Description
Smoked Spatchcock Turkey – an absolutely delicious, flavorful smoked spatchcock turkey recipe – perfect for Thanksgiving or any holiday!
Ingredients
Scale
Smoked Turkey Rub:
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon smoked garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
- 2 teaspoons dried sage leaves
- 1 teaspoons onion powder
Turkey:
- 12–14 lb whole turkey (fully thawed, giblets removed)
- 1/2 cup butter, softened + divided (feel free to use softened ghee)
- 1 batch turkey seasoning
- 1–2 red onions, quartered
- 2 cups chicken broth (or turkey broth)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)
- 2–3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2–3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 navel orange, quartered
Instructions
- Set your smoker to 225 degrees F.
- Combine your ingredients for the Smoked Turkey Rub, set aside. Ensure butter is softened.
- Spatchcock Your Turkey: Flip turkey so it is breast-side down. Taking your kitchen shears, cut along both sides of the backbone (which will be running down the middle of the turkey at this point) and remove. Cut into the top of the breastbone and start to break apart the cartilage there. Flip over. Firmly press down towards the top of the breastbone with the palm of your hand until you hear a crack. That’s it! Check out our tutorial on How To Spatchcock a Turkey HERE for even more details!
- Add onion, orange, chicken broth, white wine (if using), rosemary and thyme to bottom of large aluminum roasting pan. Place turkey on top ensuring the breast-side is up.
- Take 1/4 cup softened butter and rub into every nook and cranny (including under the skin where possible). Use additional softened butter, as-needed. Sprinkle Turkey Rub all over.
- Place the roasting pan on the smoker and close the lid. Let smoke 60-70 minutes.
- Turn the smoker temperature up to 350 degrees F. Let the turkey smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees at it’s thickest part. Melt the last 1/4 cup of butter and use to baste the turkey every 20 minutes.
- Remove the turkey from the smoker, baste one more time and then let rest 10-15 minutes.
- Move the turkey onto a platter or large plate and cover with foil again to continue its resting for another 10-15 minutes.
- Use juices at the bottom of the pan to make Homemade Turkey Gravy.
Notes
- Smoke Time: the ultimate cook time will vary a bit depending upon a myriad of factors such as outdoor temperature, wind, humidity, smoker hot spots, etc. That being said we tested this multiple times on a Traeger and it generally took approximately 2-2.5 hours total smoke time for a 12-14 pound turkey to come to temp (165 degrees F.).
- Brine: here is an optional smoked turkey brine if you want to do that first – just be aware you would need to prep that the night before.
- Pellets: hickory and mesquite are my two favorites to use in this recipe.