Turkey in a primavera 60

[The Big O]

Hi all,

Looking to do a turkey in the primavera 60. Does anyone know what size bird can fit through the oven opening?

Thanks

[HeidiL2011]

Hi The Big O,

The opening of the oven is 9.5 in high and 16 inches wide. I don't know how big of a bird would fit, I would assume it would need to be small.

Hopefully someone on here will be able to answer this question.

[david s]

Given that the diam. of the primavera is 24" and assuming its internal height is 12" then a 9.5" door height would be 80% of the internal dome height. Doesn't sound right to me. My oven has an internal diam of 21" and will just fit a 5Kg turkey under the oven door.

[The Big O]

I have a 12.5 pound turkey, I'm thinking that's 5-6Kg that should fit through the opening. I'll have to do a test fit first. My next question is will I be using a live fire or radiant heat (no fire) to cook this turkey?

[The Big O]

5Kg....about 12Lb. I think that should fit through the oven door. My next question is will I be using a live fire or radiant heat (no fire) to cook it?

[SableSprings]

I know this may sound silly, but I took a tape measure to the grocery store and actually measured various sized turkeys before buying. What I didn't note at the time is the height added by the pan/roaster rack under the turkey. Also be aware that since the oven opening is not rectangular in many WFOs, you can have tight fits (or problems) at the sides with a bigger turkey if the legs aren't tied in to the body.

Incidentally, if you haven't tried a dry brine on a turkey...it's something worth looking into. We did ours last year that way and it's a whole lot less work and definitely less messy. The best part was that with less work and mess, it had all the great flavors we'd come to expect from "wet brine" birds.

[david s]

Originally Posted by The Big O

I have a 12.5 pound turkey, I'm thinking that's 5-6Kg that should fit through the opening. I'll have to do a test fit first. My next question is will I be using a live fire or radiant heat (no fire) to cook this turkey?

Generally for roasting you use the stored heat to cook rather than using an active fire, you don't want to burn the bird. Because it's a big roast and the oven is small, I'd be pumping a fair bit of heat into the oven then wait until it has dropped to roasting temp. Place the bird in when the oven is about 40F more than you would think because the bird will pull some heat out of the oven. It will then get a good initial hot roasting and then a more gentle slow roast.

[The Big O]

Thank you all for the replies and suggestions. I'll be sure to post pics of the roasting turkey as it cooks.

Thanks again.

The Big O

[Les]

My opening is 12.5 high x 19 wide. I cooked a 22 lb. turkey last year with no problems. Going through my notes it looks like the temp was around 500 deg. Cooks a little under 6 lbs an hour. I hope my notes are correct because I'm doing it again.

[The Big O]

Great ...thanks for sharing, if you can forward me those notes...