Whole Smoked Turkey for Thanksgiving – Step by Step Recipe

Smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving is a long-standing tradition in my family! Perfect smoked turkey is easier and quicker than you would think. We use higher temps in this smoked turkey recipe.

This is a LONG post, packed with information on smoking a turkey. Feel free to click on a link in the Table of Contents below to jump to the information you’re looking for!

What’s Thanksgiving without a turkey? Cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving is an American tradition. When I married into my husband’s family, I was surprised that they made turkey for other occasions, too!

Football games, or any cold weather gathering were enough to fire up the smoker and throw on a whole turkey! Learning how to smoke a whole turkey took me several years, but I married into the right family to learn.

The common thread here was that the turkey they make is a total treat because it was cooked on the smoker. Smoked turkey takes on so much delicious flavor and it’s just so dang delicious. Whether you’re using this recipe as your Thanksgiving turkey or “just because,” I know you’ll love it!

“Made 15 pound turkey at 325 cooked for five hours. Used the dry rub and followed directions. I have to say it was probably the best turkey I’ve made super moist and delicious.”

Linda, Pinterest User

This perfect turkey recipe has been a favorite of ours for over 15 years now, and I am quite convinced that you will feel the same once you give it a try!

Below, you can find the steps on how to smoke a whole turkey for Thanksgiving.

Choosing the Right Turkey

When choosing a whole bird, you first need to decide whether you’d like to buy a frozen or fresh turkey. And that choice largely depends on when you need it!

Fresh birds have limited availability, typically just the two weeks prior to Thanksgiving.

Frozen turkey is available year-round, but do have the added consideration of de-thawing, which takes several days.

Pro Tip: If you can’t find a turkey, ask the meat counter to order one for you!

I used a 17 pound turkey for this recipe.

Preparing the Turkey: Dry Brine vs. Wet Brine

We have experimented with both dry and wet brines for our smoked turkey recipes. The conclusion we’ve come to is that dry brining the bird is best when you’re learning how to smoke a whole turkey. A few reasons for this; first, there are some questionable safety issues related to soaking a big bird in a water bath for a long period of time. 

Second, a wet brine adds about a day to what can already be a fairly long process of de-frosting and preparation. And finally, when you take just a few easier steps to ensure juiciness (see below), your bird will not dry out, which is what a wet brine aims to prevent.

We do two extra things to ensure a juicy and flavorful bird.

First, and most important, we rub softened butter under the breast skin before cooking it. You can also rub butter in the turkey cavity.

Second, we apply a dry brine to the turkey for a short amount of time, typically an hour. This turkey brine helps to keep the skin nice and crispy. If you use a dry brine, remember to gently wipe off the brine with a paper towel (or rinse the bird in the sink), to remove most of the salt before cooking. 

Once the dry brine is wiped out, we rub softened butter under the skin and apply a dry rub to the skin. At this time, you can also choose to inject your bird with melted butter and additional seasonings.

How to Make Juicy Smoked Turkey

We do a few extra things to ensure a juicy and flavorful bird:

1. First, I apply a dry brine to the turkey for about an an hour. This turkey brine helps to keep the skin nice and crispy. Remember to gently wipe off the brine with a paper towel (or rinse the bird in the sink), to remove most of the salt before cooking. 
2. Once the dry brine is wiped out, I rub softened butter under the skin and apply a new dry rub to the skin. You can also rub the room temperature butter in the cavity of the turkey.

At this time, you can also choose to inject your turkey with injection liquid, although it is optional.

Preparing your Smoker for the Turkey

Setting up your smoker for the first time will depend on what type of smoker you have. I have a Weber Smokey Mountain and I swear by it. If you also have this smoker, here’s a tutorial on getting it set up for the first time.

Assuming you use a charcoal smoker, you will need to put water in the water pan for this smoked turkey recipe. If you don’t have a water pan, you can use an aluminum pan.

Adding water to your water pan does two things: 1) add moisture (steam) to the air in the smoker and 2) helps keep temperatures regulated.

I typically start with 5-6 cups of water, knowing that I can add more if needed. You can also add hot water to the pan, which will help get the temperature of the smoker up quicker.

This turkey recipe will work fine on Traeger smokers (or similar pellet smoker). Traeger pellets have added moisture content, so you won’t need a water pan.

For a regular electric smoker, do add a water pan.

Whether or not you add an additional drip pan to collect juices for gravy is up to you! Just make sure you add a bit of liquid to your drip pan before starting the smoking process, or your drippings will dry out and burn to the pan.

How Long to Smoke a Whole Turkey

You have two options for how you smoke your turkey:

1. Fast: Smoke the turkey at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes per pound. I used a 17 pound turkey for this recipe, and smoked it at 275-300 degrees for just under 4 hours.
2. Slow: If you’re eating your turkey dinner later in the day, you can lower your smoker temperature to 225 degrees Fahrenheit and follow a rule of about 25-30 minutes per pound.

The turkey is safe to take off the smoker when it has reached 165 degrees. I recommend using an instant read thermometer to measure the temperature in two places: the thickest part of the thigh, and the thickest part of the breast.

How Long to Smoke a Turkey Breast

Any other white meat lovers out there? I’m the lone one in my family, so if I was doing this smoked turkey recipe just for myself, I would throw on a turkey breast.

If you are smoking a turkey breast, prepare your smoker to 225 degrees Fahrenheit and smoke for 30 minutes per pound. If you choose an average 4 pound turkey breast, the cook time you would be about 2 hours.

Please do not skip the dry brine and butter rub for your smoked turkey breast. The low fat content of turkey breast makes it extra important to add fat so it’s good and juicy.

If you have an air fryer, you can always check out my Air Fried Turkey Breast recipe! It gets amazing reviews.

Choosing the Right Wood Chips to Smoke a Turkey

For wood chunks, personal preference rules. My favorite wood for smoking turkey is pecan wood chips! The flavor is incredible, but know that if you use pecan chips, your turkey skin will have a deep bronze color.

I truly don’t think you can go wrong here! I prefer lighter, sweeter woods like pecan, cherry and apple wood chips, but hickory wood and mesquite work well, too!

How to get Crispy Skin on a Smoked Turkey

Although the dry brine will help, it is difficult to get crispy skin on the outside of your turkey without using higher cooking temps.

To do get crispy skin, you can pull the bird off the smoker a few degrees early and finish it on the grill for a few minutes per side. Or, pop it in a roasting pan, then broil under your oven broiler for a few minutes.

Side Dishes To Serve with Smoked Turkey

Here‘s an extensive list of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes.

And, if you want to try your hand at frying a turkey, you will love my Deep Fried Cajun Turkey recipe! I’ve received several comments that it’s the most flavorful turkey folks have tasted

Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe:

Have you checked out my new cookbook, A Crowded Table? It’s full of delicious seasonal recipes like this one! Check it out here.