Smoked Turkey

Let’s be honest the best way to have turkey is to have it smoked! My favorite food to consume at the Disney Theme parks is the smoked turkey legs. They are out of this world good! So you can only imagine how good an entire turkey tastes.

For the brine, I use a two-gallon recipe:
– 2 cups of Kosher Salt
– 2 cups of sugar
– 1 Orange, 1 Grapefruit, and 1 Lemon sliced
– 6 Garlic cloves halved
– 1 palm full of whole cloves and peppercorns
– 1 bunch of thyme, rosemary, and sage
– 1 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper
– 1 tablespoon of liquid hickory smoke
– 1 large sweet onion sliced

Put all of the items in a large pot and boil for 15 minutes. Let the brine cool completely and put the bird in the pot and put it in the fridge inside of the pot. Leave the bird in the brine for at least 12 hours. Ideal to brine between 24-48 hours.

For the turkey, this is what you’ll need:
– Trager pork and poultry rub
– 1/2 lb of garlic butter
– 1 apple
– 1 half sweet onion

After waiting, pull the turkey out and drain it and get all of the brine off and various pieces from the brine. Pull back the breast skin and pat down about 1/4 inch of butter underneath the skin of the breasts. Towel the turkey down in order to prepare it for the rub. I like to rub the turkey down with the Traeger Pork and Poultry Rub. Make sure to put a heavy dosage of rub on it. Also, put this inside the cavity with some sliced sweet onions and sliced apple. Tie the legs up and transfer the turkey to the fridge and let it sit for an hour.

When ready to cook, turn on your smoker and turn the temperature gauge to 225 degrees. Give the smoker 15 minutes to warm up. Put the turkey on the grate and turn on your super smoke mode if that is an option your smoker has. Put a probe in and let the turkey get to 100-110 degrees internally. Once this is achieved turn the temperature dial up to 350 degrees and cook until the turkey reaches 165 internally. Remove from the grill and let the turkey sit for 15 minutes. Once that is done, enjoy it!

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