Yoder Smokers Community Forum

Good morning to everyone!

I have a limited time to cook this year's turkey. I've had my Cheyenne for about six months, and have never attempted to keep the heat up at anything more than 250. Has anyone ever used a cheyenne or wichita to keep the temperature at around 350 for long enough to cook a turkey?

Was thinking of sptachcocking a 12-14 lb bird.

I've got plenty of wood... temperature looks like it will be in the mid 20's though. This will also be my first cook in cold weather.

I'm burning Cherry for what it's worth.

Any thoughts/Ideas/comments?

Thanks!

Stephen
Boise, Idaho

You will need to use a slightly larger fire, and allow more air in through the firebox damper so that the fire burns hotter and drafts the heat through the cooker. By doing this, you will obviously need to use more wood, more often.

Thank you Herb! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!

And cheap welding blankets and moving blankets will help keep the temp up for the cook.

First off.... Congats on taking on the challenge!! That can be an intimidating experience the first time. My only recommendation would be to start the smoker LONG before you want to put the bird on. You will want to get the smoker stable for a set time. You should have this feeling inside you that the temp has been stable too long! Once you're comfortable with a nice stable clean burning 350...... you can put the bird on and know that the final product will be killer.

With time you will know how to reach that stable temp, but don't be afraid to let that unit burn for a couple of hours to feel comfortable about putting the bird on.