When it comes to the holiday season, we all know turkey is the undisputed king. Nothing beats a huge bird surrounded by all the trimmings on Thanksgiving day. While there are plenty of ways to cook a turkey to perfection, smoked turkey is the stuff of holiday feast legend. Read Traeger’s expert guide to smoking a turkey for the best tips and tricks this Thanksgiving.

In this guide, we'll take you through a few of the different methods so you can choose the one that's right for you.

Before you get to smoking a turkey, get your Thanksgiving supplies together:

1. Turkey: You can get your Thanksgiving turkey frozen or fresh – luckily, either works for the Traeger. Just keep in mind the guest count. You can follow our chart below:

Our recommendation:

• 8-10 people: 1 12-14 lb. turkey

• 12-14 people: 1 16 lb. turkey

• 16-18 people: 2 12-14 lb. turkeys

• 20+ people: 2 16 lb. turkeys

• Pellet Grill & Wood Pellets: Cooking a turkey can take up to 6 hours depending on the size of your bird. Make sure you’re well stocked with your favorite wood pellets (especially our premium turkey pellets), and have your pellet grill ready to go.

• Meat Thermometer: Turkey can be a high-stress cook, so a meat thermometer, especially a wireless meat thermometer, is a must-have. Invest in a good quality one, like the MEATER, so that you can monitor the internal temperature of your bird from the comfort of your couch.

• Seasonings & Brine: While you can always do a basic salt and pepper seasoning for your bird, brine and additional spices will make your turkey epic and full of delicious flavor.

• BBQ Tools: Make sure to get your BBQ tools like your basting brush, a big spatula, and more before the big day.

In addition to turkey size, you should also pay attention to bird quality. When you’re in the meat aisle, do yourself a favor and avoid any labels with words like “enhanced” or “basted.” If you buy a turkey that’s already had its flavor tinkered with, you’ll be signing away control of your flavor profile. You’ll also probably be paying extra for water weight and not getting as much meat as you’re expecting.

Finally, always buy fresh. If you’re cooking for Thanksgiving or Christmas, you’ll need to be on your A-game. A lot of stores don’t stock these birds in great numbers until the week before a holiday, although you can typically place an order for a fresh turkey in advance. Ideally, buy your turkey no more than four or five days before you’re planning to smoke it.

Once you’ve chosen your turkey, it’s time to think about how you’d like to season it.

First of all, if you’ve bought a frozen bird, learn how to thaw your frozen turkey so that it’s ready to go come smoke time.

For seasoning and brining, there are a few different methods:

• Brining: If you haven’t bought a pre-brined turkey from the store, make sure to read our guide on how to brine a turkey for smoking. Brining (soaking your turkey in a salty bath) makes it moist, tender, and most importantly, full of flavor. And yes, if you’ve bought a frozen turkey you can brine it (just make sure it’s completely thawed out).
• Seasoning: There are a ton of different rubs and seasonings you can use on your bird this Thanksgiving (including one specifically made for turkey), to add some extra flavor to your meal. Make sure to apply any dry rub to the turkey about 12-24 hours in advance so that the flavor can penetrate the skin. If you leave it uncovered and let the skin dry out a bit in the fridge, you’ll get an extra crispy texture when smoking.

How To Prep a Turkey for Smoking

Defrosting Frozen Turkey

Fresh turkey not an option? It’s not a crime to buy frozen. You’re just going to need to commit more time to the cause. It normally takes 24 hours to thaw for every 5 pounds of turkey, so if you have a 16-pound turkey, we could be talking about three days of thaw time.

Remove Giblets

Many store-bought turkeys come with giblets — the liver, heart, gizzard, and neck of the animal. Usually, the giblets are in a paper bag in the turkey cavity. You can use the giblets to add flavor and to stuffing or gravy or you can simply discard them.

Season Your Turkey

Most recipes will call for seasoning the turkket with salt and pepper or some sort of rub. A good poultry rub enhances the natural flavor of the meat and introduces an appetizing color to the skin.

Turkey Injection, or No?

You don’t have to inject your turkey, but it never hurts. Turkey injection is great for adding moisture and flavor, and there are very few cons apart from the potential to oversalt and uneven cooking if you don’t do it right. However, you will need a meat injector if you don't already have one.

If you do choose to inject though, it's best to do it 12 to 24 hours before smoking. This will allow the flavors to distribute and soak into the meat. If you’re short on time, you can inject as little as 1 to 2 hours before smoking, but it won’t be as deeply flavored.

After injecting, let the turkey rest in the fridge to allow the marinade to evenly distribute. And just because you inject, don’t forget to season the outside of the turkey still for well-rounded flavor.

Truss the Turkey - Or Not

Trussing a turkey means securing the legs close to the body of the bird. Some store-bought turkeys come with a built-in plastic truss. You can also use kitchen twine to tie the ends of the legs together.

The point of trussing is to make the surface of the bird a more regular shape. Sometimes, this can prevent hotspots on certain parts of the bird, which could dry out the meat. However, you can easily skip this step if you want.

And, perhaps obviously, if you're spatchcocking a turkey, you can't truss it.

Select a Wood Pellet

When choosing a wood pellet flavor for turkey, you’ll want something that enhances the bird’s natural flavors without overpowering it. Pellets that are a little sweeter, and more mild will complement your bird and let the natural flavors and brine shine through. You can find the best pellets for turkey by reading our guide.

Preheat the Grill

When you’ve done all your turkey prep, set the Traeger temperature to 225°F with Super Smoke if available and preheat with the lid closed for 15 minutes.

Smoke the Turkey

Once you’ve chosen your pellets and preheated the grill, it’s time to smoke your bird. First, insert your wireless meat thermometer into the thickest part of the turkey breast and place it breast-side up on the grill. You can either smoke the bird at this temperature until fully coked (165°F) or start with smoke for a few hours and then crank the heat to 350°F or so to finish for browner more crispy skin. The time this takes will vary depending on the size of your turkey, but it will be at least 3 to 4 hours.

Of course, you can also use your Traeger like an oven and roast your bird as you would inside, but it will have less wood-fired flavor than one that starts with smoke.

The best internal temperature for smoked turkey is 165°F at the breast. (The thighs can go higher.)

To ensure it's fully cooked and safe to eat, insert a meat thermometer into the deepest part of the breast, making sure not to touch any bones, as that can give an inaccurate reading.

A leave-in meat thermometer, wired or wireless, lets you monitor the temperature remotely without having to open the lid.

Let the turkey rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute.

How Long to Smoke a Turkey

A good rule of thumb is that smoking a turkey typically takes about 30-40 minutes per pound at a temperature of 225°F to 250°F.

For example, a 12-pound turkey will take approximately 6 to 8 hours. It's important to keep the smoker temperature consistent and monitor the internal temperature of the turkey closely.

You can increase the smoker temperature to 275°F towards the end of the cook to help crisp the skin, if desired

Now that we’ve walked you through smoking a turkey, it’s time to try out a recipe on the grill. Take a look at some of our favorites to get inspiration for Thanksgiving:

• Best Smoked Turkey
• Pellet Grill Turkey
• Smoked Turkey Breast
• Matt Pittman’s Spatchcocked Smoked Turkey Recipe
• Traeger Traditional Smoked Turkey

Deliciously smoked turkey calls for some equally epic sides. Take a look at our some delicious sides to cook along with your bird:

• Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
• Ultimate Scratch Gravy
• Smoked Green Bean Casserole
• Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls
• Cranberry Sauce
• Traditional Stuffing

And that’s it. You now have all the expert knowledge you need to smoke a turkey that will go down in the history books. So, are you ready to create your own mouth-watering work of art? Check out our smoked turkey recipes for some inspiration and get smoking.