Easy Smoked Turkey Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep a turkey moist when smoking? ›

You can baste or spritz with chicken broth while smoking the turkey to help keep it moist as well as help crisp up that skin. The butter of this recipe will really get that skin crisp, so the spritzing is more to keep it from drying out.

At 225 degrees F, you can plan on it taking approximately 30 minutes per pound to smoke your turkey. Alternatively, if you are running your smoker at 250 degrees F, it will typically take 25 minutes per pound. For example, my 15-pound turkey took around 7 and 1/2 hours at 225 degrees F to fully cook.

Much like roasting, smoked turkey's success starts with seasoning the bird in advance. A dry brine of kosher salt will help keep the turkey moist during cooking.

Butter makes your turkey better

You may not need to double brine, but you can still maximize the moisture of the meat with a butter layer. Stuffing salted butter between the skin and meat will help baste and season the meat as it cooks.

SHOULD YOU WRAP TURKEY IN FOIL WHEN SMOKING? Unlike cooking a turkey in an oven, you won't want to wrap your turkey in aluminum foil for smoked turkey. If your turkey's wings are baking too quickly, you can cover them with foil, but otherwise, there's no need.

Completely thaw meat or poultry before smoking. Because smoking uses low temperatures to cook food, the meat will take too long to thaw in the smoker, allowing it to linger in the "Danger Zone" (temperatures between 40 and 140 °F) where harmful bacteria can multiply.

Hickory is a classic hard wood choice for smoking turkey for several reasons. It has a distinct flavor that is robust and very forward and is familiar to those who enjoy smoky flavors.

One of the benefits of smoking a turkey is that it's almost impossible to overcook anything in a smoker. The temperature remains low and the cooking is slow, resulting in perfectly moist and tender meat with a rich, complex flavor.

When smoking at 225°F, it can take about 30 to 45 minutes to cook one pound of turkey. That means a 12-pound turkey should take at least six hours to cook in a smoker. To smoke your turkey faster, increase the smoker's temperature to 250°F to 275°F.

The unsafe part of the method is the use of a trash bag and no refrigeration during marinating. Never use non-food grade materials as holding vessels for food.

What happens if you don't brine a turkey? ›

Brining a turkey is totally optional. If you're short on time or just want the most straight-forward method to roast a turkey, skip the brining step and just use the Simple Roasted Turkey method. Some people swear that brining yields the most tender, juicy meat, but it takes planning ahead.

Instead of a traditional wet brine, I recommend dry-brining. It's easier, nearly as effective at helping maintain juiciness, and far better for flavor.

Dry Brine. If you just took your wet brined turkey, seasoned it, and threw it in the smoker the skin won't crisp up because it's too wet. So you need to add another step in your smoked turkey preparation and that is drying out the skin and dry brining in your refrigerator. Do this at the same time.

Using olive oil mayonnaise bastes the turkey which enhances the flavor (especially when you mix with spices) and keeps it moist on the inside. And while the turkey is naturally basting with the mayonnaise, the mayonnaise helps the skin to get crispy because of its high smoke point.

Always smoke your turkey breast side down as this will allow the juices to collect in the breast, leaving no part of the turkey dry.

Water is always important… especially when you are trying to achieve a nice smoke ring for your turkey. Humidity plays a key role in this process as well. You can always achieve the temperatures you are trying to smoke at even with water in the water pan.