Smoked Spatchcocked Turkey With Slow N Sear

[Cadifor]

First time poster. 
This past weekend I smoked a 10.5 lb spatchcocked turkey on my 22" Weber kettle. I salted under the skin an hour or so before cooking and added some herbed butter under there as well. I did about 5 qts of briquettes in my slow 'n sear, and filled the water reservoir completely, and put maybe 2 cups water in a foil pan under the turkey. I positioned the turkey with the legs closest to the heat and lid vent over the breast of the Turkey. Kept the temp about 350-375. Used apple chunks for smoke. Breast was at 160 after about 2 hours but legs were only at 155. The legs stayed at 155 for the next 40 minutes until I finally took the bird off because I had to get dinner on the table. Tented with foil and rested the bird for 20 minutes.  My wife says the breast meat was the best she ever tasted, but the legs were chewy and obviously under done. What went wrong? The only thing I can think of is that the legs were shielded from the heat by the water reservoir in the SNS, so the heat mostly wafted over the legs and onto the breast on its way it the vent, mostly missing the legs. I would like to do this recipe again if I can figure out how to get the legs up to temp before the breast dries out.

[jhagestad]

Welcome from Highland Park, Illinois (north of Chicago)! I'm not sure what could have happened, but the folks here will be able to help!

[HoosierKettle]

Looks good. I haven't encountered that problem but I don't use an sns or water.  I poor a full lit chimney in a semi circle around half or more of the grate. I place the bird breast side down on a rack in a roasting pan. It cooks half way breast down then half way breast up. All vents wide open.

I don't spatchcock either.


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[SMOKE FREAK]

Looks good. I haven't encountered that problem but I don't use an sns or water. 


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No need for SNS or water pan. Just my opinion.

[hawgheaven]

Looks good. I haven't encountered that problem but I don't use an sns or water. 


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No need for SNS or water pan. Just my opinion.

Ditto. I never use either one.

[MikaelB]

You turned the turkey the wrong way, abcbarbecue recommends legs should face away from the SnS. This helps getting the legs done at the same time as the breast and at a higher internal temperature, as you noted the rim is hotter. More at their homepage:
https://abcbarbecue.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/turkey-3-800x534.jpg

[View to a Grill]

I just smoked a turkey on my 26 using a SnS... did you rotate the bird at all?  If not try that next time.  Also the vent should be at the opposite side of the SnS.  I posted a video of my smoked turkey on YouTube,  check it out... channel...View to a Grill. 


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[M635_Guy]

It's strange, but the hottest part of the smoker is the outside for indirect.  I've done three chickens on my grill (I'm a noob) and they all came out great - think I was closer to 325F and most guidance seems to be 325F and 350F for turkey and chicken.  And legs to the outside edge works perfectly - they get more heat and arrive at the (higher) done temperature about the same time as the breast.  It's kinda crazy actually. 

Even with the volcano-shaped gadget I use for wings, it's the same thing:  The wings closest to the (stupid-hot) volcano are less-cooked than the ones at the edges of the grate.  But it works great!

[Redwng]

My executive chef brother learned many years ago doing a turkey (oven, grill or smoker) that when the breast hits 155 he cuts it from the legs and takes the breast off. The legs remain to cook to 165-170 and he cuts up the pieces on a platter and no one knows. He cuts the breast as one big piece and slices it perpendicular to the breast. Everyone is happy and NOTHING is over cooked.