Jump to Recipe Show
Traeger Smoked Turkey is one of my favorite ways to cook turkey for Thanksgiving. Check out my tried and true method on how to smoke a turkey, along with my 8 pro tips for the best smoked turkey! Save this post for How to Smoke a Turkey on a Traeger and 8 Pro Tips for the Best Smoked Turkey to Pinterest! Creating This Smoked Whole Turkey TutorialThe Traeger has seriously been one of our best purchases during the last couple of years. Or, at least one of our favorite purchases. We use it so much and everything we cook on it tastes great! I honestly can’t believe it took us so long to get one. One of my favorite ways to cook turkey these days is to smoke it on our Traeger Pellet Grill. With Thanksgiving ONLY ABOUT A WEEK AWAY, I thought that I’d write a post about How to Smoke a Turkey on a Traeger and share my 8 Pro Tips for the Best Smoked Turkey. I even consulted with Kevin on this one just to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything from our method! Though, you should know, that I do plenty of the cooking on the Traeger myself. The turkey is the center piece of the Thanksgiving meal and is arguably the trickiest part of the meal. Learn all about turkey brining, turkey smoking times, and turkey smoking temperatures. What Do You Need to Smoke a Turkey?Before you begin preparing your Traeger smoked turkey, you’ll need to make sure you have some of the required equipment. If you aren’t new to smoking, none of this should be new to you. In order to smoke a turkey, you need a few things:
For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card. Save this post for How to Smoke a Turkey on a Traeger and 8 Pro Tips for the Best Smoked Turkey to Pinterest! What’s the Best Wood for Smoking a Turkey?It really depends on your personal preferences, so it is important to experiment to find out what you like best. We have tried all different types of wood pellets for our Traeger Smoked Turkey. Our favorite wood pellet flavors are: apple, pecan, oak, and hickory.
Don’t be afraid to mix different wood pellet flavors together. Using blends of different type of wood pellets can give the turkey extra flavor depth. We often use a combination of apple and hickory blended together. 8 PRO TIPS for the Best Traeger TurkeyHere’s a quick overview of the tips I’ve shared in the post below. I’ve gone into much more detail about each tip in the following sections.
Read on for more details and explanations on all of the tips! In our house, we have a running joke where we frequently say things like “hey, pro tip here…” when we’re giving one of the kids advice or something. I thought I’d give you some of MY “pro tips” to make the best smoked turkey. These tips are all personally tried be us and have yielded great success for us when it comes to smoking a turkey. Save this post for How to Smoke a Turkey on a Traeger and 8 Pro Tips for the Best Smoked Turkey to Pinterest! Pro Tip #1: Smoke 2 Small Turkeys Instead of 1 Large OneLarger turkeys have a tendency to dry out on a smoker since they take so much longer to reach the appropriate temperature. If you need a lot of meat, it is better to use 2 small turkeys than 1 large turkey when you are smoking a turkey. Multiple smaller birds will allow you to cook faster, have plenty of meat, AND have meat is still juicy. A 12-14 pound turkeys is the ideal maximum size. Another option is to smoke several turkey breasts rather than whole turkeys. We do this quite often as most of our family prefers the white meat to the dark meat. How Much Turkey Should I Plan Per Person?Plan to purchase 1 lb. per person attending. If you like to have plenty of leftovers for the freezer or cooking up a big batch of soup, plan on double that, about 2 lbs of turkey per person. What if you don’t want a lot of meat?Try smoking a turkey breast, or Easy Smoked Chicken instead of a whole turkey. You can follow the same tips and methods described in this post. Save this post for How to Smoke a Turkey on a Traeger and 8 Pro Tips for the Best Smoked Turkey to Pinterest! Pro Tip #2: Brine Your Smoked TurkeyWhen thinking about Smoked Turkey Preparation, one of the most important things to do is brine the meat. Should I Brine a Turkey?YES! Brining a smoked turkey before you put it in your Traeger helps the meat to retain moisture that is often lost when poultry is exposed to long cook times. Rather than dry turkey meat, you’ll end up with a juicy, flavorful bird that is seasoned all the way through rather than just on the surface. You’ll want to look at the label before purchasing your turkey and avoid anything labeled as kosher, pre-salted, or salt injected. Brining any of these will result in an over salted turkey. In order to brine and roast a turkey, you need a few things:
Save this post for How to Smoke a Turkey on a Traeger and 8 Pro Tips for the Best Smoked Turkey to Pinterest! Brine Recipes, Tips, and TricksYou’ll find a lot more information about how to brine, along with a variety of recipes, in the below posts. Here are my favorite Traeger turkey brine recipes to get you started:
Pro Tip #3: Don’t Stuff Your Smoked Whole TurkeyI don’t recommend stuffing a turkey if you are smoking it. Here’s why you shouldn’t stuff a smoked turkey:
How to Safely Stuff a Smoked Turkey If you really love stuffing inside your turkey, there is a way to safely stuff a smoked turkey.
Pro Tip #4: Cook by Temperature, Not TimeThere are a few things to know about smoking your turkey, and an important keys to success is cooking by temperature. Turkey smoking times vary depending on a variety of things, such as:
So, it is better to have general time guidelines and specific temperature milestones to meet rather than cooking for x number of hours. You avoid overcooked dry meat and undercooked unsafe meat when you use a digital probe meat thermometer. Place the probe in the thickest part of the breast before you begin cooking. How Long Does it Take to Smoke a Turkey?For general guidelines, you can plan for approximately 45-55 minutes per pound of turkey for your total cook time. But, these are just guidelines. Times will always vary due to individual smoker (does your smoker run hot or cold?), did you start with a cold turkey or a room temperature turkey?, and what is the weather like outside? I always let the turkey sit at room temperature for about an hour before starting the smoking process. Turkey Smoking Temperatures and Times
I always purchase smaller a smaller turkey. If we need more than 12 lbs, then we purchase 2 turkeys. In my experience larger turkeys take longer for the breast meat to finish and can end up dried out. Some recipes I have seen recommend raising the temperature to 325 degrees F after the initial smoke phase. We prefer the way the turkey turns out when we cook it at 250 degrees F. MY TURKEY FINISHED COOKING TOO EARLY – WHAT DO I DO?First, don’t panic! There are plenty of solutions to troubleshoot a turkey that has cooked too fast! If you’re meal time is in 2 hours or less:
The cooler will act as a warming drawer for the turkey, and the juices will have plenty of time to redistribute while it rests. If your turkey finished earlier than 2 hours too early, then you’ll need to follow these steps:
Pro Tip #5: Don’t Lift the Lid of Your TraegerHeat and smoke escape every time you lift the lid. Just don’t do it. Your thermometer will tell you everything that you need to know. Pro Tip #6: Don’t Make Panic Induced AdjustmentsPerfect, tender, smoked turkey takes time. Don’t be impatient. When smoking, meat can often experience a “stall.” It might seems like the thermometer is stuck at the same temperatures for hours at a time. Don’t make the mistake of impatiently increasing the heat. Seriously, one of the worst things you can do is panic and make a bunch of rapid fire adjustments on your Traeger. You think the turkey isn’t cooking fast enough, so you crank the temperature up. Then, you crank it down because it is cooking too fast. Sound familiar? If the answer is yes, it is time to stop doing that. Save this post for How to Smoke a Turkey on a Traeger and 8 Pro Tips for the Best Smoked Turkey to Pinterest! Pro Tip #7: Finish the Smoked Turkey in the OvenYou can certainly keep the turkey on your Traeger Smoker until the breast meat reaches 165 degrees F. I prefer another way. I’ve found that the best way to get a nice, brown, crispy skin on a smoked turkey is to pull it off the Traeger and finish the turkey in the oven. How to Get a Crispy Skin on a Smoked Turkey
Pro Tip #8: Let The Turkey RestI know, the last thing you want to do after spending ALL DAY smoking a turkey is to wait even longer before slicing in to it. Let the turkey rest for 20 – 30 minutes before slicing into it for the best results. The turkey will be easier to cut and the meat will stay juicer. It is worth the wait. Can I Make Gravy with Smoked Turkey Drippings?Yes, you can. Place a wire rack inside of a disposable turkey roasting pan and smoke the turkey on that. That will allow air circulation on the underside of the turkey but still allow you to catch the drippings. Adding in some turkey or chicken stock to the drippings to augment the amount would help lessen the smokiness if you are concerned about your gravy tasting too smokey. For example, in this How to Make Turkey Gravy with Drippings post, I say that if you have 2 cups of drippings but you want 3 cups of gravy, you would need to add 1 cup of broth. Maybe something like that? I would love to hear how it turns out if you try it! I wish I was more help on this particular question! Reader Reviews for this Smoked TurkeyNow that you know how to smoke a turkey on a Traeger, it’s time to actually do it! Here are some recent reader reviews for this pellet grill turkey tutorial: “This was amazing! We did a trial run yesterday and it turned out fantastic! The breast was super juicy and the four hours of smoking penetrated deep. The meat was so flavorful. I brined it for 24 hours prior and used a roasting pan with it elevated on to allow airflow. I added some chicken stock to the bottom of the roasting pan to help keep moisture. I didn’t account for the cold weather so it took about 40 minutes longer than I had planned.” — Chris Questions about Smoking a Turkey?If you haven’t answered all of your questions by the time you reached this point, you’ll find that there are even more questions and answers about smoking a turkey from readers in the comments section of this article. Be sure to check those out if you have any other questions that aren’t covered here. You’ll find the comments below the printable recipe card. I’ve replied to as many of the questions with my answers and tips as I can. If you are wondering how to roast a turkey, check out my Turkey Roasting Tips to learn more about the method that I like to use to roast my turkey. There are tons of hints, tips, and tricks for roasting a juicy, flavorful, and tender turkey. Get More Recipes via EmailDid you love this recipe? Sign up to receive Good Life Eats Email Updates and never miss another recipe!
Ingredients
Instructions
NotesThis method can also be used with a whole chicken or a skin on turkey breast. If you need more turkey than 14 pounds, it is best to use 2 smaller birds rather than going larger than 14 pounds. General time guidelines:45 minutes per pound for a starting timeline for planning purposes only. I really recommend using a probe thermometer, and if possible doing a test run before Thanksgiving. Oops! Did the turkey finish too early?
The cooler will act as a warming drawer for the turkey, and the juices will have plenty of time to redistribute while it rests. Nutrition Information Yield 16 Serving Size 3/4 pound turkey GoodLifeEats.com offers recipe nutritional information as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although GoodLifeEats.com makes every effort to provide accurate information, these figures are only estimates. Do you want to get a FREE TURKEY? Sign up for Butcher Box and get a free turkey with your first order! New members receive a 10-14 lb all-natural turkey for free in their first ButcherBox. Butcher Box turkeys are animal welfare certified, and they’ve never been given antibiotics ever. No basting ingredients, no artificial ingredients, minimally processed. Use THIS LINK for your FREE TURKEY. How long does it take to grill a turkey on a pellet grill?Pellet Grill Turkey Cooking Time
Allow the turkey to smoke in the pellet grill for about 2½ to 3 hours. Increase the temperature to close to 300°F. Cook for another 3½ to 4 hours depending on your turkey's size, or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breast is about 165°F to 170°F.
How long does it take to cook a 15 lb turkey on a pellet grill?An unstuffed bird of 15 pounds will likely finish at around the 4-hour mark (or just before). A stuffed turkey will take at least 4 hours to cook, and typically takes an extra 15 minutes until you've hit that desired internal temperature.
How long does it take to cook a 14 pound turkey on a pellet grill?Pellet Smoked Turkey. Prep Time 20 minutes.. Cook Time 4 hours.. Brining 8 hours.. Total Time 12 hours 20 minutes.. How long does it take to cook a turkey in a pellet cooker?How long to smoke a whole turkey? A medium sized whole turkey smokes on the pellet grill in about 3.5-4 hours… STEP 1 – at 275 degrees F (for the first 2 hours). STEP 2 – then finished at 350 degrees F until the internal temp reaches 165 degrees F.
|