Somehow I’ve made it 37 years on this Earth without ever cooking a whole turkey for Thanksgiving. This year, I aimed to change that. I set out to find an easy recipe for a smoked turkey that even a novice could handle, and I found it.
But, the secret is cooking it on our Big Green Egg. If you don’t have a BGE, you could definitely try this in your oven, as well. The cook times and temps should be similar.
Big Green Egg Smoked Turkey Ingredients and Recipe:
Keyword big green egg, fowl, meat, smoked turkey, thanksgiving, turkey
Prep Time 2 daysdays
Cook Time 4 hourshours40 minutesminutes
Resting Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 daysdays5 hourshours
Author Beth
Equipment
Big Green Egg smoker
Lump Charcoal for Big Green Egg
Round Disposable Aluminum Pan
Aluminum foil
Ingredients
1whole turkey, completely thawedours was 14 lbs
2sticks softened salted butter
1clovegarlicminced
1TablespoonRosemaryfresh or dried
1TablespoonThyme
2teaspoonsSage
1teaspoonPoultry Seasoning
2teaspoonsSalt
Instructions
If you purchase a frozen turkey, thaw the turkey in the refrigerator for a few days until completely defrosted all the way through. Factor in one day of thawing time for every four pounds of bird into your prep time. This might take up to a week, depending on the size of the turkey.
Preheat the Big Green Egg to about 325-350 degrees Fahrenheit. To do this, follow these steps:
Add lump charcoal (we prefer applewood or hickory) to the BGE and ignite. Open the bottom vent and the top daisy wheel wide so the flames catch and begin to burn freely
Once the fire is well underway, watch the temperature closely and start closing the bottom and top vents a bit as you approach 330-340 degrees. Once you get the correct amount of airflow in the bottom vent it will stabilize at 350 degrees and stay there.
Let the BGE preheat for at least 15-20 minutes before you put the turkey on.
Remove all the giblets from inside the bird and discard unless you are making gravy with them.
Wash and rinse the turkey, then pat it dry completely with paper towels.
Tuck the wings under the back and tie the legs together with twine so everything cooks evenly.
Mix the butter, garlic, rosemary, thyme, sage, poultry seasoning and salt together in a bowl
Rub the herbed butter all over the outside of the turkey until all the skin is covered.
Place a round disposable aluminum pan on the grill of the Big Green Egg to catch the drippings
Place the turkey on three big balls of aluminum foil to raise it up off of the pan and allow the fat to drip but not get inside the big green egg.
Roast the turkey for about 4 and a half hours, until it has an internal temperature of 165 degrees and the skin is brown and crispy. Depending on the size of the turkey, this could take longer. Plan to cook it for approximately 15-20 minutes per pound of bird.
Once you reach an internal temp of 165 degrees, remove turkey from grill and allow to sit for at least 15-20 minutes before carving to allow juices to redistribute.
I found this Big Green Egg Turkey Cheat Sheet if you need help figuring out how many pounds of bird your Big Green Egg will hold or how many hours to cook your size bird. We have a medium-sized Egg, and this turkey weighed in at 14 lbs. He fit perfectly, but anything bigger we would have needed a bigger egg.
I hope you don’t wait 37 years like I did to try out this delicious recipe. We plan to start roasting turkeys WAY more often now that we know how easy it is on the smoker. The leftovers are amazing, and this could be totally Whole30 approved with just a little bit of tweaking.
Who’s ready for some smoked meat? Hooray for Turkey Day!
Ready for Dessert?
If you’re looking for a quick and easy Thanksgiving dessert, be sure to check out these recipes!
This pie is absolutely delicious at any time of the year but everyone knows Pumpkin Pie is made for Thanksgiving dinner. Since it uses a storebought crust it's an easy pie to make and bakes up beautifully.
Need a last minute Thanksgiving appetizer? This super cute turkey cheeseball is an easy way to make your turkey table festive with hardly any effort at all.
Roasted turkeys may be cooked in oven but we prefer them cooked on a smoker or Big Green Egg. Roasting a turkey is best done in a two-step process. Set the EGG up for indirect cooking with the temp at 325°F/163°C.
For a whole turkey, the USDA recommends cooking it to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). The best time and temperature can vary based on the cooking method; typically, roasting at 325°F (163°C) is common.
At 225 degrees F, you can plan on it taking approximately 30 minutes per pound to smoke your turkey. Alternatively, if you are running your smoker at 250 degrees F, it will typically take 25 minutes per pound. For example, my 15-pound turkey took around 7 and 1/2 hours at 225 degrees F to fully cook.
Smoke in the EGG until the internal temperature of the breast meat is 165ºF, the dark meat will be about 185ºF internal temperature. Typically, it is about 30 minutes per lb., between 6 to 8 hours. Let rest for 15 minutes, and serve!
Just follow these simple instructions for a fresh or thawed turkey: Preheat oven to 325° F. Drain juices and pat dry with clean paper towels. Place turkey breast-side-up on a flat rack in a shallow roasting pan 2 to 2½ inches deep.
An easy and generous formula is one pound of bird for every guest. If you have a medium Big Green Egg, a 10-12 pound turkey will work perfectly. If you have the large Big Green Egg, go ahead and grab that 18-20 pounder! The bigger the turkey, the more leftover!
Once you try brined turkey on the EGG, you'll agree that nothing does a better job of roasting meats. The turkey has a subtle smoky flavor and is moist and succulent, but if you prefer a bolder smoky flavor, add more hickory or pecan smoking wood chips in increments during cooking.
To achieve a perfectly golden, juicy turkey, let the bird spend time both covered and uncovered in the oven. We recommend covering your bird for most of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out; then, during the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, remove the cover so the skin crisps in the hot oven.
The most straightforward approach is to roast an unstuffed turkey, breast-side up, for 13 minutes per pound of turkey at 350°. That works out to approximately 3 hours for a 12- to 14-pound bird (a 12-pound turkey is pretty standard).
How long you cook your turkey can vary, depending on the temperature of the oven and whether or not your turkey recipe calls for a stuffed or unstuffed bird. We recommend roasting turkey at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 13 minutes per pound for an unstuffed turkey.
When smoking at 225°F, it can take about 30 to 45 minutes to cook one pound of turkey. That means a 12-pound turkey should take at least six hours to cook in a smoker. To smoke your turkey faster, increase the smoker's temperature to 250°F to 275°F.
If your turkey's wings are baking too quickly, you can cover them with foil, but otherwise, there's no need. While you're letting it rest, you can tent your turkey in foil for about 15 minutes, but smoking it the whole time in foil is unnecessary and could lead to soggy skin.
Note: when smoking turkey try purchasing one that is no more than 12-14 pounds. Much larger than this and the meat may stay in the danger zone (40-140 °F) for too long. A 20 pound turkey will take 10-14 hours and larger turkeys greatly increase food contamination risks.
At 325 degrees, your turkey will get to the necessary temperature without drying out. Regardless of size, you're normally looking at 3 to 4 hours total cook time. From there, all you've got to do is remove from the grill and rest for 15 minutes before carving. It's really that simple.
At 250°F, it can take about 25 minutes to cook one pound of turkey, meaning you will need about five hours to smoke a 12-pound turkey. A 275°F smoker will cook one pound of turkey in about 20 minutes – a four-hour cook time for a 12-pound turkey.
Introduction: My name is Mr. See Jast, I am a open, jolly, gorgeous, courageous, inexpensive, friendly, homely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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