Once you own a pellet grill you look forward to smoking meat year-round and showing off all that juicy and delicious meat candy to all your family and friends–but during the holiday season, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
With everyone counting on you to create a perfectly seasoned and smoked turkey, anxiety can set in (especially for first-timers) and so we created this guide to walk you through it step by step, and answer any lingering questions about the turkey smoking process.
Here is a handy Table Of Contents we created so you can jump around to the different steps in the process…
Smoking a turkey on a pellet smoker is a great way to prepare a centerpiece for holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas. The smoked turkey comes out tender and juicy with a delicious hint of wood smoke flavor. But getting the cook time right is key to success. Undercook the bird and it will be unsafe to eat. Smoke it too long and the meat dries out. So how long does it take to smoke a turkey on a pellet grill?
The general rule of thumb is to calculate 30 minutes of cook time per pound of turkey at 225-250°F. For example a 12 lb turkey will take about 6 hours to reach an internal temperature of 165°F in the breast meat.
However, a few factors can alter the time needed:
Turkey Size Matters
Obviously, a larger turkey requires more time. Stick to birds between 10-15 lbs for the most even cooking. Going bigger than 15 lbs makes it hard to keep the white and dark meat at optimal doneness.
Miniature turkeys under 8 lbs need less time. You can shave off 30-60 minutes for these small birds. Just be sure to temp for doneness instead of relying solely on cook times.
Temperature Settings
Most recipes call for smoking turkey between 225-250°F. This low steady heat gently cooks the meat while infusing plenty of delicate smoke flavor.
Cranking up the temperature speeds things up. At 275°F estimate 20-25 minutes per pound. But higher heat means less smoke absorption into the meat.
Conversely, dropping the temp down to 200°F makes for an extra smoky turkey, but will add hours to the total cook time.
Brined vs Unbrined
Soaking the raw turkey in a saltwater brine before smoking helps seasons the meat and makes it super juicy. But it also speeds up the cooking.
An unbrined turkey may need up to 30 minutes more per pound since it doesn’t get the initial moisture boost.
Spatchcocking
Butterflying the turkey so it lays flat, known as spatchcocking, significantly decreases cook time. Air circulation improves and more surface area gets exposure to the smoke and heat.
Estimate about 20 minutes per pound for a spatchcocked turkey. It’s easier to get evenly smoked white and dark meat too.
Stuffing and Trussing
For food safety, it’s best not to stuff a smoked turkey. The stuffing increases overall cook time and can lead to underdone meat hidden within.
Skip trussing as well. Tying the legs together inhibits smoke absorption. Letting the thighs finish faster than the breast prevents overcooking.
Use a Reliable Meat Thermometer
While the times above provide ballpark figures, the only way to guarantee safely cooked turkey is by using a good digital meat thermometer.
Test the temperature in a few spots, aiming for 165°F in the breast and 175°F in the thighs. Once the bird hits these marks, it’s perfectly smoked regardless of total time.
Rest the turkey at least 15-30 minutes before slicing into it as well. This allows the juices to redistribute for moister meat.
With the right thermometer and adjusting for the factors above, you can nail the ideal cook time for a mouthwatering smoked turkey on your pellet grill every holiday. Proper timing balances safety, smoke penetration, and juiciness for the best possible results.
How Long To Smoke A Turkey On a Pellet Grill
We will be smoking the turkey at 250 degrees until it reaches 165 degrees. This takes about 25 min per pound.
The cooking time will change from bird to bird depending on how many pounds of turkey you are smoking.
My 15 pound turkey trials consistently came to temp in 5-6 hours on my Rec Teq Bullseye, but depending on your type of smoker I would give yourself a buffer of 2 hours to account for inconsistencies in pellet smokers and outside temperature.
The best way to get juicy turkey is to always smoke to temperature, not to time, which often inadvertently overcooks the turkey meat.
Despite what other blogs say, as a chef and culinary expert with 15 years of experience you do not need to cook poultry beyond 165 degrees internal temperature. This is a Servesafe and FDA endorsed temperature taught in all culinary schools. Please do not overcook your turkey to 180 degrees, it is completely unnecessary and any cooking blog stating this is misinformed.
Pro Tip: Many people remove the turkey at 160 degrees because carry over cooking on a larger bird (like a turkey) will be at least 5 degrees as it rests.
For your first time, the important thing to know is you can speed up the cook time, at any time, by bumping the internal temperature of the pellet grill to 275 degrees to 300 degrees.
A turkey contains no connective tissue that needs to break down over low and slow temperatures, so at any time you can bump the temperature to help it hit 160-165 degrees if you need to get dinner on the table.
We love sprtizing the turkey with pineapple juice briefly during the smoking process to encourage a golden brown color and pops of flavor.
Let the turkey smoke for 1 1/2-2 hours so that the turkey paint can set. Then begin spritzing the turkey with a squeeze bottle of pineapple juice.
If you don’t like pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar or apple juice is also nice. For my Thanksgiving turkey, it’s got to be pineapple juice because the whole family thinks it makes the best smoked turkey.
Spritz the turkey every 30-45 minutes, unless it’s disturbing the compound butter. The compound butter should be fairly well set by now, but every cook is different and I wouldn’t prioritize spritzing the turkey over keeping that gorgeous herb butter intact.
As the turkey cooks, just give it a light spritzing to encourage a golden brown sheen on the skin of the turkey.
How To Brine The Turkey
Step One
Before you remove your turkey from the refrigerator you will want to start your wet brine. We use 2 brines here at Urban Cowgirl…
Both brines require you to boil salt, sugar, spices, and water for 5 minutes and then allow the ingredients to steep in this liquid until they are cool. We call this the brew!
An additional 1 gallon of cold liquid (water or apple cider depending on the recipe) is added to the brew to make it a finished brine.
I recommend making and chilling your brew, transferring it into the large brine bucket, then adding the remaining 1 gallon of liquid, before moving forward to Step 2.
So, you should have a large 5-gallon bucket (please see either turkey brine post for full instructions) filled with your turkey brine before moving forward.
Step Two
When the turkey is fully defrosted, place it in a clean kitchen sink and cut the packaging open. All the juices will run down the sink. In the turkey cavity, there may be a turkey neck and/or a little bag of giblets.
Remove both the neck and giblets and either save for your gravy or discard.
Run clean cold water over the turkey and bring the bucket of brine near the sink. Insert the entire bird into the brine and cover it with a lid.
You can leave the turkey in this brine for up to 36 hours. We think 24 hours works just fine and even overnight provides a lot of extra flavor and juiciness to the finished turkey.
Once you start brining your turkeys, you’ll never go back. the flavor and juiciness are simply unmatched.
Step Three
When you’re done brining the bird, remove the bird from the brine and place it into a clean kitchen sink. This allows brine to run off the bird and out of the center cavity.
Transfer the bird to a sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.
Discard the brine down the sink, and wash your bucket and sink with hot soapy water to prevent cross-contamination of raw turkey juices to any of the surfaces in your kitchen.
(Especially if this is a holiday and you have all kinds of pies and side dishes around!)
Now we’re going to season the outside of the turkey and I recommend doing this with our Turkey Paint Recipe, which is a compound butter that leaves the turkey looking like a turkey on a magazine cover!
If you just want to use a simple smoked turkey rub, I have a recipe for my favorite one right here.
Either way, slather on that turkey compound butter or sprinkle heavily with smoked turkey dry rub, on all sides of the turkey…you’ll want the turkey to be placed breast side up on the sheet pan and completely dry of brine before you begin.
If using the smoked turkey rub, you can drizzle the surface of the turkey with olive oil first to help the rub stick to the skin. Don’t forget the little crevices!
The most important thing is to paint the turkey paint on evenly because where you paint it, it will stick throughout the cooking.
Now we will just leave the turkey out on the countertop while we prep the pellet smoker, allowing it to come to room temperature while we set up outside.
How To Smoke A Turkey On A Traeger Pellet Grill – FULL STEP-BY-STEP
FAQ
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