I am not a pro. Been grilling/smoking for over 45 years. I have grilled and placed at the state fair competitions last century. Just love the art of outdoor cooking. If you make something that tastes the same every time you are not trying to improve your skills. Failure (or at least not as good as you thought it should be) is the key to unlocking new ideas in outdoor cooking. I understand when sharing your meals with family and friends going back to a tried and true grilling/smoking technique that produces a predictable product.
My opinion, whole birds need to be cooked at a higher temp for a shorter amount of time. Getting thin blue smoke to penetrate in 3-4 hours in a bird is really a hard feat to accomplish, every time you try it. I like my thanksgiving bird brined in salt and brown sugar, in the oven or grill at 350 degrees. to 155 degrees and rest.
One Idea I have is an amazen tube or tray lit from both ends, would it create twice as much thin blue smoke? Or does twice as much blue smoke equal thick smokey smoke that stinks? I have an amazen tube and tray if you are anal about getting the things lit correctly the contraptions really work well. MES, gas grill and weber kettle is what I use it in.
Another idea would be to use a cure, cold smoke then cook. I am afraid the Turkey might taste like ham a bit with the cure. That is essentially how I make Turkey legs.
Happy Thanksgiving -BEAT TEXAS