This Smoked Turkey Recipe is jam packed with incredible flavor, from a bourbon citrus brine, to an herbed butter, to a flavorful turkey dry rub, This is the juiciest and most flavorful turkey that will have your guests going back for seconds… and maybe even thirds.
Looking for another creative way to smoke your turkey? Check out our recipe for Cajun Spatchcocked Smoked Turkey.
Jump to:
- Selecting Turkeys
- Thawing
- How Much Turkey Per Person
- Smoked Turkey Brine
- Preparation
- Dry Rub for Turkey
- How to Smoke a Turkey
- Best Wines for Thanksgiving Dinner
- Common Smoked Turkey Q&A
- Other Grilled and Smoked Turkey Recipes
- Side Dish Ideas for Thanksgiving Dinner
- Smoked Turkey Recipe with Bourbon Brine
We’ve posted a lot about Thanksgiving, including tips for the bird from the pros, and it’s finally time we shared our tried and true recipe for smoked turkey.
We’ve cooked turkey pretty much every way you can. From brining, to not brining, whole to spatchcock, to smoked turkey breast. Cooking on everything from pellet smokers, to offset, to our Weber kettle, to even a tiny portable grill. We’ve experimented with it all (except for fried, but that’s a story for another day) and this is our favorite way to make it. Follow these steps for the perfect holiday meal.
- Brine the turkey for flavor and to retain moisture as it smokes
- Season the turkey both in and on the skin using a compound butter
- Smoke at the right temperature for good skin texture
- Carve and serve and enjoy an the amazing holiday dinner with your family and friends
Selecting Turkeys
If electing to brine, it is important to purchase turkeys that have not been previously brined in a saltwater solution. Overdoing the brine in your turkey will lead to a very salty flavor in the smoked turkey. Look for fresh turkeys without a label that says “previously brined”, or “brined in a 4% saltwater solution” (or another percentage).
Another thing to consider when smoking turkey, is to avoid drying out the meat. The meat cooks from the outer edge to the inner parts of the bird. Instead of one large turkey, we prefer two 12 – 14 pound turkeys. This will also allow you to smoke them faster than one large 20 pounder. It also provides more of the legs and thighs that people tend to love.
You can also buy turkey and have it mailed directly to you. One of our favorite purveyors of fine turkey is D’Artagnan Foods with access to small farms across the country featuring a range of organic, heritage, and wild turkeys.
Thawing
If the turkey is frozen, remove from freezer 3 days prior to brining the turkey in order to let it defrost safely and with enough time to brine. The general rule is that it takes 24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey in a refrigerator to thaw.
Rapid thawing is possible using water and ice. The important safety measures are to keep the turkey and water cold to prevent bacterial growth. Plan 30 minutes per pound to thaw using the water and ice technique. Thermoworks, one of our favorite brands for instant read thermometers, has a great step by step guide on using water to rapidly thaw a turkey. We’ve used this method in a pinch.
Fresh turkey can last up to 3 days in the fridge prior to cooking.
How Much Turkey Per Person
Plan on 1.25 pounds per person. When planning on portions, it’s important to consider the bones adding weight to the turkey as well as leftovers (because, let’s be honest, we all love the leftovers).
This is the rough estimate we use and trust. In other words, a 10 pound turkey will serve 8 hungry people on average; a 12 pound turkey will serve roughly 10, and so on. Holiday season means a bountiful table of other foods too, and there is always planning for leftovers. As you approach needing more than 14 pounds of turkey, consider two birds as mentioned.
Smoked Turkey Brine
What is a brine? Simply put it’s a salt and water mixture used to add moisture and flavor to meat. Smoking slowly take a toll on moisture and this offsets that.
How? The salt follows its way into the meat through the process of osmosis, which is why adding more flavor in addition to your salt mixture allows for the flavor to get into the meat.
You can go with a dry brine (salt based rub) or wet brine. We prefer the wet brine, with bourbon (because bourbon = flavor, in addition to adding that extra moisture into the meat). You can check out our article for more information on a basic turkey brine.
If you over-brine your smoked turkey it can cause the cells to break down. So avoid brining more than 24 – 30 hours.
Brine in a large stockpot. Or, if you have more than one turkey, consider food-safe brining bags or a cooler that will hold the liquid and the turkey. Carefully seal them and store in a cooler with ice (this saves room in the fridge with all the other food you will likely be preparing for the holiday meal).
Preparation
Once you’ve brined the turkey you need to prepare for the smoker.
- Rinse off the brine and pat the turkey dry.
- At this point season the turkey liberally. Then leave the dried and salted/seasoned bird uncovered in the refrigerator for four hours. This will flavor the turkey and help minimize rubbery skin when smoking.
- After four hours, remove from the fridge and stuff the cavity with some fresh citrus (a combination of lemons and oranges), onions, garlic, and lots of fresh herbs. This is going to help the cavity of the bird stay juicy and tender. As the stuffing heats up, the aromatics and liquid are forced out and into the bird from the inside out.
- Slightly lift the skin and add an herbed compound butter. The herbed butter is room temperature butter with seasonings added for a compound butter. See recipe card for the butter ingredients.
- Tie the legs and wings close to the body of the turkey so it cooks evenly. If they are flapping around, they will overcook. Or you can tuck the wings under the breast.
Dry Rub for Turkey
When smoking it’s nice to have both sugar, salt, and savory flavors. The sugar helps with some caramelization, the salt and savory herbs add flavor.
We use our Ultimate Dry Rub for smoked turkey. It’s very versatile with sugar and spices. But feel free to use your favorite dry rub for poultry.
How to Smoke a Turkey
- Prepare smoker to 275 degrees. After experimenting with different cooking temps we’ve landed at 275 as our sweet spot for a whole turkey to minimize rubbery skin. We like fruit wood for most of our cooking, and especially poultry. Cherry or apple wood is our choice when smoking turkey.
- Place the turkey on the smoker and insert a digital blue tooth thermometer like the Thermoworks Signals. Signals, like the Smoke unit, will monitor the ambient cooking chamber temperature, as well as up to three zones. So in this case, we put a probe in the breast meat, and in the dark meat. The blue tooth capabilities makes it easy to monitor temperatures on your phone, so you don’t have to keep lifting the lid on your smoker letting any heat out.
- Then we remove the turkey when the internal temperature throughout the turkey is 165 degrees (F). The thigh and legs may be higher, that is fine as they can take a higher heat and still stay tender.
- Once the meat hits the right temperature, remove from heat and wrap in foil, and then let it rest 20 minutes. If you are done early, wrap it and leave in a cooler (with no ice) to keep warm for up to four hours. Resting allows the cells to cool down and retain that moisture. Cut too early, while it may be juicy, you’ll find it will dry out quickly.
- Carve with a sharp high quality carving knife and enjoy.
Best Wines for Thanksgiving Dinner
We’ve got you covered in our Thanksgiving Wine guide. We discuss everything you need for selecting the best wines in all budgets for your holiday dinner. Want to buy the wines we will be using for Thanksgiving? Explore the Vindulge Wine Shop where you’ll find rare and amazing wines at all price points.
Common Smoked Turkey Q&A
Plan on 15 minutes per pound when cooking at 275 degrees F. Our 12 pound turkeys tend to be done in 3 hours when loosely stuffed with the citrus and herbs.
160 degrees Fahrenheit (F) when measured at the breast, the turkey is done and safe. Carry over cooking will continue to take the internal temperature of the turkey to 165 degrees F (USDA minimum temperature recommendation). While the legs and thigh can handle 180 degrees F, that will overcook the breast and it will be dry. So target 160 degrees F in the thickest part of the breast. The leg and thigh should be temping at 175 to 180 degrees at the same time.
When smoking, even at 275, the challenge for any turkey will be crispy skin. If you want a crispy skin, a modification to the recipe is to wait until the bird gets to 145 degrees and then crank up the heat to 375 to finish cooking. You run the risk of still drying out the bird, so we don’t push for a crispy skin when smoking. With our technique the skin should still be moderately crispy from drying in the fridge.
This will depend on your grill. On a Big Green Egg or Kamado style smoker, we do not as it is very efficient and sealed. On offsets or our pellet grills we do use a water pan to help add moisture to the chamber.
Other Grilled and Smoked Turkey Recipes
- Cajun Grilled Turkey Breast
- Smoked Turkey Breast with Maple Glaze
- Green Chili Turkey
- Smoked Turkey Legs exclusively in our cookbook Fire + Wine.
Side Dish Ideas for Thanksgiving Dinner
- Smoked Turkey and Bourbon Gravy
- Smoked Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing (Dressing)
- Turkey Collard Greens
- Grilled Beet Salad with Rosé Infused Cranberries
- Smoked Honey Butter (for your dinner rolls)
*This recipe was originally published in November of 2018 and updated in October 2020 with more recipe details.
*This post contains affiliate links. We only recommend and promote products we use and love and contribute to great barbecued and grilled foods, like a good digital thermometer!
If you like these recipes we’d truly appreciate it if you would give this recipe a star review! And if you share any of your pics on Instagram use the hashtag #vindulge. We LOVE to see it when you cook our recipes.
Smoked Turkey Recipe with Bourbon Brine
Ingredients
- 1 12-14 lb whole turkey (unbrined)
For the Brine
- 8 quarts water
- 1 ½ cups kosher salt (we use Diamond Crystal kosher salt)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar (we use dark brown but light works also)
- 1 cup bourbon
- 2 oranges, cut into quarters
- 1 lemon, cut into quarters
- ⅓ cup whole peppercorns
- 10 whole cloves
- 2 dried bay leaves
For the Herbed Butter
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- ½ tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
- ½ tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
Dry Rub
- ½ cup Ultimate Dry Rub
Cavity Stuffing
- 2 oranges, quartered (we use navel)
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 1 red or yellow onion, quartered
- 6 garlic cloves
- 10 sprigs thyme
- 2 large sprigs of rosemary
Instructions
For Brine
- Prepare turkey for brine by fully defrosting, and removing giblets, neck, and trimming off excess fat.
- In a large stock pot over medium-high heat, combine water, salt, sugar, and bourbon. Bring heat up and dissolve the salt and sugar into the liquid, then turn off heat.
- Let cool and then add remaining brine ingredients. Add turkey to brine and cover. Brine for 24 hours, avoid going beyond 30 hours. At a minimum brine for four.
For Herb Butter
- Add herbs to room temperature butter and combine. Be sure when you are using for the turkey, it is still room temperature.
Smoking Turkey
- Remove turkey from brine and rinse. Pat dry with a towel, especially the cavity. Season liberally with dry rub and place into the refrigerator for four hours.
- After four hours, preheat Smoker to 275 degrees using fruit wood.
- Stuff cavity of the bird with oranges, lemons, onion, garlic, thyme, and rosemary. Then stuff butter between the skin and breasts, spreading it out with your hands all along the breast.
- Tie up legs and wings with kitchen string, or tuck them to keep tight against the turkey.
- Place turkey on the smoker, and insert your digital meat probe into the breast and thigh or leg. Smoke until the internal temperature of both reads 165 degrees (F). Use an instant read to check temp in various part of the turkey, even if the digital probes read 165 to confirm all parts of the turkey are cooked through.
- Remove from smoker (will likely take 3 – 4 hours with a 12 – 14 pound bird) and cover with foil. Let cool for about 20 minutes. Then slice and serve.
Julie says
I use this recipe every Thanksgiving and I never go wrong. It’s now insisted upon by my children. So even if I don’t host, I always smoke a bourbon brined turkey using this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Ana Abend says
This is the recipe Im looking for! My smoker is bust but what do you think of adding liquid smoke to the brine and putting bird in oven? That’s the only modification imI’d make. I wish I could make as written!
Sean Martin says
Ana, I think liquid smoke will get lost in the brine and you’ll not get any flavor from it. I might consider doing the recipe in the oven, cooking the turkey at 375, and consider a BBQ sauce glaze at the end. You can add more bourbon to the sauce and then simmer it slightly for a nice glaze.
Paul Raby says
This recipe caught my eye as the dramatic ingredients.. things came together except for the cooking process.. a malfunction with the smoker after it had been on for less than two hours. We transferred it to the oven.. so it didn’t have the strong flavors of the smoke.. but that didn’t rob it of flavor.. OMG!!! My wife said her taste buds were having a party in her mouth..!!
Such a wonderful and different flavor for the feast at our table..
Thank you.
I’m looking forward to trying other recipes we looked at as thumbing through your site.
(trying to edit)
We had a crazy schedule that messed up the time required as y’all specified for the process.
We started with a 14 lbs bird.
Brined for about 9 hours… I worried it wasn’t long enough but I want it to set with the rub for at least two to three hours before introducing the heat.. as I told everyone things would be ready about 2/3.
It hit the table about 4:30.
I’ve been smoking off and on for the last 15 years and consider myself to be a step above novice.
Thank you.
Paul Raby
Denver, Co.
Kyle Kniss says
Hi Sean and Mary. I purchased a 14 lb. turkey from a local farmer and smoked it on my Weber. The “bird” turned out to be a savory, succulent, hit for the family. The instructions and detail outlined in this recipe were very straightforward and easy to follow. Thank you for helping make our Thanksgiving special! 🙂
Sean Martin says
Kyle!!!! Hope you and the family are doing awesome! Thanks so much for dropping a note and glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Chris says
Just pulled it off the smoker. It looks incredible
Brian W says
What’s the difference between spatchcocking the turkey and keeping it whole and using the aromatics in the cavity in terms of the taste? Obviously the spatchcocking will cook faster, but wondering if the aromatics in the cavity will add another dimension. I’ve got a 17lb bird that I’m trying this recipe out on – looking forward to trying it!
Sean Martin says
We love spatchcocking for speed. But we have found, like any roasted poultry that adding the citrus aromatics that steam while it cooks adds just that little extra element at the expense of speed of cooking. So it’s subtle but we love it.
Brian W says
Thanks so much!! Another quick question: does the 4 hours in the fridge make a difference if it’s longer? I’m going to pull the bird from the brine tonight, and timing-wise would love to leave the bird in the fridge overnight, but curious if that’s going to ruin it if I leave it for longer than 4 hours.
Sean Martin says
No it won’t ruin it at all, you can totally leave in seasoned over night. It then becomes an additional dry brine step that will help dehydrate the skin of the turkey. So you are good to go!
Derek S says
Any tips for a Masterbuit Electric? I have a 17 lb bird that I am doing for the first time
Sean Martin says
Derek, the main thing to watch for the Masterbuilt is how high you can get the heat. While we target 275 for smoking the bird, that may top out your smoker temp. If you can hold that temp and the 17 pound bird fits in the smoker, then you are good to go. If the bird is too big, I would spatchcock it (cut out the backbone so it lays flat) and plan the same cooking time. If you find your cooking temperature is lower, like 225 or 250, then plan more time on the smoker. Like 20 – 25 minutes per pound at 225 – 250. Feel free to drop an email (sean@vindulge.com) for any more details.
Jeffrey T Sipes says
Sounds wonderful! just got my new smoker fired up last night! I am looking to cook a 20lbs turkey, how long should I go for? I know cook to temp but I want to have a solid foundation on when to start so I am not delaying turkeyday!
Sean Martin says
Jeffrey – Plan on 20 minutes per pound. We have found ours run more like 15, but best to plan 20. If you turkey is done early, then rest the turkey in a cooler (with no ice). That cooler will keep it warm for hours and let it rest at the same time.
Jeffrey T Sipes says
Awesome! Thank you so much for a fast reply! I can’t wait to devour this thing! Happy Turley day to you and yours:)
Abran Vigil says
Unfortunately I couldn’t find an un-brined bird. The package is stating that it is in a 8% solution. I’ve brined pre-brined turkeys before with the salt content adjusted, I’m curious to see if you have also done this, and if you have a suggestion on how much salt to use for a pre-brined bird?
I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe this year! Thanks for posting it
Sean Martin says
Abran, have no fear! You can brine a pre brined bird. I would pull back the salt, probably by 50% to avoid it being too salty. The sugar and aromatics in the brine should be fine to add more of that flavor component. Then with the rub you should be good to go. I would also not brine any more than 24 hours also since it has already been in a soak of some kind.
Katlynn says
Hello, so excited to try this recipe on our first thanksgiving, We recently purchased a Traeger and have been smoking all sorts of meats. We have a 20 lb turkey, the plan is to brine tonight roughly 18-20 hours and then remove tomorrow. If it will be sitting in the fridge for 12+ hours after washed and dried from brine, is it ok to dry rub it and have it sit for that long? Some recipes say the longer between brine and smoker the better for a crispy skin but didn’t know if it was ok to leave the rub on this long?
Sean Martin says
It’s absolutely OK!!! And congrats on the new smoker!!! You will never go back to regular turkey once you smoke yours. The dry brine will enhance the flavor and the salt will help in developing the right pellicle for crispy skin. So your plan looks perfect!
Tim says
Do you have a suggestion on what bourbon to use in the brine? Fully plan on making this!
Sean Martin says
Tim we use Bulleit Bourbon most commonly. We don’t suggest a really expensive one as the bourbon aroma will water down. So a good one, but not one that is too expensive.
Jeffrey T Sipes says
Hello! just bought ours too and also have a 20 lbs bird. How long are you planning on cooking yours?
Tara Stahlback says
Hello, trying your recipe this week for Thanksgiving. What are your recommendations for injecting and what would you recommend we use? Thank you!!!
Sean Martin says
Tara, great question. We don’t inject the turkey. Our process starts with the brine adding a salt and aromatic note to the turkey through osmosis. next we use the herbed butter that really bastes the meat as it smokes complementing the brine. If you were to inject, I would suggest you skip the brining process as they should do the same thing.
Jesenia McGill says
Thank you so much for your reply I will let you know how this turns out ❤️ Have a blessed day
Jesenia McGill says
Hello I was looking to make this for thanksgiving , my husband has concerns that it may stick to the grill ? Will it stick? If not what prevents it from not sticking . Also I have an 18lb turkey please suggest what and how I should adjust the Recipie.
Thanks so much looking forward from hearing from you
Sean Martin says
Jesenia, typically a clean grate will help prevent sticking. Also, this will be cooking and roasting for a while, all of which help the bird not stick to the grates. So I would be sure the grates are scraped down clean before putting on the turkey. For the size, You may need to up the rub and the butter by 50%. And the cooking time will go a little longer. Plan 4 to 4 1/2 hours of cooking time. If it’s done early, you can always store it in a cooler with no ice to keep it warm until ready to eat.
Charlotte says
Can I used this recipe and cook turkey in the oven?
Sean Martin says
Absolutely! If you are cooking in the oven then I would not worry about the lower temperature. I would cook it at 350 degrees F from the start and cut the cooking time. You could do the lower temperature, but if using the oven, I would just go to the higher 350 – 375.
Scott says
This has been our family’s go to Thanksgiving Turkey for the last couple of years. Always moist, flavorful and smoky! Awesome recipe! Maybe this year I will finally take a picture and tag you!!!
Sean Martin says
Thank you!!! We definitely want to see photos!!!!
Sherry L Doke says
We are brining a 22.5 lb turkey and then smoking it spatchcock style. Just need to ask how much I would need to adjust the brine recipe for this size turkey. Loved the reviews and am excited to see how it turns out.
Sherry
Sean Martin says
Sherry, I recommend with something that big you start with seeing if it will fit in a 5-pound bucket already spatchcocked. If so then I would go 1 1/2 portions of the brine recipe. So I would simply add 50% to each ingredient to get the right salt/sugar/water/bourbon ratio. For the rest you can likely leave the same portions.