So I'm doing a Turducken. I have a few questions. How long do you think this solid hunk of meat will take to cook at 350? I plan on a 3lb. chicken, 5lb. duck and a 14lb turkey. If I put it in a roasting pan will it take on less smoke flavor? I want to put it on the bottom rack to leave to top rack open for wings and abts. What I would like to do is put it in a roasting pan on the lower rack and smoke at 350 until done then deglaze the roast pan for gravy. I'm thinking it might take about 8 hours.

I did a turducken last year. I did it in the oven not on the smoker. Doing it at 350* will burn the outside and leave the inside raw. You have to remember it's not a hollow turkey. I did it at 225* in the oven for 13 hrs. You need a thermometer with a long probe. You have to make sure you take the temp in the center of the meat. It's not like taking the temp in the breast or thigh. It came out juicy and delicious. It's very time consuming assembling it. You need 2-3 people. Good luck.

It should be more like 5 at that temp, give or take 20. I am assuming those are bone-in weights...?

If you start the turducken in a pan, pan covered in foil and sealed tightly, and cook 3.5-4 hours that way, you shouldn't have a problem with the exterior cooking too fast. Remove the foil for the last hour or so. At that point you can add some smokewood. The pan will not stop smoke from adhering. (I don't use smokewood with them.)

If you low/slow foil is unnecessary of course. They take much longer, as Tony notes. Up to you.

Would it be possible to cook it in stages? I won't be cooking it at my house, but I could do some of the cooking the day before and finish it the next day. I was thinking 350 just because that it then temperature at which I normally cook turkey. If I were to smoke it at 225 could I smoke it for 8 hours at my house, refrigerate, then smoke it for an additional 6 hours or so the following day? The maximum amount of time I would have on the day in which it will be eaten is about 8 hours.

Hmm. Let me think on that one.

You could compromise and simply cook it hotter than 225--like ~275. My concern with stages is that you'd really need to get it to 160 internal all over to then feel safe to cool it (which will take a while) before finishing it. I'd have quality concerns with that approach. Cooking it to less than 160 during the first stage would give me safety concerns because of the amount of handling required to fashion a turducken.

I think I'd just cook it hotter-- ~275 --if I wanted a longer cook than a low/slow but not as fast as higher heat.