Slow-Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is a time to reflect on all we have to be grateful for. It is a non-commercial holiday filled with family and friends, making it special. I love everything that goes into preparing for Thanksgiving. The meal planning, traveling, and having guests in our home all combine to add a special element unique to Thanksgiving.

I began cooking a full Thanksgiving meal when I was fourteen and have done it every year since. My standard dishes are eggplant casserole, squash casserole, creamy mashed potatoes, candied yams, and turkey gravy. Every year, I add a dish or two that I think will be interesting for my guests. My Thanksgiving lasagna is always a hit!

Like most people, I started cooking my turkey in the oven. I basted, roasted, and used oven bags and various methods in an attempt to achieve the perfect oven-baked turkey. It wasn’t until I got my first smoker that I achieved turkey nirvana. It took several years, but now I produce a delicious smoked fall-off-the-bone turkey. The downside is that there are never leftovers of my smoked turkey. So now I do two over the weekend – one for the main dinner and one for the next few days.

I have found a couple of key things that contribute to my success. The most important two are preparation and patience. I slow-smoke a turkey at one hour per pound, so a twenty-two-pound turkey takes twenty-two hours. In addition, I brine my turkey for 36 hours before putting it in the smoker. These two things, slow-smoking on low heat and a long brine, make for a near-perfect setup to achieve the perfect turkey.

Let’s Get Started

Items you will need:

For Brining

• • • • • A cooler large enough for your turkey, ice, and brine solution.
        • Several bags of ice
        • Brine mix. You can make your own or get one here.
        • 1 gallon of Apple Cider
        • 1 Gallon of OJ – From concentrate is OK.
        • Optional. A couple of gallons of chicken broth.

For Smoking

• • • • • A grill or smoker. I use Kamado Joe, but almost any grill can be set up to smoke a turkey properly.
        • Lump charcoal
        • Wood chips – pick your favorite flavor
        • Meat thermometer with two to three probes if possible
        • A white rack for the turkey to sit on
        • An oven-safe bowl for water

Brining

This step cannot be skipped!! 

1. Clean and prepare your turkey and place it in the bottom of the cooler.
2. Add about a gallon of water to your brine mix and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and slowly simmer it for 30-45 minutes, adding water if necessary. The kitchen will smell amazing!
3. Remove the mixture from the stove and let it cool in the refrigerator to lose all the heat.
4. Pour the cold brine mix over the turkey.
5. Add the orange juice and apple cider to the cooler.
6. Add water or chicken stock until the liquid covers the turkey.
7. Fill the remaining space in the cooler with ice.
8. Close the lid.
9. Check every 6 hours. Add ice and drain a bit if necessary, but keep the mixture cold.
10. Brine for 36 hours.

Smoking

1. Remove the turkey from the brine and discard the brine solution.
2. Place the turkey on the wire rack and lightly cover it. Let the turkey sit for about an hour while you prepare the smoker.
3. Put the wood chips in a bowl of water and let them soak and get thoroughly saturated.
4. Start by placing a small amount of lump charcoal in the bottom of the grill. Less is more. If you add too much charcoal, you must cool the fire down before you start smoking.
5. Start the charcoal. When the fire is going, and coals are forming, place more charcoal in a pyramid shape around the existing coals.
6. Close the lid and reduce the airflow by almost closing the top vent and the bottom vent.
7. Bring the pit temperature to 195-200 degrees. This is the optimum temp throughout the cook.
8. Put the turkey and wire rack on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.
9. Place three probes in the turkey—one in the breast and one in each thigh.
10. Put the turkey on the grill and close the lid.
11. In about two hours, remove a handful of soaked wood chips and dry the excess water using a paper towel. Scatter the chips around the coals. Do not place them all in one spot.
12. Repeat this process every two hours until the cook is done. In the last two hours you can add a good amount of chips to produce thick smoke infusion at the end.
13. When the thighs reach 165 degrees the cook is done. The breast should be about 145-150 degrees but the thighs need to reach 165 degrees.
14. Place the finished turkey in a roasting pan and allow it to rest for 15 – 20 minutes.
15. I would say at this stage t carve the turkey but if you did this right the bones will gently pull off the meat and you can put the meat in a serving dish.

Enjoy!!! Happy Thanksgiving, Tampa Bay. We have a lot this year to be thankful for.