Easy Smoked Turkey Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long to smoke 12 lb turkey per pound? ›

To smoke your turkey faster, increase the smoker's temperature to 250°F to 275°F. At 250°F, it can take about 25 minutes to cook one pound of turkey, meaning you will need about five hours to smoke a 12-pound turkey.

I use an aluminum pan that I can position on the grill underneath my turkey. Fill the pan with several cups of water at the beginning of the smoke. This water will likely evaporate during the smoking process, so be prepared to refill the pan and keep a few cups of water in there at all times.

To recap, the secrets to perfectly smoked turkey are: butterflying, dry-brining, adding baking powder to the dry rub, slow-cooking over indirect heat, and careful monitoring of the turkey's internal temperature.

To avoid any mishaps, you should avoid cooking meat over high heat. Smoked meat should be cooked at either a low temperature or a limited amount of time. If the meat is smoked on extremely high heat or for a long time, the meat will burn and turn black.

Set the smoker to 225° F. Place the turkey on a cooking rack and cook for 8 to 12 hours or until the inner thigh temperature reaches 180° F. Check the temperature of your turkey after 3½ hours. Your turkey must pass through a critical range of 40° F to 140° F in 4 hours or less.

If your turkey's wings are baking too quickly, you can cover them with foil, but otherwise, there's no need. While you're letting it rest, you can tent your turkey in foil for about 15 minutes, but smoking it the whole time in foil is unnecessary and could lead to soggy skin.

Don't forget to spray and sprinkle inside the turkey cavity with rub to get that great seasoned flavor on as much meat as possible. Also, the oil is not just to get the rub to stick to the skin, but it aids in crisping the skin and keep the skin from getting too dark during the smoking process.

Starting the smoker hot then turning it down to more traditional low n slow temps is how the achieve great textured skin. I use Kingsford Classic pellets in my smoker because they're 100% hardwood and a great combo of classic wood flavors.

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.

How do you smoke a turkey without drying it out? ›

Turkeys should be brined overnight, coated with fat only initially, and minimally seasoned. Brining keeps the turkey from drying out during the smoking process. Basting the turkey only results in soggy skin. Overly seasoning the skin just makes inedible skin – let the brine and aromatics add flavor.

Depending on the size of the turkey and how well you control the temperature, you can expect a 14lb turkey to smoke for about 3.5 – 5 hours. The slow cooking and lower temperature help ensure the turkey is not drying out due to excess heat. Remove the turkey when the thermometer reads 155F/68C – 160F/71C.

If you've ever wondered, “Why does my smoked meat turn black?”, it could be from your environment. You may have already experienced creosote or food that has been cooked in bad smoke. If the flavors you tasted were anything but sweet, succulent and delicious, the smoke was probably to blame.

Scientists have found that pinkness occurs when gases in the atmosphere of a heated gas or electric oven react chemically with hemoglobin in the meat tissues to give poultry a pink tinge. They are the same substances that give red color to smoked hams and other cured meats.

For smoking turkey all year long, try hickory, pecan, and apple smoking wood. Our favorite wood chips and wood chunks are by Western Wood because they are kiln-dried and burn clean. Our favorite pellets for smoking turkey are B&B Pecan pellets or Jack Daniel's Pellets.

When smoking a 12 lb turkey on a pellet grill at 225 degrees F… It should take 6 hours to smoke your turkey to an internal temperature of 165°F.

At 325 degrees, your turkey will get to the necessary temperature without drying out. Regardless of size, you're normally looking at 3 to 4 hours total cook time. From there, all you've got to do is remove from the grill and rest for 15 minutes before carving. It's really that simple.

We recommend using a rack in your roasting pan. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan and cover the smoked turkey with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for approx. 10 minutes per pound, or until your meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.

One 12 lb bird will feed about 6 with a few leftovers so if you need more than that, just cook multiple birds of that size rather than opting for a larger one. If you purchase a frozen turkey, allow about 1 day of thawing in the fridge for every 5 lbs.