Smoking Turkey On a Grill
Let’s learn how to smoke a turkey on a pellet smoker grill like a professional chef. Preparing foods on a pellet grill that always gives you a memorable time and freedom as an art of creative expression.
A food lover always loves to eat and has a passion for cuisine. A wise option to share your foodie thoughts is to start writing them in the form of a recipe and try to cook them as particularly whenever you want.
As smoked turkey on thanksgiving, Christmas, or any of your special days is the ultimate meat because grilled turkey is the most favorite meal. Best turkey meal is to smoke it on a grill.
Now you have the opportunity to take the grilled turkey at its highest level with tender delicacy by adding a pellet grill to your outdoor cooking and at your festive holidays.
This guide will provide detailed information about pellet grills and how you can bake smoked birds at home on a grill.
Perfectly smoking turkey takes plenty of time, appropriate temperature, and smoke. You can smoke it on a gas grill or charcoal grill, but pellet smokers will open a new meat cooking world to you due to its adjustment of smoking time and required temperature automatically.
So this article will walk you through everything you need to know about how to smoke turkey with brine, wet method, dry method, or marinade injection method. The following essential steps will help you bring a legendary turkey day.
Th best way to Smokey a turkey on a pellet grill is to select a suitable sized turkey nor too big nor too small, Defrost it if frozen, marinate it with any method you like and place it on pellet grill at about 225˚F to 300˚F for 3½ to 4hr depending on it’s size.
For ingredients and marinating procedure read the rest.
Best Pro Tips For Pellet Smoking
- Defrosted Turkey 15 pound or less
- Use Fuel
- Smoking Wood in chips, chunks, or pellets
- Use Drip Pan but Avoid Roasting Pan
- Don’t truss the turkey
- Use a Read meat thermometer or Remote Meat thermometer for noticing its time
- Don’t stuff the turkey
- Avoid carving
- Don’t forget to brine
How to Choose a Turkey for Smoking
Bird selection is the first choice before you start the pellet grill for smoking. It is better for cooking safely. Turkey that is going to be smoked should be 15 pounds or less. This is an ideal size to smoke turkey perfectly. Smoky meat of this measure can feed 8-10 people if you estimate one and a half pounds per person.
To bake a turkey of this weight in its uncut form may require 4-5 hours; on the other side large-size turkey may consume an entire day to reach its appropriate temperature. You should also keep in mind that you should defrost your turkey by putting it in the refrigerator for two to three days if you bought a frozen bird because defrosting in the open air to save time more quickly may lead to the growth of bacteria.
How to Brine a Smoked Turkey
Here, you will definitely think about brine and what’s the meaning of brine. Don’t think more because it means the dripping of turkey in saltwater and keeping it in for many hours. You can add amazing flavor by brining. Brine is a method in which you soak turkey in sugar-salt solution for about 12 to14 hours in the refrigerator for the delicious taste. It will help to lock the meat moisture and bring tender in the meat throughout the cooking procedure. You can also submerge your bird in famous ready-made mixtures to increase seasoning like,
- Fresh Herb Citrus Brined Turkey
- Apple Cider Sage Brined Turkey
- Rosemary Beer Brine
- Garlic Herb Peppercorn Dry Brine
But before purchasing turkey from a market make sure if it is brine solution free or not. If so then you do not need to boil it because if you brine, it will set off overly salted.
Following Methods of Brining
Dry Brine Method:
Ingredient(15lb)
- Salt (3 Tablespoons)
- Sugar (2 Tablespoons)
- Grand rosemary (2 Tablespoons)
Process:
To make this seasoning mix all these spices, herbs and place it in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet, gently use your fingers to rub this mixture on the whole skin and inside of cavities without tearing the skin and refrigerate it uncovered for 12 to 24 hours. It will penetrate salt flavor down to the bones.
After refrigerating, use a brush to remove excess salt from the skin. You have no need to wash it because washing may ruin the skin and also spread bacteria.
Wet Brine Method:
Ingredients
- Salt 2 cups
- Sugar 1/2cup
- Water 2 gallons
- Whole peppercorns 1 Tablespoons
- Fresh herbs (parsley, bay leaves, rosemary) 1 or 2 leaves from each herb
Additional Flavouring
- Sliced Citrus(orange or lemon) 5-6 Pieces
- Garlic Cloves 2-3
- Onion 1(Medium Size)
- Juniper Berries 1 Teaspoon
- Mustard Seeds ½ Teaspoon
- Star Anise 8 Whole
- Chilies 3-4
- All Spices (crushed) 1 Tablespoon
- Cinnamon Sticks 1-2
- Apple Cider 2 and ½ cups
Process:
The Wet Brine method works like marinade. Boil 8 cups of water, add salt, sugar, and remaining aromatics and stir it until they dissolve into the water. Add some more water (a half-gallon) and boil it for one minute or two. Pull out this solution from the stove and pour it into the remaining water to make up a solution of two gallons. Let it cool at room temperature.
The next step is to submerge the turkey in the brine, focusing on the breast. There is no need to rinse the bird before dipping it in brine. Put the turkey in the brining bag carefully and pour the brine over it. At this stage, you will also add additional spices.
Press the bag to extrude excess air so that the turkey is fully submerged. Use a motto to close the brine bag tightly. Refrigerate it for one to two days after setting this bag in a roasting pan, large stock pan, and on an ice-chest cooler. A salty bath infuses salt and moisture in the meat.
Open the brine bag in the stockpot and bring out the turkey from the brine, rinse it with fresh water and pat it with a paper towel for dryness. Again place it uncovered in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours for juicy and crispy light golden brown skin when smoked.
Right Grill for Smoking Turkey
We recommended using pellet smoker grill instead of gas grills and charcoal grills because they provide precision temperature control and broad temperature zones for long and slow cuisine. These grills cook your food evenly and prevent them from inflaming or bursting due to their indirect heat quality. There is a wide range of smokers available in the market.
Traeger pro 575 and Z grills are a great choice if you want to buy a smoker for your barbecue. They are a great combination of exactitude, best flavor and aroma profile, and consistency. Now you got to know how to smoke a turkey on a Pellet grill because it is easy to use and also affordable.
