[skou]

OK, for you ProQ Excel users, if you had 4 small turkeys, and one large turkey, where would you place them in the grill?  I'm going to do 2 smaller ones on 1 rack, and the larger one by itself.

I'm thinking, 2 small;
                 2 small;
and            1 large.
With the fire down here.

(If that posts the way I typed it, it should be a decent graphical representation.)

I was thinking, that the larger one will need more time, and I didn't want to be taking the larger one off, to get to the 4 smaller ones.  But, it's going to get the most heat, being on the bottom.

One more thing, are those cheap plastic pop-up turkey thermometers worth anything here? You know, the ones that come with the turkey?

[Crash]

I think your plan sounds good.  I'd definitely brine them all to avoid dry turkey.  I'd also keep an eye on internal temps (on all birds) every 20 minutes after the first 90 minutes of cooking.

[KidCurry]

Thats how I would lay them out.

My guess is you will use a lot of fuel to cook all those birds...should be fun though.

Good luck!!

[azkitch]

The pop up themometers from turkeys are ballast for your kitchen garbage can. Make sure they are firmly placed at the bottom of the garbage before beginning to cook your turkeys. (turkeies? har!)

[KidCurry]

kitch is right...toss them.

[skou]

Well, the birds have found their new home, for a few hours, at least.  Yes, the ProQ will hold 5 turkeys, with no problems at all.  (If I keep doing this, I'll need to get a few more Maverick therms.)

I've got sets of 5 necks and giblets, simmering away for gravy, too.  It's starting to smell like Thanksgiving around here.

steve

[skou]

Update!

Well, I've talked to the 3 people who got turkeys from my smoker, and they ALL were a success!  One of the guys from work, used to have a BGE, and he says my turkeys were as good as the Egg makes.

Now, here is a strange, (as Paul Harvey used to say) after I pulled the birds, I shut down all the vents.  This was about 3 PM on Thursday.  I just checked 50 hours later, and there's still lit coals in that smoker!  I looked at the thermo yesterday, and it was at 150F, but I didn't want to open it up, and give it more oxygen.  Today, I lifted the charcoal basket, shook it to settle the ash, and sealed (well, tried) it up again.  Since it is dark now, I was able to see some glowing, even after 50+ hours.  Since I didn't dump the ash the last time I cooked, I've got quite a full base, and I'm waiting until things cool down, before I dump it in the dumpster.  (All I need, is a dumpster fire!)

steve

[Mike P in Tucson]

No pictures???

I'm surprised the coals were still going.  When I shut my E20 down, it extinguishes the coals and they can be re-used.  But if you have only one vent just a teeny bit open, the coals won't go out.  So check to make suree all the vents were COMPLETELY closed.

[jmcrig]

Update!

Well, I've talked to the 3 people who got turkeys from my smoker, and they ALL were a success!  One of the guys from work, used to have a BGE, and he says my turkeys were as good as the Egg makes.

Now, here is a strange, (as Paul Harvey used to say) after I pulled the birds, I shut down all the vents.  This was about 3 PM on Thursday.  I just checked 50 hours later, and there's still lit coals in that smoker!  I looked at the thermo yesterday, and it was at 150F, but I didn't want to open it up, and give it more oxygen.  Today, I lifted the charcoal basket, shook it to settle the ash, and sealed (well, tried) it up again.  Since it is dark now, I was able to see some glowing, even after 50+ hours.  Since I didn't dump the ash the last time I cooked, I've got quite a full base, and I'm waiting until things cool down, before I dump it in the dumpster.  (All I need, is a dumpster fire!)

steve

Dumpster fire, cool. 

[skou]

Ok, so last night, I dumped the charcoal basket into my Weber kettle, after shaking out the ash.  This morning, everything was out, so I dumped the ash in the dumpster.  (Sorry, no dumpster fire, guys.)  Put the leftover charcoal into my chimney, and lit it.  Back into the basket, and put the Excel back together.  I noticed that there was a bit of something in one of the dampers on the bottom, so I spun it around to knock the stuff out.  Knocked out the tiny rock (or whatever) the hard way.  The pop-rivet broke, and I had the damper sitting in my hand.

I was firing it up, to see if it would go out the right way, but without the lower damper, it "ain't" gonna shut down.  Oh well, cool it down, bolt the damper back on, and try again.  I guess when I replace the broken lower rivet, I'll do the same for the upper rivet, since that damper is real tight.  I think it was the junk on the lower damper that was keeping it alive.

Oh, the Cards just scored a touchdown!  99 yard kickoff return.

steve