Question for the assembled wise elders of the board. I recently did a test run on a 14-lb bird utilizing the apple-brined recipe Chris has up on the main site. Per the instructions, lit two full chimneys of K, waited until they began to ash over, dumped them, added a few hunks of almond wood, put the turkey on, and waited for the temp to come up to the 325-350 range with all of the vents running wide open. Problem was the temp never came up much past 275. At one point I propped the door open which only brought the temps up to 300 or so. I then got down on my knees and tried fanning air into the cooker, which managed to briefly get the number up to 325 for a few minutes only to then tail back off to 275.

Bottom line - I was planning on getting the cook done in the 2 1/2 to 3 hour range, but because of the lower temps (and the fact that I had a social obligation to attend) I had to pull the bird at 4 hours when it was only at 155 or so in the breast. Having learned from many threads on this board recovery techniques, I double-wrapped in HD, left the bird breast down in a cooler until I was able to return two hours or so later. I then popped it in the oven at 325 for another 15 minutes or so. End result was pretty awesome - God Bless the Brine!

I know that I can get my cooker up over 400 with the Minion method. (I learned that the hard way trying my hand at K Kruger's high-heat brisket method, only to discover that my cheapo vent thermometer was broken when the meat was already on the fire. By the time I ran to the local restaurant supply store, bought a new thermometer, and got back to the cooker, I was running well over 400. For a rookie like me, seems like there's always an adventure and some drama involved in this sport.)

So the question is pretty basic - should I try the Standard method again, or can I Minion the cook?

Welcome Mordechai!

1st off, don't call me old ! And I have been called wise, but there's always been another word attached to it...

If you want to run with the high heat cook, then use the standard method. The MM, uses a lot few coals to start with, thus your temps will take a lot longer to get up there. There's a few reasons why you may have had trouble getting up to temp.

1. Did you use an empty water pan? If you had water, sand or a clay saucer in it; that would have acted as a heat sink and limited your temps.

2. Were all of your vents (top and bottom) wide open? If not, they needed to be. Keep your top vent open all the time and adjust the bottom vents as the temps come up as needed.

3. The 2 chimneys you lit, were they full and how full was your charcoal ring? A 14 lb bird is a pretty good heat sink and will affect how quickly the WSM gets up to temp. When you pulled the bird, were there still coals going?

Paul

Sir Paul, it's been my experience that the best advice often comes from those with a decent amount of mileage on the odometer of life. I've also discovered an overlap between that segement of the population and the irreverent wisea** population. Go figure.

As for the particulars:

1. Water pan was foiled empty and I had a foil pan to catch the drippings for gravy. No sand or clay saucer.
2. All the vents - bottom and top - were wide open.
3. Chimneys were full to the brim. Dumped them when the flames were going strong at the top, and most of the coals were ashed over or beginning to go gray. I don't think that the two chimneys filled the entire charcoal ring.
4. When I pulled the bird, the coals were still going, but definitely looked somewhat spent.

If I'm understanding the process, I'm looking to get the cooker up to temp pretty quickly in an effort to crisp the outer skin and not have the fat render and dribble out. (Even though crisp skin is way down on my list of goals here - I'll take the moist juicy tasty meat any day over the skin.)

K? What's that? I did a cook Sunday with 1 1/2 chimneys of lit lump and was up to 375 heading to 400 in no time.
Mordechai, welcome. Give lump a shot.
Elder, yes. Wise? Eh!

quote:

Originally posted by Mordechai F:
... I've also discovered an overlap between that segement of the population and the irreverent wisea** population. Go figure.

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Bill

Dave: I have yet to try lump, but I'm looking forward to it. Seems like there are two tribes here - those who belong to the Church of Lump; and those sinners who take the easy way out with K. (Currently I be a sinner.) Am I correct in understanding that lump burns hotter? And if I Minion the bird, am I better off with lump as opposed to K, since the coals will be lighting off the entire time?

Bill: Then it sounds like your the right kind of fellow to have a drink or three with...