chewy creamy bite that had a bit of sweetness to it, and the skin was crunchy and tasty, not too junked up with confusing flavors.

Best bird ever!

Going to do the same thing on the 20 pounder for the fam. Hope it turns out as good.

Good luck to all who dare this holiday!

[Thunder77]

🤣🤣🤣😂😂

[fracmeister]

I did my first few at 275 and had great results but the skin didnt get too crispy. Now I do 225 for 30 minutes and then 325-350. The turkey bird is fairly forgiving on the temps as long as you don't let the bird get overcooked!

[au4stree]

Spatchcock that bird

[radshop]

I'll have 15-20 guests. I surveyed a handful and asked if they want the carving-board experience or the best tasting turkey possible by splitting it. The result was unanimous.

[Scott H]

I have a 17lb turkey that I’ve spatchcocked and currently is brining. Tomorrow I’ll smoke it at 275. I’ve done this method the last several years - the family won’t let me change!

[Beefchop]

Go big, or go home!