Turkey grilling is a delicious recipe for meat lovers. Various herbs with smoked turkey leave a remarkable taste experience. However, making a smoked turkey will be hard for beginners.
To enjoy a slice of smoky and flavored meat, you must know how to smoke a turkey on a pellet grill. You can smoke your turkey on the pellet grill with the easiest steps.
A complete marinating, perfect pellets, and proper method can give you the best turkey-making result. Besides, accurate timing and temperature are also essential in this meat cooking process.
In this content, you will get all the methods of smoking a turkey on the pellet grill. Furthermore, I have given here some techniques to cook a turkey perfectly.
These tricks will help you to cook the meat perfectly without any hassle. Hence, let’s dive into the depth to learn about the whole process.
How To Smoke A Turkey On A Pellet Grill?
Cooking the whole turkey isn’t easy if you don’t know the correct process. Besides, the temperature is the major requirement to cook the turkey perfectly.
Also, you need to adjust the time correctly. Here I’ll share my best-smoked turkey recipe to help you enjoy an amazing meat taste.
Step-1: Complete The Marinating
To get the perfect smoked turkey, you must add the strongest flavors. In the marinating period, add all the spices and ingredients properly. Mix all the elements in a bowl and apply the mixture all over the whole turkey.
Never forget to cover under the skin areas of the meat. Besides, brine the turkey with brine solution before marinating to get the best flavors.
Step-2: Select Your Wood Pellets
Wood pellets selection is the most significant part of smoking a turkey on a pellet grill. As you choose the best wood pellets for briskets, you must also select the best one for turkey.
It is because wood pellets are the main flavor supplier in this recipe. You can use maple, cherry, and other sweet woods for turkey smoking. However, I prefer cherry wood for turkey meat.
Step-3: Preheat The Grill Machine
Before starting the final procedure, you must preheat the grill machine’s smoker. Always use 225 degrees Fahrenheit to preheat the smoker. With this temperature, you can smoke your turkey perfectly.
Besides, cover the smoker top with the finest wood pellets to get the best taste. You can use the Kaduf Pellet Smoker Tray instead of the traditional smoking process.
Step-4: Set The Meat Inside The Machine
Now, open the lid of the grill machine and place the turkey inside the pan. Keep the turkey in the middle of the grill pan. You can use turkey cannon to set the meat inside the machine.
Step-5: Smoke The Meat
First, place the temperature probe inside the thickest breast part for smoking the turkey. You must set the temperature at 225 degrees F per pound and cook the meat for 30 minutes.
Besides, for smoking at 250 degrees F per pound, you need 25 minutes. The turkey will become fully cooked when it reaches 165 degrees F in the breast and 175 degrees F in the thigh.
Check the meat at least one hour prior to the stop at the grill. Wireless Meat Thermometer for Grilling can help you find out the temperature.
5 Other Useful Tips To Smoke A Turkey Effectively:
Pellet grills are quite difficult to manage for smoking a turkey. However, there are some tricks to make this task easy.
Now, I’ll tell you my secret tips for smoking turkey meat effectively. These tips will help you to cook and smoke the turkey inside a pellet grill.
Tip-1: Inject The Brine Solution Inside Turkey
Brine solution can increase the taste and flavors inside the clean meat. Therefore, make a perfect brine solution with your favorite spices and herbs.
Now, inject the liquid inside several places of the turkey through a marinade injector. The breast area is the thickest part of the turkey. Make sure the brine liquid goes through in this part properly.
Tip 2: Use Butter To Brush The Meat As More As You Can
Brush the butter every hour while cooking the meat. Butter will give you an amazing taste outside the turkey.
Also, it protects the outside portion from overburning at the same time. Besides, butter makes the meat a good melted food that gives you a heavenly feeling.
Tip-3: Do Not Use Roasting Pan To Smoke Turkey
A roasting pan can burn the meat quickly. Furthermore, sometimes, it can’t cook the meat properly from the inside.
For this reason, never use a roasting pan to smoke the turkey. Try the best pellet smokers under $1000 to make a perfect smoky turkey recipe in your home.
Tip-4: Never Cut Cooked Turkey With An Unclean Knife
Always cut the cooked turkey with a clean knife. Unclean knife, especially after slicing the raw meat, don’t put into the cooked one.
It is because the dirty knife can contain the smell of raw turkey that will spoil the taste. Hence, clean your blade before slicing the cooked turkey.
Tip-5: Keep The Meat In Rest For A While After Cooking
The turkey needs to rest for at least 2-3 hours. If you want the meat to become tender and spicy inside, you must leave the turkey at normal temperature for a while.
After a complete resting, the spices and hubs will spread deep inside and provide a great flavor.
Related Questions
Q: Do You Smoke Turkey Breast Up Or Down On Pellet Grill?
Ans: It would be best if you smoked the turkey on the pellet grill. To do this, choose a side corner of the grill machine and keep the meat over the pan.
Besides, insert a probe to measure the temperature while cooking. Place it inside the thickest part of the turkey to get an accurate temperature.
Q: How Long To Cook A Turkey On A Pellet Grill?
Ans: You need to cook a turkey according to the weight of the whole meat. Generally, it takes at least 30 minutes per pound to cook the turkey perfectly.
Also, to cook the entire turkey, you must set the temperature to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes, it boils under 165 degrees Fahrenheit within six hours.
Q: Do You Smoke A Turkey Directly On The Rack?
Ans: You can’t smoke a turkey directly on the rack. Direct roasting can burn the outside portion of the meat. Again, roasting can make the turkey damp.
Sometimes, the turkey can’t absorb the spices and become tasteless after cooking. Try to avoid roasting, especially in the cooking pan with liquid.
Q: How Do You Keep Your Turkey Moist?
Ans: Use an oily and flavorful baste to moisturize the turkey. A perfect baste in the last moment of the meat cooking can give you moisture and delicious turkey.
Furthermore, use butter and maple syrup to make a good flavored baste. Brush the ingredients over the whole meat.
Q: Do You Flip A Turkey When Smoking?
Ans: You have to flip the turkey when smoking. If you want to smoke your whole meat perfectly, it must convert every hour while providing the smoke.
Besides, flipping allows the turkey to cook from every side. Ensure you don’t spoil the meat while flipping the turkey. To do this task, use a flipping spatula to manage the turkey.
Final Verdict
Making your grill with turkey is a completely fun thing! It becomes more delightful if you smoke the meat with your hands.
Also, making the smoked turkey isn’t easy for beginners as they don’t know how to smoke it on a pellet grill.
However, still, you can do this perfectly by following proper guidelines. I hope you have learned the whole process of properly smoking your turkey.
Don’t forget to follow my tips and tricks while cooking the meat to get the best taste. Furthermore, share your smoked turkey experience with me through the comment section!