Thanksgiving is my hands-down number one favorite holiday. Period.
I mean, what is not to love? My family gets together and it is honestly so cool to see each one of us work at a dish that we contribute to the meal. Not to mention, we are a rowdy bunch, so in between the cooking, wine, and banter I can barely keep it together without crying from laughter. Then my mom always tries to reinact those family portraits we did as children… So just imagine that.
On the food front, we try to always incorporate new dishes every year to keep things interesting. And then obviously Turkey. And not just any turkey recipe this year, but a Traeger Smoked Turkey recipe.
Check out this Fall Farro Salad to add onto the Thanksgiving side list!
Traeger Smoked Turkey?
For those of you that are now asking what the heck a Traeger Smoked Turkey is, let’s start by talking about a Traeger is. A Traeger is a wood pellet grill that you can also smoke your food on. Now, generally my family deep fries our bird, and it turns out delicious. This year, I wanted to try out a smoked turkey and this Traeger Smoked Turkey did not disappoint.
I included a video with a step by step how to. My very first, might I add!! It goes over what types of pellets I used, the flavorings, etc…
I mentioned it was my first video, so I wanted to keep it super simple. In this Traeger Smoked Turkey I opted to not brine it, and very minimal seasoning. This allowed me to compare it to other Turkeys I’ve had. I do intend on trying out more complex recipes in the future, but for my first time It was really great to dip my toe in the smoking water. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
To keep the turkey moist, I used a mixture of oranges, rosemary, and honey in a Turkey cannon. And if you know me, that is like one of my favorite flavor combinations of all time. Especially on a Traeger Smoked Turkey. You don’t specifically have to use a turkey cannon, because we will be spraying it, but it does come in handy! I included a photo below to show you what that looks like assembled. The part of the turkey cannon that gets inserted into its cavity actually has the mixture of orange, rosemary and honey.
Well weather this is your first time smoking a turkey or you are a seasoned pro, I hope your Thanksgiving is amazing and you enjoy this Traeger Smoked Turkey Recipe.
Traeger Smoked Turkey Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 Pound, Butter, 1/2 cup softened 1/2 cup melted
- 6-7 sprigs of Rosemary, chopped
- 6-8 cloves of Garlic, minced
- Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
- 2 cup Orange Juice
- 12-18 pound Turkey, thawed out
Instructions
Add 1 cup orange juice, 2 sprigs of chopped rosemary, and 1 tbsp of honey to spray bottle
If you are using a turkey cannon, add cup orange juice, 2 sprigs of chopped rosemary, and 1 tbsp of honey to liquid reservoir
Pat Turkey dry with paper towel
Place turkey on turkey cannon
Add 1/2 cup of melted butter all over turkey and generously season with salt, cracked pepper, and remainder of chopped rosemary
Set your smoker to start smoking until it is ready
Smoke Turkey for 2-4 hours (I did 2)
Heat grill to 300 degrees
Remove turkey from grill and add remainder of butter to outside of bird
Wrap Turkey with Aluminum foil
Spray turkey with orange rosemary mixture throughout cooking process: once after the first 45 minutes, again after 45 Minutes, and then again 15 minutes after
Your turkey is completed once the temperature it reaches 160-175 degrees
Allow the bird to rest for about 15 minutes before carving!
Enjoy!
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1 Comment
Nicole
November 22, 2018 at 1:26 pmMy husband has been trying to talk me into a Traeger for quite a while now, but I think this post may have just been the nudge I needed to take the plunge. That turkey looks amazing, Happy Thanksgiving!