I've been pellet smoking turkeys for Thanksgiving for over 20 years. Have always enjoyed them. They are 1000% better than oven roasted birds. This year, our Thanksgiving was interrupted with a visit to the hospital, so my 14lb. turkey was on my MAK from 8:30AM until 7:45 PM on Smoke (175F). When we got home from the hospital, we cranked the MAK to 350F to finish off the bird.
It was too late for the "full meal deal" so we let the turkey cool down, wrapped it in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge, intending to heat it up on Friday and enjoying our Thanksgiving then. Didnt happen. Back to ER on Friday. And a hospital stay through Sunday. FINALLY!!! Sunday night, we got to tuck into our Thanksgiving bird.
In ALL the years I've smoked turkeys, this was THE BEST EVER! So wonderfully smoky. When my wife cooked the carcass for soup, you could SMELL the smoke in the living room from the bones being boiled. It was amazing! Next year, I'll do the same thing, sans hospital. Just thought you might want to consider doing the same length of smoke if you're going to do a turkey sometime this holiday season, or next year. This is going to be my "go to" technique from here on out.