How to Smoke a Turkey | Thanksgiving Turkey | Big Green Egg

This week we are getting you ready for the Thanksgiving holiday by teaching you how to smoke a turkey on the Big Green Egg.

We start with a 13 pound whole turkey. 13-16 pounds are the perfect size to cook on the grill whole. Any bigger than that and they start to cook uneven.

You can brine it, but with this bird we decided to inject. We are using Kosmos Chicken Injection. Follow the directions on the package and add a little of your favorite hot sauce. We also mixed the injection with chicken stock instead of water. You’re going to want to make a double batch of the injection and the turkey will take most of it (if making a homemade injection you want between 3-4 cups). Inject all over, making sure it’s spread out evenly.

Once injected, it’s time to season. We brushed on a light coat of vegetable oil to help our rubs stick. We used a two stage rub process. First we used our Salt, Pepper, Garlic Rub. You can go pretty liberally here. It’s going to provide an excellent flavor on this bird. Our final rub is just a light coat of our BBQ Rub. This is just to give the turkey a little color while on the grill. Let the turkey hang out on the counter while you get the grill going.

We are using our Big Green Egg for this cook, but any grill or smoker will work. We start with Royal Oak Charcoal and light it with a couple of Tumbleweeds. Once we have a good bed of coals going, add a chunk of your favorite wood (we like Pecan), put the deflector shield in and dial in the temps to 300*-325*.

Once the grill has stabilized place the turkey on the pit and close the lid. Let it cook for about an hour.

While it was cooking we made up a compound butter. It’s got garlic and herbs in it and is going to go awesome on this turkey. Melt it down and use it as a baste for the turkey.

After 1 hour on the grill, it’s time for a baste. Drizzle the melted compound butter all over the turkey. While we have the lid open, stick a Thermoworks DOT in the thickest part of the breast. Set it for 162*. Come back about every 30 min and baste with the butter.

Once the breast hits 162*, verify that the thighs are at least 170*. Dark meat can go upwards of 190* and still be tender and juicy so if it’s higher don’t sweat it.

Take the turkey off the smoker and let rest for 20 min. Slice and enjoy!!

Ingredients
1. 13-16 pound whole turkey
2. Kosmos Chicken Injection
3. Hot sauce
4. Salt, Pepper, Garlic Rub
5. BBQ Rub
6. Veg. Oil
7. Compound Butter (melted)

Compound Butter
Mix 1 stick unsalted butter with 2 tbs of minced garlic, 1 tsp of rosemary, 1 tsp of thyme, and 1 tbs of Salt, Pepper, Garlic Rub.

Directions
1. Mix together Kosmos Chicken Injection. Follow package directions. Double the recipe and add a little hot sauce.
2. Inject turkey
3. Season turkey with Salt, Pepper, Garlic Rub followed by a light coat of BBQ Rub
4. Start grill and run between 300*-325*
5. Place on grill and cook for 1 hr.
6. Melt compound butter.
7. After 1 hour, baste turkey with melted compound butter. Place Thermorworks DOT in the breast and set for 162*
8. Baste every 30 min until done.
9. Once at 162*, check to make sure thigh is at least 170*
10. Remove from grill and let rest 20 min
11. Slice and enjoy!

For more recipes- https://sweetnsavorybbq.com/

For Salt, Pepper, Garlic Rub recipe- https://sweetnsavorybbq.com/2020/02/1...

For BBQ Rub recipe- https://sweetnsavorybbq.com/2020/01/0...

For Thermoworks DOT- https://www.thermoworks.com/DOT