Smoked Turkey Recipe And Dry Rub Recipe

This smoked turkey rub will turn your smoked turkey into an amazing holiday dinner!  For years I have talked about smoking turkey. Well, what better time to do that than March right? I opted to make up a dry rub recipe but a brine will be tried next time. 

This can be smoked by any type of smoker, but I used a Smoke Hollow electric smoker.  I love that I can get this one to low heat to get the flavor into the food really deep. 

I like to do a low, slow smoke on mine so my heat doesn’t exceed 225 degrees.  Now I like to use Smoker pucks and a digital meat thermometer when I smoke meat in my vertical smoker.  Below are my smoker essentials and must-haves that I use. 

Smoked Turkey Recipe And Dry Rub Recipe Ingredients:

• Turkey
• Avocado Oil– You can swap this out for olive oil
• Truffle Oil
• Montreal Steak Seasoning
• Garlic Salt
• Onion Powder
• Dried Parsley
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• Fresh Ground Pink Himyalians Salt 

How Long To Cook A Turkey For

Now this will vary some smoker to smoker. The most common practice is to smoke for a couple of hours at 225 and then turn the temperature up to 350 to decrease the remaining cooking time. When turning the temperature up, you can cover the turkey with foil if you like.

• You can start smoking on a smoke setting for an hour or two before increasing the temperature.
• 225 degrees Fahrenheit for ~30 minutes per pound of meat.
• 250 degrees Fahrenheit for ~25 minutes per pound of meat.
• 325 degrees Fahrenheit for ~12 minutes per pound of meat.

For Example, a 15-pound turkey at 225 degrees would be about 450 minutes. Divide that by 30 to get 7.5 hours of cook time.

The most important part is not to smoke for time but for temperature. You will want to use a meat thermometer to ensure your bird reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees before serving. I use a Thermoworks Thermapen for all my temping of meat, it reads instantly. (You can see it -> here!)

How To Thaw A Turkey

How long your turkey takes to thaw will vary based on the site. The graphic below is a general guide to thawing a turkey based on size. Be sure to always keep your turkey in food safety guidelines.

How To make Smoked Turkey Dry Rub:

Thaw out your turkey via food safety practices. 

Remove the turkey from the bag and remove the innards. I forgot and cook the turkey as is. It ended up smoking the turkey neck well.

Preheat your smoker and get a good smoke rolling. I brought mine up to 200 degrees and held that temperature for the whole entire smoke.

Now you can do the turkey rub a day ahead or the day before. If you forget as I did, it will still work to rub the turkey a couple of hours before smoking the turkey.

Rub down your turkey with the oils, so it is coated before you season the turkey.

Sprinkle with the seasonings to your desired taste. I just sprinkled some of everything until my turkey looked like this; you can go lighter or heavy with seasonings.

how to make a smoked turkey

Spray your smoker rack with a nonstick spray.

Place your turkey on the rack and put the rack in the smoker when the smoker has reached the temperature that you want to cook at.

Allow the turkey to smoke, but remember to watch your water dish, chips, pucks, or pellets as you smoke your turkey.

I smoked our turkey for 9 hours at 200 degrees.

Use a meat thermometer to verify your turkey has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Allow the turkey to rest and then enjoy!

What is your go-to way to smoke a turkey?

How To Store Leftover Turkey

Once the leftover turkey is cooled, store it in an airtight container or Ziploc bag in the fridge for up to five days. You can freeze leftover turkey for up to three months in an airtight container to freezer bag.

Storing leftovers properly requires the right tools! My preferred storage method is if the leftovers can be sealed in a food saver. If not, then an air-tight container or Ziploc bag for the fridge is the way I go. The air-tight container and a freezer Ziploc bag are the next best bet for freezing the leftovers. I also use a food scale to measure portions and divide them into serving sizes.

What To Serve With Smoked Turkey:

Any of the classic turkey dishes will go with smoked turkey. I love to smoke versions of classics as well. You can see my full list of side dishes for smoked turkey -> here that go with smoked turkey.

Bread: Cheesy Garlic Pull Apart Bread, Garlic Parmesan Biscuit Pull Part Bread, English Muffin Garlic Cheese Bread, Easy Cheesy Monkey Bread, Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls, Honey Rolls

Smoked Appetizers: Smoked Cream Cheese, Easy Smoked Queso Dip, Easy Smoked Refried Bean Dip

Smoked Side Dishes: Smoked Baked Potatoes, Smoked Green Bean Casserole, Smoked Sweet Potato Casserole, Smoked Baked Potatoes, Smoked Loaded Cheesy Potatoes, Smoked Deviled Eggs, Smoked Loaded Baked Beans, Creamy Smoked Macaroni And Cheese, Smoked Loaded Cheesy Potatoes

Grilled Side Dishes: Cheesy Grilled Asparagus, Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms, Grilled Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes, Grilled Corn On The Cob,

Desserts: How To Smoke A Pie, Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake, Crescent Roll Peach Dumplings, Pumpkin Bars

The Best Leftover Smoked Turkey Recipes:

I love to use leftover smoked turkey in other recipes! From Pot Pies to soup to a casserole, there are no limits. I even use my Pit Boss Grills and Blackstone griddle to make leftover dishes too!! Check out all my tried and true leftover turkey recipes ->HERE.  

Smoked Turkey Recipes: 

A dry rub works amazingly well on turkey, but doing a brine with the dry rub adds more flavor.  There is no wrong way to smoke a turkey.  Now, I buy extras during the holidays, so I have extra turkeys to smoke later in the year!