Bull Whole turkey cook time

[Jfortino]

I am smoking a whole turkey for Thanksgiving and wanted to get an idea of how long it will take. I am going to wet brine overnight with Cajun rub and will cook on my RT-700 at 350 degrees and I live in Tampa FL so weather will not be cold. We are getting a 14-16 lbs fresh turkey and I want to have an idea what to expect for cook time. Is there a standard formula for cook time per pound? Appreciate any help - this is my first turkey and I am hoping to crush it for Thanksgiving!!

 

[Mike]

@Jfortino first and foremost you should be cooking to temp, just keep that in mind. But for an average ball park figure, you can roughly guess around an hour per pound.

This is assuming you're cooking a whole turkey and not a spatchcock which tends to cook faster.

Most importantly though is the internal temp, which for a turkey would be around 165. Be sure to bookmark our Grilling Meat Temperature Chart for other meats.

 

[Jfortino]

Thanks for the reply! I do cook to temp...just looking for guidance so I can plan on all of the sides prepared together. I have a 14-16 lbs turkey and based on the 1-1.5 hour per pound I am looking at over 15 hours....that doesn’t sound right to me.

 

[Greg Jones]

At 350* I would roughly calculate 15 minutes per pound, or right around 4 hours for a 16# bird plus another 20-25 minutes to rest.

 

[Mike]

At 350* I would roughly calculate 15 minutes per pound, or right around 4 hours for a 16# bird plus another 20-25 minutes to rest.

Good catch Greg. I totally missed the 350 temp.

 

[Buckeye1]

I did a 14 lb spatchcock turkey that took 3 hours. I did first hour at 180 to get some smoke flavor then cranked up to 350.

 

[Beach Bum]

I have done a 20 pounder at 350 with a smoke tube tossed in the grill. Greg's time of 15 minutes per pound is solid based on how mine went. I did not spatch that bird. Guessing it would be a fair bit shorter if I did.

 

[Jfortino]

Thanks for all of your comments...very helpful!!!

 

[PhillySmoke]

I did a 14 lb spatchcock turkey that took 3 hours. I did first hour at 180 to get some smoke flavor then cranked up to 350.

Same

I did a ~11# one a two weeks ago with outside temp about 50 degrees and it took about 2.5 hours. Spatchcock and dry brined for 26 hours before. Pulled at 160.

 

[DD owner]

I did a 14 lb spatchcock turkey that took 3 hours. I did first hour at 180 to get some smoke flavor then cranked up to 350.

Exactly how i did one last week! Turned out great, and i even let it get to 175 internal.

 

[Beach Bum]

I did a 14 lb spatchcock turkey that took 3 hours. I did first hour at 180 to get some smoke flavor then cranked up to 350.

Has anyone ever tried this approach with a really big spatchcocked bird (20-22 pound range)? We do one this size every year. Normally I just start at 325-350 and keep it at that temperature the entire time.

I like the idea of spending some time at 180 at the start to capture more smoke. I'm debating how long I can keep that up before cranking up the heat, while not running into poultry danger zone issues. The bird would come out from an iced brine bucket and be really cold when it hits the smoker.

 

[VanBull]

I just did my first smoke on my new RT-700. Test bird was 20 lbs. 24 hour brine. Two hours at 225 then bumped to 360 2 hours. Total cook time 4 hours and perfect at 165. Best bird yet. Doing two 16 pincers together next. Love my RT

 

[Beach Bum]

I just did my first smoke on my new RT-700. Test bird was 20 lbs. 24 hour brine. Two hours at 225 then bumped to 360 2 hours. Total cook time 4 hours and perfect at 165. Best bird yet. Doing two 16 pincers together next. Love my RT

Thanks for the details, that will be helpful! Picked up our bird today. It weighed in at 23 pounds, so looks like leftovers and gifts for some neighbors coming up. That big guy has a date with the brine bucket tomorrow morning.

 

[TheRicker]

Thanks for the reply! I do cook to temp...just looking for guidance so I can plan on all of the sides prepared together. I have a 14-16 lbs turkey and based on the 1-1.5 hour per pound I am looking at over 15 hours....that doesn’t sound right to me.

Good intuition. That doesn't sound right to me either...at least not with the temp setting at 350. I'm kind of old school and have used Paul Kirk's "Championship Barbecue" book as my BBQ bible. He goes through a lot of background that helps one understand the whole process. And, he does have a lot of recipes in it as well. But I enjoyed it more with a few stories and all the extra dialog about his cooks. That said, he says a whole turkey should take anywhere from 8 - 12 hours at 230-250 degrees. He doesn't say how big the bird is starting out. My best educated guess is a 10 - 12lb bird would be on the low end of that time/range and a 16 or more on the high end.

I've had a pellet grill for almost 15 years. I've never done turkey on it. I used the Alton Brown method in the oven. But this year, I'm doing a 12lb spatchcocked turkey and a 5lb turkey breast. My plan is to do both on the RT-700. From YouTube videos I've watched (wood pellet grills), the spatchcocked turkey should take 4 - 4 1/2 hours and the breast should take 3 - 3 1/2 at 325 degrees. I'm not 100% sure the breast will fit on the grill with the spatchcocked turkey. Worst case, the spatchcocked turkey will be done on the grill and the breast in the indoor oven if need be. Hopefully, they'll both fit on the RT-700...which is why I bought it...larger grill surface.

One other note I'll add about poultry on the pellet grill. If you plan to keep a turkey whole or maybe even standing it up ala beer can chicken, you need to make sure you have enough room. My experience has been a whole turkey, breast side up, gets kind of close to the inside of the lid of the smoker. Doesn't sound so concerning until you realize afterwards that there's a bit more heat up inside that lid and the top of the poultry will brown quicker before the rest of the bird is done. That experience was mostly from beer can chicken but I had the same issue in the indoor oven with a 17-lb turkey before. So you may need to tent the top a bit sometime during the cook.

Good luck.

 

[WooPigFoodie]

I did my 17 pounder at 180 fir two hours then 350 until 160 in the breast (2.5 hours) then let it rest and raise to 165. Was a juice beast.

 

[Beach Bum]

I wound up doing our 23# bird the same way. It went two hours at 180 and another three and a half hours at 350. Glad I had my father in law to help carve this one. His dad was a butcher, so he sure learned how to carve. What a great turkey and plenty to share with friends who could not be with us that night.

 

[VanBull]

I wound up doing our 23# bird the same way. It went two hours at 180 and another three and a half hours at 350. Glad I had my father in law to help carve this one. His dad was a butcher, so he sure learned how to carve. What a great turkey and plenty to share with friends who could not be with us that night.

I delivered 1 whole turkey to family and half to neighbor. All enjoyed these 4 hour 16 pounders

 

[dosmas2xs]

@Jfortino first and foremost you should be cooking to temp, just keep that in mind. But for an average ball park figure, you can roughly guess around an hour per pound.

This is assuming you're cooking a whole turkey and not a spatchcock which tends to cook faster.

Most importantly though is the internal temp, which for a turkey would be around 165. Be sure to bookmark our Grilling Meat Temperature Chart for other meats.

Agreed about the temp over time, but you're waaaaay off base on the 1hr / lb info. An actual real time is roughly 15 min+ @ 350 and maybe 25min+ @ 265. Keep in mind the danger zone of Meat under 140 for too long.

 

[dosmas2xs]

I have done a 20 pounder at 350 with a smoke tube tossed in the grill. Greg's time of 15 minutes per pound is solid based on how mine went. I did not spatch that bird. Guessing it would be a fair bit shorter if I did.

How were the results with a smoke tube? I'm torn between adding a tube or going low, maybe 220 for 2hours and then up to 350 for the remaining time. My fear that low is not getting over 140 in 3 hours.

 

[Beach Bum]

I changed my approach last year to start a couple hours low and then push it up to 350 to finish. If you are worried about getting up to temperature sooner, you could cut off at 90 minutes for the first step and then raise the temperature. I did a full two hours on low and then up to 350 to finish. That was a 23 pound bird and results were great. I have generally gone with a 4 hour limit to hit 140 for safety.