I love to smoke a turkey any time of the year. I usually buy an extra frozen turkey or two when on sale at Thanksgiving time. Each bird provides rich proteins for soups, stews, meal preps, bones for stock and more.
Below you’ll find two recipes; one to dry brine the turkey and the second for smoking a turkey on the grill. The only difference will be if you choose to keep the bird intact for an oven roast, or if your grill is large enough to hold a full turkey. I choose to quarter the bird (vs. whole or spatchcocking) as it’s easier to monitor cooking temp and will cook better and faster. Trust me.
Ingredients:
- 1 12 lb. turkey, fresh or frozen
- 2 Tablespoons kosher salt
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 Tablespoon rosemary, minced
- Fresh or dry herbs. I like to use either a turkey blend or Italian Seasoning works great here.
- Garlic powder
- Wood chips (if smoking the turkey)
Directions:
- If using a frozen bird, five days before cooking remove from freezer and place in the fridge to thaw. A large stock pot or roasting pan will help capture any loose juices or if the package has been punctured. If using a fresh/thawed turkey, continue on to next step.
- 36 hours before cooking, remove the bird from the packaging and pat dry using paper towels. Save the neck and giblets for turkey stock or gravy, if you’d like.
- Continue to the the next step if keeping the turkey whole. If quartering the turkey, do so now. I prefer to remove the breast meat directly from the bone, but you can also leave on if desired. Place the main carcass into a bag and either refreeze or save to make stock in the next day or so. Freezing all the remaining bones to make turkey stock at a later date will add flavor to other recipes.
- In a small bowl, combined the salt, lemon zest, rosemary and mix together with a fork. Apply and press into the dried skin of the bird. Evenly sprinkle the additional herbs and garlic powder (if using). You’ll reapply before cooking.
- Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and return to the fridge.
- Day of smoking/roasting, remove the turkey from the fridge at least two hours beforehand to help bring closer to room temperature and decrease cooking time. It’ll also help the skin dry a bit and keep the meat moist when cooking.
- If smoking/grilling, setup your grill for indirect cooking targeting 325F degrees. If roasting pre-heat the oven to the same temperature.
- Melt the butter and baste directly onto the skin of the turkey before placing into the oven or on the grill. Sprinkle on additional herbs and garlic powder.
- Transfer the turkey to the grill once at temperature or add to a roasting pan on a rack and place into a preheated oven. Insert a meat probe into the breast meat; a second probe into the thigh meat, if available.
- Smoke/roast each quarter until approximately 155F degrees and remove from the grill/oven. Place in a pan and cover with aluminum foil. The turkey will continue to cook with a carryover of at least 10 degrees. Use a meat probe to be sure.
- Slice and serve as desired.
Salt Swaps:
- A dry brine vs. a wet brine will use less salt overall.
- Unsalted butter will provide the even browning and crisping of the skin without adding sodium.
Notes:
- You can multiple the recipe for the dry brine based on the size of the turkey. E.g. a 16 lb bird use 1.5x, 22 lbs 2x, etc.
- I like to save and refreeze the bones until all the turkey is consumed. Once I’ve saved all the bones, it’s time to make turkey stock, which is just as useful as chicken or vegetable stock.
