Assuming you want to kind of use your smoker as a wood fired oven, has anyone cooked a turkey in a traditional roasting pan to preserve the juices for basting and gravy?

Assuming you want to kind of use your smoker as a wood fired oven, has anyone cooked a turkey in a traditional roasting pan to preserve the juices for basting and gravy?

I've always done it in a roasting pan, but for some reason the drippings dry up a lot more than in a standard oven. Maybe because I don't cover the bird with foil in the pellet grill.

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Thanks.  Good info on the drippings.  Maybe I'll seed the pan with some liquid.

Your not missing much in the way of drippings on a smoker cooking whole chickens or turkeys so long as your using enough heat (300*) or more.

Unlike the traditional oven and pan method that leaves the faucet running under the bird , the entire bird is getting heat and air flowing around it crisping up the outside. This is why so many people enjoy a whole bird deep fried, crispy outside all the way around and lots of tender juicy meat inside.

I did a 20 pound turkey yesterday, the catch can had maybe 3 ounces of juice in it when the bird finished this was cooked on a PG 500 at 315* for 3.5 hours and I let them rest a minimum of an hour before slicing another half hour is even better so you don't have juices running out when served they stay plenty hot under foil and towels.

Bottom side was just as crispy and sealed as the top:

Awesome looking Bird. Zone 4. Good Job!

Awesome looking Bird. Zone 4. Good Job!

Thanks!

It was delicious, I prefer to cook whole birds by removing the backbone completely and notching the cartilage in the breasts to allow them to lay flat they cook more evenly and it seems to shorten the time needed for them to finish.

"Spatchcocking" is the term used I believe to flatten them, only way I cook them these days.

Assuming you want to kind of use your smoker as a wood fired oven, has anyone cooked a turkey in a traditional roasting pan to preserve the juices for basting and gravy?

I use liquid chicken stock.