Looking to learn how to smoke a turkey for the holidays (or just because it tastes dang good any time of year)? This smoked turkey recipe will walk you through all of the steps, from thawing to serving. Follow the details for how to smoke turkey below or simply skip down to the recipe card!

The Fastest Way to Thaw a Turkey

When you buy your turkey, it will most likely be frozen. They say it can take 24-72 hours to thaw out in your fridge, but ain’t nobody got time for that! You can thaw it faster by submerging in cold water. You’ll need to keep the water at the same temp as your refrigerator, which should be around 35-38 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you have space in your refrigerator, put the packaged frozen turkey in a five-gallon bucket, particularly a food-grade one. Fill the bucket until the turkey is completely submerged, then place in your fridge for at least six hours.

The reason meat thaws faster when submerged in cold water is due to the density of the molecules. Air is much less dense and thus takes more time to get the turkey to thaw. Keep in mind the thawing process will vary depending on how big of a bird you have. The bigger the bird, the longer the time it will take.

Remove the Stuff from the Inside

After the bird is thawed, remove the packaging and rinse the turkey. After you’ve done that, dig up the turkey’s cavity and you’ll find these surprises: turkey neck, pack of gizzards, and usually a pack of gravy. If you don’t find the pack of gizzards, then dig around the cavity where the head/neck used to be. That is where I have found it.

How to Brine the Smoked Turkey

Once you have those removed, the next step for this smoked turkey recipe is brine time! I made a simple brine of water, kosher salt, brown sugar, apple juice, and sliced apples. Start by filling your food-grade brine bucket with two gallons of water. Next, pour in two cups of kosher salt, two cups of sugar, four cups of apple juice, and two cups of sliced apples. Stir the brine ingredients as to not have the kosher salt and brown sugar settle at the bottom or the brine will be much less effective.

Now that the brine is mixed, submerge turkey in the brine and place in the fridge. If you don’t have enough space in your fridge, you could always resort to a big enough cooler for your brine. Make sure to put ice cubes in to keep it cold. It is suggested to brine for 24 hours, but you can get away with less time than that if needs be. After the turkey is finished brining, pull it out and pat it dry.

Spatchcock Turkey

If you prefer to spatchcock a turkey, now’s the time to do it. To spatchcock, turn the bird back facing upward and completely cut along both sides of the spine. You’ll want either a sharp knife or kitchen shears (and some muscle) to cut through this.

The advantage to smoking a spatchcock turkey is that it cuts your smoke time down from six or seven hours to four or five. Some say it also provides a more thorough smoke penetration. If you are planning to smoke other items when you smoke your turkey, make sure you have enough room because a spatchcocked bird takes up a lot more grill space.

It’s okay if you keep the turkey whole. It will still taste great! You can also follow the this link here for more details.

Prep Tip for Smoked Turkey Recipe

To help your white meat in the smoked turkey get more flavor, apply rub and herbed butter under the skin. The best way to do this is to the top cavity of the bird and stick your hand in between the skin and the meat. It is preferred you wear nitrile gloves to protect your hand from the raw chicken juices.

Make some separation of the skin and meat by wiggling your hand and forcing it down further to the bottom. You will need to do this on both the left and right turkey breasts. Slide the butter and rub underneath, then apply olive oil and rub on the outer layer all over the turkey.

How Long to Smoke Turkey?

With your grill preheated to 275 degrees over indirect heat, it’s time to put your turkey on. In this smoked turkey recipe, we are smoking the bird until the internal temp in the turkey breast reaches close to 165 degrees. This may take about five hours, but depends on the size of the turkey: the bigger the bird, the longer it will take. The dark meat will be ready at 175 degrees and will likely reach that temp quicker than the white meat will reach 165 degrees.

Spritz a few times during the cook with a blend of apple juice and apple cider vinegar. This will help keep the turkey from being too dry. It also helps to wrap foil around the tips of the wings and the bottoms of the turkey legs. This will keep them from burning as they are the skinniest parts of the thick bird.

Once the turkey breast is just under 165 degrees, remove and rest either on a cutting board for at least 30 minutes. The smoked turkey will cook internally for a little bit and raise a few degrees soon after coming off the grill. Slicing right away will cause juices to run out of the meat, which means you’re losing flavor. Resting for a while will allow the meat to cool and retain juices better. Carve up and enjoy your smoked turkey!

What to Serve with Smoked Turkey

Looking for some ideas of what to serve with your tasty smoked turkey? Here’s some inspiration:

Green Beans w/Bacon and Onion

Easy Smoked Mac n’ Cheese

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Parmesan

Cast Iron Biscuits

Entertaining a smaller crowd? Check out this Smoked Turkey Breast recipe!

The Smoked Turkey Recipe!

Smoked Turkey

Prep Time: 12 hours

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 16 hours

Smoking a turkey on Thanksgiving just might become your new tradition!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 whole turkey
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (or mayo)
• 1/2 cup butter (same as one stick)
• 2 Tablespoons (minimum) of your favorite rub
• BRINE
• 1 gallon water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups apple juice
• 2 apples, sliced
• HERBED BUTTER
• 1/2 cup (aka- 1 stick) butter, softened
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon thyme, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon chives, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon sage, chopped

Instructions

1. Remove turkey from packaging, remove packet, gizzards from inside of bird. Set aside.
2. Prepare brine by combining water, kosher salt, brown sugar, apple juice, and sliced apples into a cooler or five-gallon bucket. Double or triple the brining ingredients as necessary to have the turkey completely submerged. Place turkey in brine in the refrigerator overnight or for 12 hours.
3. Make herbed butter by combining butter, garlic, parsley, thyme, chives, and sage. Set aside.
4. Preheat grill/smoker to 250F, using pecan wood (or smoking wood of your choice)
5. Remove turkey from brine and rinse off the bird. Spatchcock the bird as described here
6. Using your hand, create separation between the skin and the meat by starting where the head used to be. As you create separation between the skin and the breasts, smooth in some herbed butter. Then put in the rub. Repeat the process with butter and rub on top of the skin.
7. Put turkey on grill at 250F and cook for four hours or until the middle of the thickest part of the turkey breast reaches 165F. Remove from grill/smoker and let rest for 20-30 minutes before slicing.

Notes

Keep in mind the prep time is so long mostly due to the brining of the turkey. This is usually done overnight.

If you decide not to spatchcock, the bird will take an extra couple of hours to cook.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: varies Serving Size: 4 oz
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 260Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3g

Note: this post for bacon wrapped filet mignon Polish sausage is sponsored by Omaha Steaks. I occasionally collaborate with brands I trust to help keep Learning to Smoke up and going. I’m speaking from my own genuine experience and am not being asked by the brand to mention anything specific.

Filet mignon and polish sausage. Two foods you may not have thought would go together. But thanks to Omaha Steaks, they do now. Combining all the mild, beefy flavor of filet mignon and the savory taste of a kielbasa polish sausage, you get an umami experience that is fancy enough for a steakhouse, but casual enough for the tailgate! In this recipe, we take these sausages to yet another level by wrapping them in bacon and putting some extra toppings on them. Follow along!

Filet Mignon, Reimagined

Since this polish sausage is made up of filet mignon, it only makes sense to treat it as a filet mignon. That means wrapping in bacon, serving with sauteed mushrooms and onions, and topping with crumbled blue cheese. To start, preheat griddle or cast iron skillet to 350 degrees. Remove the filet mignon polish sausages from the packaging and wrap each one with two strips of bacon. Once grill is up to temp, place the bacon-wrapped sausages on the grill. Usually with hot dogs or polish sausages, you only need to turn them once. Since we have bacon wrapped around these, we are going to do quarter turns to make sure that bacon gets as evenly cooked as possible. This may take about 5-7 minutes for each side.

Do These Polish Sausages Cook Like Steaks?

While these sausages are made of steak, they don’t cook like steaks. This means you don’t have to keep checking the internal temp of the polish sausages to get to your level of doneness. They will look the usual pink color inside that polish sausages have, even if they are on the grill for 20 minutes. Now that the bacon wrapped outside is cooked to your liking, remove from the griddle or skillet.

Serving Them Up

While the filet mignon polish sausages are cooking, Get a small-to-medium sized skillet heated up with a couple tablespoon of butter and a clove of garlic. As it starts to melt, put in some sliced mushrooms and white onion. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cook until mushrooms and onions are soft. On a hot dog bun, lay the sauteed onions and mushrooms evenly across the opened bun. Since these polish sausages are made with filet mignon, go fancy and use a brioche bun. Put the bacon-wrapped sausage on next and top with crumbled blue cheese.

Looking for the perfect side to serve these up with? Check out these homemade Dutch oven French fries that taste very similar to those at Five Guys.

Have you attempted making homemade french fries before? Do you wish you could make them taste like the epic fries at Five Guys? You can make these at home and they are easier than you’d expect. As long as you know THREE key tips, your homemade Five Guys copycat french fries will blow your mind…and everyone else’s!

Homemade French Fries Tip #1: Soak in Water

The Five Guys fries ingredients are fairly simple: russet potatoes, peanut oil, and salt. If you count water for soaking the fries, then count that as a fourth ingredient. Wash and scrub the russet potatoes, then take them to your cutting board. If you have a french fry cutter, then you will save yourself some time here. For the rest of us, you can still slice these up easily with a trusty chef’s knife. Make sure to cut the potatoes into the same size cuts as much as possible for even cooking.

Once sliced, place the raw fries into a large bowl and fill with water. Soaking the slices in water for 30-45 minutes will help remove the potato starch. Removing that natural starch in the potatoes will help the fries get crispy and keep them from clumping together. Once the fries have soaked for 30-45 minutes, drain the water and pat them dry.

Tip #2: Peanut Oil

One of the key Five Guys copycat fries ingredients that make them taste so good is the cooking oil used. While some prefer vegetable oil or corn oil (or even air frying), peanut oil provides that extra flavor that goes perfectly with homemade french fries. It does cost more than most cooking oils but this recipe is worthy of it.

Fill a Dutch oven about three to four inches high with peanut oil. This will equal about two quarts. Since I am cooking these outside on my Camp Chef stove, I’m using a cast iron Dutch oven.

NOTE: You can use a skillet to fry these if you prefer. I recommend using a 12″ pan so you can fit more fries in per cook.

Tip #3: Fry Twice, Very Nice

The last tip to making some kick-butt homemade french fries is to fry them twice. With your Dutch oven (or pot) on the stove, cook the peanut oil to medium-high heat. Once the oil gets to 300 degrees, gently drop the fries in so they don’t splash hot oil on you. Peanut oil has a boiling point of around 450 degrees, which is just over double that of water. So the oil won’t be bubbling when nothing is in the pot (but will once the fries are cooking). I suggest using a digital thermometer that can handle hotter temps like the Thermapen ONE to make sure you’re at the right amount of heat. Keep the fries in there for 5-6 minutes before removing.

Once you’ve pulled the fries out (I recommend placing in a bowl), crank the temperature to high. The target temp this time around is 400 degrees. Place the fries back in the peanut oil and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Place the homemade french fries on a paper towel-lined cookie sheet. I recommend using sea salt to sprinkle on the fries as they rest. However, any type of salt will suffice. Let the fries rest for a couple of minutes to let them cool down before eating. After that, they are open game!

Simple Fry Sauce Recipe

My family likes to dip our fries in fry sauce. This is a simple mixture of equal parts ketchup and mayonnaise. I recommend going with more mayo than ketchup personally. Feel free to spice it up a little with a few drops of hot sauce.

And thus completes the most epic batch of homemade french fries you’ll ever make! And you don’t even have to make the drive to the restaurant for Five Guys french fries. If you are looking for a good burger to pair these with, I suggest checking out my bacon-wrapped jalapeno popper burger!

The Five Guys Copycat French Fries Recipe