The Gas Grill Review and Gas Grill Rating Guide - Helping you choose the Best Gas Grill

How to Smoke a Turkey

Use this search feature to quickly find the information you're looking for.

Knowing how to smoke a turkey will set you apart from the crowd. Oven roasted turkey is for turkeys! Fried turkey is for crazy people! You have a smoker, right? Of course you do, so why would you want to do it any other way?

Smoking a turkey is really simple. I only do this once a year, so I don't feel the need to come up with new rubs and techniques. I just do what works. And smoked turkey has given me the best results by far. Juicy turkey breast, that hint of smoke that lets you know this is different!

Here are the simple I use to smoke a turkey:

Get yourself a (thawed) whole turkey
Remove any lovely surprises that sometimes get packed inside
Create a brine with 1 cup kosher salt and 1 cup sugar for each gallon of water required to cover turkey
Brine the turkey in your fridge overnight (or in a cooler outside, if it's cold)
Remove the turkey from the brine
Get your smoker going at about 300° F
Cut up some items to stuff the turkey. Try an onion, apples, celery and even an orange. Then stuff them inside.
Mix salt and pepper for a simple rub. Trust me, you don't need a fancy rub. Salt and pepper are perfect for smoked turkey.
Apply the rub liberally, but don't get too carried away. It's just unnecessary.
Set your smoker / grill up for indirect cooking.
Put the turkey in the smoker breast up. The dark meat needs to cook to a higher temperature, so it needs to be closer to the heat.
When the thigh gets to 180° F. I usually stick a probe in the breast which needs to be 165° F. A general rule is about 20-30 minutes per pound, but I've found that my convection grill/smoker gets it done a little faster than that.
Remove from cooker and cover with foil for 15-30 minutes to let it rest.
Then serve and eat. Simple!