This years will ne my first smoke turkey on recteq.
Tips on cooking and seasoning to use?

The key is Brine the Turkey at least 24 hours prior to smoking. 1 cup of salt per 1 gallon of water is a guide rule of thumb. Then add what other spices/liquids your like. I add some yellow mustard, dill pickle juice, Black Peppercorns, peeled Garlic smashed, peeled cut Onions, Paprika, Cavender's Greek All Purpose Seasoning, Brown Sugar, Oranges cut in halves, worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, Bay leaves, thyme, and celery seed.

Then after it's brined, rub down with yellow mustard and also rub with Meat Church Holy Gospel. You. An also use a butter based injection if you want to also inject. I smoke over post oak wood/pecan wood mix 225 degrees to hit a internal temp of 160 degrees. Usually about 30 minutes per pound cook time. I also mop my turkey with a homemade mop similar to the mop Coopers Llano uses.

agAngeldad said:

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This years will ne my first smoke turkey on recteq.
Tips on cooking and seasoning to use?

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Keep it simple since its your first go. Brine your turkey for 24 hours out using a basic brine recipe. Give yourself enough time to get it on a rack overnight in the fridge to dry out. If your crowd likes the bird a little spicy use a cajun rub like Tony's. You don't need to get fancy with it and inject anything or mop it. A brine and dry skin when it goes on is key. Plenty of seasoning there.

I think you should also cook at 275-325. Turkey will take a lot of smoke quickly. I think going low and slow is fine but your crowd better like a smokey bird if you cook at 225.

Pull it when the breast hits 160 and enjoy.

If you can mix in a cherry heavy pellet you will get the best color.

Three responses, three different approaches, fantastic.

OP, I once did an unplanned smoked turkey without brining or injecting at a tailgate and it turned out fine. We probably did it for 4-5 hours at 250 or so, it's been over a decade since that happened so don't quote me on it.

I'm just letting you know that it is pretty difficult to screw up smoking a turkey so whatever approach you take will probably work for you.

Don't wet brine. Can rub it down with a good bbq rub and go for it. I've smoked at 225 and then cranked up to 375 towards the end it and it was great.

Meat Church Spatchcock Turkey

Simple recipe that always works and the family loves it.

I used to fry 2 turkeys every holiday but switched to one smoked and one fried.

Then, he put up this recipe. Smoked Fried Turkey

I haven't brined yet but follow both recipes with really good success.

I recommend spatchcocking, then separating the dark from the white.

Smoked Turkey Breast
Brine 24 hours
Pepper or otherwise season as appropriate, but no more salt! Brine is enough.
Smoke 230*F-275*F until Breast is ~135*F internal. Dark meat should go straight to 175*F.
Wrap in foil with 1 stick butter, melted.
Replace probe, skin side down until ~150*F internal. Dark meat just until white meat is done.
Rest 1 hour in warmer/yeti. This pasteurizes the white meat. No effect on dark meat.
Slice and serve

I do recommend against taking it to 165* or anywhere near it. Pasteurization is a function of time and temperature… At 145*F IT you pasteurize in something like 9 minutes. The result is no different than getting to 165*F. It just happens instantly at 165*F.

The best turkey I've ever had was done by my BIL, essentially the same as the Meat Church link above. Wet brined, spatchcocked, seasoned, pellet smoker at 275 for 3-3.5 hours.

I realize that is not true smoked turkey, but for your first one the hotter shorter method removes the chance of over-smoking the bird.

Rodney Scott BBQ Smoked Turkey Recipe

https://destination-bbq.com/rodney-scotts-smoked-turkey-recipe/

I agree with all of this.

I follow Aaron's brine and it's been great.



The others if you're interested…




I cook according to this, which would work for the pellet as well.



As for wood/pellets, I use some pecan and apple (fruit wood goes great with poultry and pork.

These brined turkey breast from HEB are getting tough to find. I had to visit 3 stores today to get them.

Spatchcock. Inject with creole butter.

aggiedata said:

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These brined turkey breast from HEB are getting tough to find. I had to visit 3 stores today to get them.

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Bought one a month ago and have been on the look out for another ever since. No dice…

I found this brand at the new HEB near Tomball on 99 and Champion Forest. Best I could do.

Put the Turkey in at 275 and pull it when the internal temp hits 160. Typically that took 4 hours, but this year I have a 21-pound Turkey so I expect it to take longer.

aggiedata said:

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I found this brand at the new HEB near Tomball on 99 and Champion Forest. Best I could do.

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It'll do! Man ever since I started doing boneless breasts this summer, cooked to ~145*F internal temp, I'll never go back to plain ole oven roasted turkey.

I've been looking for these jumbo turkey breasts for the last couple weeks and have been unsuccessful. I was hoping to get a couple of these because they are so much easier (and I think they taste better) than doing the whole bird. We went to the HEB in Frisco and a few other misc. grocery stores but nobody has them.

Oh well. I guess I'll be smoking the entire turkey this year.

I saw a news story a couple of weeks ago and they interviewed a poultry scientist at A&M, and he was saying bird flu wiped out a ton of turkey flocks, and that turkey was going to be in short supply.

AgsWin2011 said:

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I've been looking for these jumbo turkey breasts for the last couple weeks and have been unsuccessful. I was hoping to get a couple of these because they are so much easier (and I think they taste better) than doing the whole bird. We went to the HEB in Frisco and a few other misc. grocery stores but nobody has them.

Oh well. I guess I'll be smoking the entire turkey this year.

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Whole Foods has organic turkey breast in their meat case at $8.99 a pound. You would have to brine it but it would be a good but more expensive option.

Just get the whole bird and spatchcock it. You'll end up with 2 great breasts for half the cost - plus still have some legs and wings.

Smoke at 275 - 300. To me, the spatchcocking is the easiest and most important step. If you skip the brine, like I have the past few times, it still turns out to be an awesome meal and is better turkey than most people get on Thanksgiving.

AgsWin2011 said:

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I've been looking for these jumbo turkey breasts for the last couple weeks and have been unsuccessful. I was hoping to get a couple of these because they are so much easier (and I think they taste better) than doing the whole bird. We went to the HEB in Frisco and a few other misc. grocery stores but nobody has them.

Oh well. I guess I'll be smoking the entire turkey this year.

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The HEB in Plano said they had them online yesterday, but who knows today.