This easy double smoked turkey is simple and delicious. Your friends will think you spent all day prepping a Thanksgiving quality turkey!
**Post written by The BBQ Brothers. For all meat prep, grill set up, temperature and humidity control, recommended tools, and techniques for The BBQ Brothers recipes, check out The BBQ Brothers Beginner’s Guide To Grilling first, then get to cookin!
Hey guys, Andrew here. First of all, I am not a big fan of turkey in general (yes, I know I am weird). But I can tell you this easy smoke will be sure to make all of your guests happy and will also make them think that you spent all day in the kitchen preparing a turkey like Thanksgiving!
I actually discovered this recipe when my parent's freezer broke and they had to store some of their food at our house so it didn’t spoil....soooooo lucky me! When Caitlin discovered this turkey in our freezer she volunteered me to make this for our guests during “Dipsgiving” with our friends. Lucky me again! (Although I think everyone filled up on dips before the turkey was done smoking...)
So let’s get started...
First of all, if you don’t want to spend all day stuffing a whole bird I strongly encourage you to just purchase a turkey breast. In this case, we used one from The Kansas City Steaks Co. They have great stuff on there so I encourage you to give them a try. Our turkey breast was already pre-cooked/smoked.
First, we want to rub the bird down with some vegetable oil and our All Purpose BBQ Rub. Heat the smoker to 250 degrees and throw it on indirect heat with some mesquite wood chips.
You must remember the number one complaint about turkey is that it is DRY. So we want to get something on the smoker to baste it with as we smoke. Since the turkey breast we are using is pre-cooked, we are more or less heating it up and adding some smoke flavor while we do so. Next to the turkey we will put a coffee mug with 2 sticks of butter, 2 teaspoon of hot sauce (I used tabasco), 1 teaspoon honey, and a sprinkle of rub. Place the mug over direct heat. This will serve as our basting mix, and as we smoke, the butter melts and when we open the lid we have everything right on the grill nice and hot so we don’t have to be bringing anything with us out in the cold. (We made this in November after all!)
When we first get going, leave the lid on to smoke for about 45 min (resist the urge to peek) . Then we will baste the bird every 15-20 min for about another 2 hours, until we reach our desired temp to serve (internal temperature of 170 degrees). Once we get close (the last 10 min) we want to baste it really heavy (where the bird is dripping) and crank up the heat to develop a good bark. Once it is done let it rest for about 30 mins, slice and then serve.
There it is! All done. No carving or stuffing, just simple turkey with biiiiig smoke taste!
Looking for other variations to spice up your Thanksgiving menu? Check out with this Smoked Turkey Porchetta and this Thanksgiving Bacon Explosion!
Easy Double Smoked Turkey
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Smoked
- Cuisine: American
Description
This easy double smoked turkey is simple and delicious. Your friends will think you spent all day prepping a Thanksgiving quality turkey!
Ingredients
Meat Used: Pre-cooked/smoked turkey breast (Our was from The Kansas City Steaks Co.)
Seasoning: The BBQ Brother's All Purpose BBQ Rub
Wood Used: Mesquite
Grill Temperature: 250 degrees
Meat Temperature: 170 degrees
Smoke Time: ~2.5-3 hours, indirect heat
Instructions
- First, we want to rub the bird down with some vegetable oil and our All Purpose BBQ Rub. Heat the smoker to 250 degrees and throw it on indirect heat with some mesquite wood chips.
- Next to the turkey we will put a coffee mug with 2 sticks of butter, 2 teaspoon of hot sauce (I used tabasco), 1 teaspoon honey, and a sprinkle of rub. Place the mug over direct heat. This will serve as our basting mix, and as we smoke, the butter melts and when we open the lid we have everything right on the grill nice and hot so we don’t have to be bringing anything with us out in the cold.
- When we first get going, leave the lid on to smoke for about 45 min (resist the urge to peek) . Then we will baste the bird every 15-20 min for about another 2 hours, until we reach our desired temp to serve (internal temperature of 170 degrees).
- Once we get close (the last 10 min) we want to baste it really heavy (where the bird is dripping) and crank up the heat to develop a good bark. Once it is done let it rest for about 30 mins, slice and then serve.
- There it is! All done. No carving or stuffing, just simple turkey with biiiiig smoke taste!
Keywords: smoked turkey, easy double smoked, small turkey for Thanksgiving, unique turkey
So let us know what you think….did this recipe smoke the competition or go up in flames? Leave a comment below! 🙂
John Gutierrez says
I've used this recipe about 10 times now and it's definitely a fan favorite. Only difference is I use a raw turkey breast. Everything else is perfect! Bird still cooks in about 2.5-3 hours. Thanks for sharing this masterpiece!
★★★★★
Caitlin says
Thank you so much for the great review, John! So glad you’re loving it and thanks for the recommendation on using raw turkey!