Smoked Turkey

A Smoked Turkey is one of the most delicious foods to come off of a smoker, it has so much flavor! Smoking a turkey is easy, first its a great way to make a Thanksgiving turkey BUT tasty enough to make just because.

If you own a smoker and have never made a Smoked Turkey, stop what you are doing - no matter the time of year - and get yourself a turkey, stat! We do love smoking a turkey in summer or making smoked turkey legs or a smoked turkey breast.

If you do not own a smoker, buy a turkey and give it to your sibling, neighbor or best friend who does have one and get them to smoke it for you! Once you dig in to that deliciousness, you will be ordering yourself a smoker, lol!

After have one to many tasty bites from friends who have smokers, enough was enough and years ago my husband and I purchased our first smoker and started tinkering. And I am SO happy we did!

Why You'll LOVE this Smoked Turkey recipe

• This smoked turkey recipe is so flavorful, with a beautiful smoky flavor. The meat is moist and if you catch the drippings you can make one heck of a tasty gravy!
• In my opinion it is a low maintenance way to cook a turkey.
• It is something different to do with a whole turkey, turkey breast, or turkey legs.
• No oven needed which saves room for all of the other things.
• I like to cook one turkey in the oven and a second on the smoker, giving people their choice of turkey as well as ensuring leftovers for meeeee!

Smoked Turkey Ingredients

• Brine ingredients - water, chicken stock, salt, peppercorns, brown sugar, onion, bay leaves
• Turkey
• Oil and butter
• Fresh herbs like sage, tarragon, thyme and rosemary
• Wood chips. We like to use a combination of apple and maple or a blend made up of hickory/apple/maple/oak however feel free to experiment with your favorite flavor(s).
• Optional: Dry rub

Equipment

• Smoker
• Large pot, bowl or turkey bag

Instructions Smoking a Turkey

• Make sure your turkey is completely thawed (if it had been previously frozen).
• Remove the neck and gizzard bag from the turkey cavities and carefully rinse the bird inside and out.
• Drip off and pat dry with paper towels.
• Prepare turkey brine and place turkey in the brine, place it in your refrigerator overnight or for up to a day.
• Remove turkey from the brine (discard the brine), drip off, pat dry inside and out and allow it to sit for 45-60 minutes.
• Stuff turkey with a stick of butter, two onion quarters, fresh sage, thyme, tarragon and rosemary.
• Rub your turkey with grapeseed or olive oil or melted butter, and season with kosher salt and pepper. If you want to use your favorite rub, go right ahead. It works with or without a rub that compliments poultry.
• Preheat smoker to 250 degrees, place turkey right on the rack (have a pan under on a lower rack or wherever you maybe able to set it to catch juice for making gravy). Smoked gravy is magical!!
• Cook turkey for about 22 minutes per pound or until temperature deep in leg (but not touching bone) is about 155. Allow to stand for 20-30 minutes before carving.
• You can choose to baste with melted butter (or a combo of melted butter and chicken broth) once or twice after the first 2 hours, just know that each time you open your smoker, you set the bird back a bit timewise, plus you may disrupt your rub if you chose to use one.

Smoked Turkey Tips

• I suggest aiming for a 12-15 pound turkey vs a large 22-25+ or so pound bird (most likely would end up dry). If your smoker can fit two smaller 11-13 pound birds go for it (leftovers are the best part!!)
• Make sure your turkey is fully thawed.
• I suggest brining your turkey overnight or for a day. I feel that brining it not only adds some moisture, it also helps the turkey cook a little faster. You can of course choose a dry salt brine or no brine at all and can still smoke the turkey.
• Note: If you happened to purchase a pre brined or ingested turkey, do not brine as it will be too salty. These are not available everywhere, just wanted to point out they do exist.
• I prefer brining in a huge bowl or pot, less mess. If you opt to use a turkey bag, double up just in case.
• Place a disposable pan under your bird on a lower rack, or bottom, wherever you can to catch the juices to use for your gravy. Smoked grave is life-altering delicious!
• Pull your turkey when the temp is around 155+ the temperature will continue to rise. I find pulling a bit lower vs the recommended 165 ensures a juicy turkey that is still perfectly cooked. Just be sure when you take the temp you are not hitting bone.
• Often I will raise the smoker temperature to 275 for the last 45 minutes of cooking.
• If your breast skin is damaged in any way and the meat is exposed when you open the turkey, tent with foil after the first 45 minutes.
• Tie legs together loosely and after turkey is nicely browned, cover your wings and legs with a bit of foil as well to prevent any burning.

What kind of wood chips are best to smoke a turkey?

• I would say personal preference. If you have a wood chip flavor you enjoy, go for it. We like to use a mix of apple and hickory wood chips. I would say stay away from mesquite for this. I am personally not a fan of it in general.

Leftover turkey recipes

I swear that these Leftover Turkey Balls made with turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing are one of the best bites of the year! Good enough to make just because too!

You may also like

• Smoked Mac and Cheese is a must make!!
• Turkey Rice Burritos - Great for lunch!
• Mashed Potato Pie - Perfect when you have leftover mashed potatoes.
• Loaded Skillet Potatoes - Another leftover mashed potato recipe idea.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for smoking a turkey! Stay tuned for my smoky turkey gravy recipe! xo - Colleen

Colleen Kennedy is the author of 3 cookbooks and has appeared on QVC and other shows inspiring home cooks of all levels. She has a popular TikTok channel @ColleensCooking with hundreds of short recipe videos. Colleen lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and kids, she started the food blog, Soufflé Bombay in 2009. Read more about her here.