Has anyone smoked a turkey? I want to try it. What are some good recipes? I have a Traeger Smoker... any other things I should know?

I've done it a few times. I soaked in a brine for 24ish hours before and smoked with onions, lemon, garlic, cloves, etc inside. It took 3-4 hours and was awesome.

I used this the first time I did it and adjusted from there after...
https://www.kingsford.com/how-to/whole-turkey/

Don't forget to take out the plastic!

Make a mash of two sticks of butter at room temp and chopped sage, rosemary and thyme. Separate the skin from the meat and spread the mash in the empty space. Use a mild rub on the skin and smoke on a turkey stand. Smoke at 250-275 and use a fruitwood like apple or cherry.

Brining is imperative

Poultry can dry out pretty easily so as a couple of people have already said, use a brine. My method is something like:

1) brine
2) simple rub
3) smoke at 275
4) wrap in foil when 3/4 of the way done
5) put butter in the foil packets with the turkey
6) finish and enjoy

The best advice I can give is to use a meat thermometer, pull it when it's done and let it rest!

Make sure you do not already have a turkey that is brined... They will say "injected" or some such. I have heard that if you brine one of those turkeys it comes out quite salty. Haven't tried it myself.

I am also doing my first over the holidays. TONs of good advice on TexAgs about this topic. Use a Google search string of "texags.com: smoke turkey" or something to that effect. I am going to follow the advice given in this YouTube video:



Good Luck!

highly recommend injecting the bird.

Creole Butter is pretty good. A smoked bird (electric smoker overnight is good too) with a buttery spice injection is super moist and flavorful.

I spatchcocked and bourbon bribed a 24lb turkey last weekend and it turned out great. Smoked at 200 for about 1.5 hours then cranked it up to 325 until internal breast temp reached 170.

Do the butter/rosemary/sage/thyme between the skin and meat. It is fantastic.

I did a Sous Vide turkey for Thanksgiving...it was glorious, so moist, a little too moist if you can believe that, next time I'm going to finish for 30 minutes in the smoker

Brine for 24 hours, then I cover with either mustard or mayonnaise and cover with a rub

Stick an apple and an onion in both holes and oil the skin. Cover all the oil with Tony Chachere's creole seasoning. Start drinking beer! Turkey will be ready in the morning.

ps I've done this 16 years and now I'm stuck with it because everyone loved it.

I smoked a 20lb spatchcocked bird for Thanksgiving at 250 for about 6 hours on mesquite a cherry and it turned out great. I would suggest spatchcocking them just due to cook time and also predictability of cook time. As opposed to say 30-40 minutes per pound, you're looking at 15-20 minutes per pound?

The bird I bought was in a saline solution, so I did not brine it. If you get one that is NOT in saline then by all means brine it.

I made a rub at the house with very little salt (remember I had a turkey packed in a saline solution), black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, and paprika.

I dried the turkey off with paper towels and put it back in the fridge about 4 hours before smoking. I wanted the skin dry.

I coated the skin with grape seed oil (any oil would work but this is what we use at the house), put on the rub, then put it on the smoker. I let the bird smoke for 2 hours then started basting it with a mixture of oil and rub every hour until it was done. Make sure you use a meat thermometer to gauge when it's done. 160 to 165 in the breast and the thighs will be done as well.

That turkey had tender meat, good crisp skin, and a good smoky flavor. There's a billion ways of smoking stuff but this is how I do it. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Dry brine and spatchcock. Remember, poultry doesn't need fat to render, smoke it at 350 and you'll have far superior skin.

They are lean, but still have some fat...but they have connective tissues in the legs and thighs that do better with low and slow

Amazingribs.com is awesome on explaining not only what to do, but the science of why you want to do it.

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/turkey-recipes/bbq-and-grilled-turkey-recipe-ultimate-turkey-easily-adapted-cooking