How To Smoke A Whole Turkey

This Smoked Turkey is the perfect turkey to serve on Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other day of the year. A Smoked Turkey turns out tender and delicious and will be your favorite way to prepare a turkey. Smoking a Turkey isn’t hard – just follow our step by step recipe and you will be a pro in no time!

Course Main Course, meat, smoked meat, turkey

Cuisine American

Keyword smoked meats, smoked turkey, thanksgiving, thanksgiving dinner, traeger, traeger grill, traeger meats, turkey

Prep Time 1 day

Cook Time 7 hours

Servings 10

Author AJ Maudsley

Ingredients

1 12-16 pound Turkey
6 Quarts Hot Water
16 oz Kosher Salt
8 oz Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Poultry Rub
1 Large Orange
5 Pounds Ice
3 Tbsp Butter or Oil for coating skin

Instructions

Remove neck and giblets from turkey
Rinse and remove any feathers left behind
Trim excess skin
Make Brining solution
Place Turkey breast side down and completely submerge for 12-24 hours
Set smoker to 180 degrees F
Smoke Turkey for 3 hours
Increase heat to 350 degrees F and cook for 3-4 more hours or until internal probe reads 165 degrees F
Remove from smoker and let rest for 15-30 minutes before carving.