Year of the kettle, test run for Thanksgiving! & Question.

[Shadowdog500]

Earlier this year I was actually thinking about selling my Weber Performer because I hadn’t used it in years. That’s until I bought a Slow N Sear. Now I haven’t used anything but my performer.

I decided to dig out my Weber rotis attachment which I haven’t used in years to make a test bird for thanksgiving. The chicken came out pretty darn good! The ribs that I made on it earlier in the day weren’t too shabby either.

Question: Years ago I had a Weber guide that told roughly how many briquettes to put in the baskets to achieve a certain temperature range. It also indicated how many briquettes to add per hour to maintain that temp range. You had to compensate for the weather conditions but it usually put you in the ballpark which is good enough. Does anyone have this info handy? I winged it with full baskets to begin with and added about 7 coals per side every half hour.

 

[Jason TQ]

Love some test birds!

 

[Mike Twangzer]

You da expert !!!! Lookes great !!! How big of bird are you going to do ?

 

[kevinstaggs]

No doubt kettles are great machines. You can do anything with em. Glad to hear you reconnected with an old friend.

 

[Stingerhook]

Sure am purty!

 

[Shadowdog500]

You da expert !!!! Lookes great !!! How big of bird are you going to do ?

We ordered a 12 to 14 lb. fresh turkey from the local butcher. We pick it up the day before thanksgiving and plan to brine it.

We usually make fresh butterball but we decided to try one from the local butcher where we have been buying our steaks.

 

[sudsandswine]

When I use my rotisserie for a turkey, I start with one FULL chimney of briquettes, which fills each of the two baskets to their max. I use the intake and exhaust to regulate temp. Depending on the size of the turkey, I usually need to add some more briqs to make it through the last hour or so of the cook. I light 1/3 - 1/2 a chimney for this, remove the spit rod and turkey, and pour the new lit coals into the baskets. I don't add unlit briquettes because I dont want any off flavors as they're trying to catch fire.

 

[Shadowdog500]

When I use my rotisserie for a turkey, I start with one FULL chimney of briquettes, which fills each of the two baskets to their max. I use the intake and exhaust to regulate temp. Depending on the size of the turkey, I usually need to add some more briqs to make it through the last hour or so of the cook. I light 1/3 - 1/2 a chimney for this, remove the spit rod and turkey, and pour the new lit coals into the baskets. I don't add unlit briquettes because I dont want any off flavors as they're trying to catch fire.

Thanks for answering my question. My old Weber book (which I can’t find) gave # of coals to get in the proper range, The new books only give temps. Of course my original kettle and original 18” WSM didn’t have temperature gauges on them.

I’ll use my Smokey Joe as the chimney holder for subsequent charcoals.

 

[Lynn Dollar]

I have my Weber book that came with my 1989 Kettle, here's a pic of the page that I think you're speaking of

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Delete, double post

 

[Big George's BBQ]

That chicken looks amazing

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

Another trick that works well with roto turkey is to move your baskets towards the tail end of the bird. It keeps the breast meat from getting done before the thighs, which can take more heat without drying out.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I have my Weber book that came with my 1989 Kettle, here's a pic of the page that I think you're speaking of

Thanks a million! That is the exact table I was looking for!
I thanked your double post as well because I liked the first one so much.

As I said in my previous post, the kettles didn’t have thermometers back then and this table worked more than good enough to get the job done.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Another trick that works well with roto turkey is to move your baskets towards the tail end of the bird. It keeps the breast meat from getting done before the thighs, which can take more heat without drying out.

Thanks for the tip! Not sure if I can move the baskets due to the drip pan, but I can probably shift the turkey on the spit to get the same effect.

 

[Shadowdog500]

That chicken looks amazing

Thanks! We really liked it, and it wasn’t much effort other than dropping some coals in at the half hour and hour mark.

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

Thanks for the tip! Not sure if I can move the baskets due to the drip pan, but I can probably shift the turkey on the spit to get the same effect.

Yes if you move the bird and the drip pan the baskets should have room.
I don't have baskets so it's not a big deal.