Smoked Turkey
Create the most juicy and tender turkey ever with this Smoked Turkey recipe! It's easy to make with a 24 hour brine, homemade rub, and trip to the smoker with a butter baste. After you cook a turkey on the smoker, this will be your favorite cooking method for turkey! It's delicious for Thanksgiving, but so good that you should make it year-round!
Ingredients
Turkey brine
- 20 pound turkey, you can use any turkey that's between 15-20 pounds for this recipe
- 2 gallons water
- 1 cup sea salt
- ½ cup sugar
- 12 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
Turkey rub and basting
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 1 cup butter, divided - softened/melted
Instructions
Brine the turkey
- Bring 4 cups of water to boil on the stove in a saucepan.
- Stir in the salt and sugar until it's dissolved in the boiling water.
- Remove the water from the stove and let it cool to room temperature before brining the turkey. You can add ice cubes to cool it down quicker.
- Remove any giblets from inside the turkey and place the turkey in a large tub. I used this 26 quart tub for a 20 pound turkey.
- Pour the brine over the turkey in the large brining tub.
- Add more cold water to the tub, until the turkey is completely covered.
- Add thyme springs and black peppercorns to the brine.
- Cover the tub with a lid or plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 18-24 hours to brine.
Rub the turkey
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, paprika, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, ground cloves, oregano and thyme to make the dry rub.
- Remove the turkey from the brine, rinse it with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Spread 2 tablespoons softened butter under the skin, over the breasts, of the turkey. I like to use cooking-safe disposable gloves for this.
- Sprinkle the rub over the entire turkey until it’s fully covered.
- Use butchers twine to truss the legs and tuck the wing tips underneath the bird.
Smoke the turkey
- Preheat a smoker to 275°F. Fill the smoker with maple, hickory or apple wood or pellets.
- Place the turkey directly on the grill grates in the smoker.
- While the turkey is smoking, brush 1 tablespoon of melted butter on the turkey every 60 minutes.
- Plan for 15 minutes per pound of turkey (approximately 5 hours for a 20 lb turkey).
- Remove from the smoker when the internal temperature of the thickest part of the turkey breast reaches 160°F on a meat thermometer.
- Let the turkey rest for 30 minutes before carving and serving.
Notes
- If the turkey is frozen, be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator. You should thaw the turkey one day per 4-5 pounds, so if the turkey is 15 pounds, you’ll want to move it from the freezer to the fridge at least 3 days before brining the turkey.
- You will need a whole shelf in the fridge to brine the turkey. If you can’t fit a tub with the turkey in your fridge, use these brining bags instead and place the turkey in a cooler. Surround the turkey in the brine bag with ice, and store the cooler in the garage, where it’s likely much colder than inside your house.
- The cooking time for smoked turkey will vary based on a number of things. For this reason, I always recommend using temperature, not time, to determine when to remove the turkey from the smoker. I recommend putting the turkey on earlier for a holiday meal. It can always rest after it’s smoked, but you can’t speed up the cooking time on the smoker. If the turkey is done early, wrap it in butcher paper and place it in a cooler without ice for up to 4 hours. This will keep the meat warm, without overcooking it.
- Plan for 1 pound of turkey person. This will allow for removal of the bones and carcass, and will leave you with some leftovers.
- For carving instructions, refer to the blog post above.
Nutrition Facts
Calories 585kcal (29%)Carbohydrates 13g (4%)Protein 70g (140%)Fat 28g (43%)Saturated Fat 11g (55%)Polyunsaturated Fat 5gMonounsaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0.2gCholesterol 256mg (85%)Sodium 6463mg (269%)Potassium 780mg (22%)Fiber 1g (4%)Sugar 11g (12%)Vitamin A 768mg (15%)Vitamin C 2mg (2%)Calcium 74mg (7%)Iron 3mg (17%)
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