Catching Drippings from a Turkey on a Cookie Sheet

KosherSmoker

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Traeger Silverton 620
I'm brand new to all of this, with just 3 meals under my belt on the Traeger. I'm going to be adventurous and try to cook a spatchcocked 13lb Turkey on my Traeger 620 for Thanksgiving.
I want to make sure to catch the drippings, but also want to be sure the bird gets the convection currents all the way around.
The drip tray that came with the grill measures 19" x 14", but that lets the juices run off.
A standard cookie sheet is 17 1/2 x 12 1/2. Can I use a new, clean cookie sheet to catch the drippings?
If not, What would you recommend to do that?
Thanks for the advice!!
-M
 
It might work, but the problem you will face is that the drippings will evaporate quickly and the residue will burn. If you try this you will need to keep adding water regularly to the cookie sheet.
 
Thanks, MidwestSmoker.
The way you answered makes me think that it's not a normal thing to capture drippings at all, which would surprise me.
Is that the case? Or do you just capture them in the bucket below the smoker?
Thanks.
-M
 
I am going to be smoking a turkey for the first time tomorrow, so I am not an expert on this. I am basing it on what happened when I smoked whole chickens. The grease bucket primarily gets grease produced by large cuts like briskets and butts. There is little water in the grease bucket as it mostly evaporates during a long cook.

Chickens and turkeys are lean and produce relatively little grease but have more water. When I cooked chickens with a drip pan all that water still evaporated away and the little amount of fat just burned in the pan. You may have better luck with a turkey, but I decided it is not worth the trouble. I am planning to cook the neck on the stovetop to make the gravy.
 
seems catching them in the bucket wouldn't be the most sanitary solution. They of course would have to drip through the grease drain for that........but I will say my bucket was pretty fully of drippings this past Saturday
 
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Based on advice I received here, I did t try to catch the drippings. We instead used the neck and back along with chicken broth and a little white wine and the same herbs we used for seasoning to make a beautiful gravy.
As for the Spatchcocked turkey, I don’t think it could have been any more delicious or beautiful.
Followed one of the recipes in the app for timings and temperatures. 225 degrees until the breast reached 100, then 359 until it hit 165.
Still enjoying the leftovers!
M
 

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