Hub, I'm definitely not the first to get it right but I agree that there seem to be a fair number of "okay" reports, and even a few fails. Looking down the first page here, I see turkey cooks described as "awesome" and "amazing", so others have had great success before I came along. I do understand that a picture of the bird hanging would be very helpful, but I simply didn't think of it at the time. I've always been more of a "words guy". Details of the cook are in original post, so I'll describe what happened prior to that here.
If you picture any of the the shots we've seen of whole birds hanging in the cooker, then imagine them sliced right down the middle with each half hanging on its own bar, that's my cook. I hung them with the breast down and spine parallel to the bars, not vertical like the chicken halves we see here. In each side, I put one hook near the wing and one just forward of the tail. Had originally planned on using three hooks on each side since this was such a heavy bird, but with the spine still in place for strength it was clear that two would be enough.
I started the coals with the method I am now comfortable with after trying a few things. I just couldn't make it work when following PBC's included instructions for a chimney light.
- Fill basket, then remove 50 coals to chimney
- Light with two sheets of rolled newsprint and let burn 15 minutes
- Pour lit coals over those in basket and distribute evenly, then let burn with lid off for 10 minutes
- Place lid on cooker and wait 10 minutes more
- Add wood chunks and hang meat
Since we've been speaking of pictures I have to say I would LOVE to have a shot of my daughter's face when she walked into the kitchen that morning and saw me standing at the sink holding a running Sawzall as I was about to slice down through the spine. She showed great restraint and uttered just one comment - "Is that even sanitary?".
Please feel free to follow with any specific questions you may have. Happy to help!
