First spatchcocked turkey cook

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Well I finally had a cook not go so well.  I got a 18lb fresh butterball turkey yesterday. Spatchcocked rubbed with EVOO then seasoned.  I wasn't too worried about brining since butterballs are usually really juicy.

I setup my 26er with baskets on both sides then two drip pans with some foil over the middle so any drippings would go into the pans and not between them and into my grill.  I lit a full chimney and dumped it into the baskets that had 5-8 extra unlit coals already in them as well as some apple chunks.  I also put some coals on the open spaces between the drip pans and the kettle.  Kettle ran between 350-365.

My turkey seemed to be cooking very uneven which is what spatchcocking is supposed to prevent.  Once my white meat hit 165 the dark was only around 120.  I did foil the breast around 155, but it didn't slow it down much. 

At this point I started doubting my probes so a was swapping then around and getting all kinds of confusing results.  I have already ordered new probes on Amazon this morning and they will be here this evening!  (Love same day shipping with Amazon!!!)     

The end result was perfectly cooked breasts and good wings then legs that were ok but thighs that were undercooked.

It was a fun game with the probe issue and uneven cooking and I did end up with what I was mainly setting out for besides a test run, which was breast meat for sandwiches next week when my GF's brother in law will have a lot of family in town.

So overall it was an okay cook.  Next time I will make a few changes that I think will resolve the uneven cooking issues.  I will put the coals on one side of the grill as opposed to all the way around. I think the thighs being close to the hot side and he breast being as far from it would have made a big difference.  I think I will also put some ice bags over the breasts before cooking to slow them down. 

Any suggestions are welcome. 





Flames are due to top being off longer than anticipated and the wood chunks flared up.  Went right out as soon as the lid was put on.




Here is what I felt comfortable keeping to eat.  The picture is a little decieving.  I would say each breast is about 3-3.5 lbs, so I ended up with 7-8lbs of usable meat.



Bonuses material:
Did a small pork loin earlier in the day yesterday just to figure how to run a snake in the 26er. 3x2 snake worked great and temp was very easy to keep within 10 degrees of where I wanted it. Here is a time lapse taken over 2 hours of my thermometer.



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[Davescprktl]

Great job.  Love that 26er.

[iCARRY]

When I cook a turkey, all the coals go to one side, the legs go closest to the coals. Legs are in the hottest area and breast is in the coolest area. Lid vent goes right above breast. That method has never failed me for my turkeys or chickens.


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[austin87]

I haven't spatchcocked a turkey, just a chicken, but the leg/thigh area looks a little compact to me. I usually try to turn the drumsticks so they are pointing out a little further. If they have a little more breathing room they might cook a little faster. Imagine the ends of the drumsticks pointing at 8 and 4. Yours look a little more like 5 and 7 but it's hard to tell from the angle.

I also like to set up my charcoal baskets at approximately 10 and 2 with the legs pointing towards the baskets. I feel like having the heat closer to the legs/thighs helps that side cook a little faster. The red shapes are the baskets, the yellow square is my drip pan (the yellow circle is a melted onion but it's not really a part of the setup for a turkey unless you want it to be). Again, I've only done chickens on my 22" this way but it seems that a turkey on a 26" would be similar.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

I haven't spatchcocked a turkey, just a chicken, but the leg/thigh area looks a little compact to me. I usually try to turn the drumsticks so they are pointing out a little further. If they have a little more breathing room they might cook a little faster. Imagine the ends of the drumsticks pointing at 8 and 4. Yours look a little more like 5 and 7 but it's hard to tell from the angle.

I also like to set up my charcoal baskets at approximately 10 and 2 with the legs pointing towards the baskets. I feel like having the heat closer to the legs/thighs helps that side cook a little faster. The red shapes are the baskets, the yellow square is my drip pan (the yellow circle is a melted onion but it's not really a part of the setup for a turkey unless you want it to be). Again, I've only done chickens on my 22" this way but it seems that a turkey on a 26" would be similar.

All of this makes perfect sense.  I'm definitely going to try it again...and again until I get it right!

[Jon]

When I cook a turkey, all the coals go to one side, the legs go closest to the coals. Legs are in the hottest area and breast is in the coolest area. Lid vent goes right above breast. That method has never failed me for my turkeys or chickens.


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This.

That has worked well for me.

[WNC]

Looks like you salvaged some good meat out of it at least.

Do a search for some basement cooks with the turkey. I've not done it, but they all seem to come out great. @jcnaz posted up a really great looking one a while ago.

[CharliefromLI]

+1 on the mike and austin plan of coals closer to dark side. works really well.

if you aren't spatchcocking. cooking bird upside down for first half of cook works to protect the breast some (thats my T-Day Plan).

Another alternative is to cool breast precook by placing ice packs on breast prior to cooking so it starts at a lower temp.

[MaxBobcat]

I've never spatchcocked a turkey, but when I spatchcock a chicken, I have found I get more even cooking by ,after spatchcocking, fully splitting the bird into two halves and then cooking that way.  just what i've noticed.  it also makes it easier to move the halves around the grill if I want heat on a specific area. 

[Mozfan00]

Interesting I've had little success with turkey mysef...  it's a problem bird for me

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[Craig]

Looks good! I did my first spatchcock turkey last year and had the coals banked to one side on my 26 Chief. About an hour and fifteen minutes in I spin the bird 180 degrees.  Was done in just over 2 hours. I'll have to dig to find pics of mine.

[Craig]

I found the pics. Maybe I didn't rotate mine. I thought I had but here it is from last year. I brined it in an apple sage brine for a day and a half.