If you are planning to serve a different-styled Turkey for this Thanksgiving, then, believe me, Smoked Turkey is the best option for you. It goes well with other special occasions and would earn you a lot of appreciation. If you never got a chance at the tender delicacy of a perfect Smoked Turkey, it’s time to try it now. It takes the simple turkey to another level of taste.

It’s different from standard Roasted Turkey, but it’s really worth trying. Smoked Turkey has a unique taste you will immediately fall in love with. This different-styled Turkey will serve as a show-stopper for your Thanksgiving meal. This recipe is very simple; even a newbie can make it with the perfect taste and look.

Ingredients

For the Turkey

• 1 whole turkey, about 15 lbs, fully thawed

• 2–3 Tbsp melted butter or olive oil

• 2–3 Tbsp sweet BBQ rub (store-bought or homemade, see below)

• 4 cups water (plus more as needed during smoking)

Optional Homemade Sweet Rub

• ¼ cup brown sugar

• 2 Tbsp smoked paprika

• 1 Tbsp kosher salt

• 1 Tbsp black pepper

• 1 Tbsp garlic powder

• 1 Tbsp onion powder

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, for a little heat)

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight jar. Yields enough for 1 whole turkey.

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Instructions

1. Prepare the turkey

• Make sure the turkey is completely thawed.

• Remove packaging, neck, and giblets.

• If pre-brined, rinse gently under cold water.

• Pat dry with paper towels.

• Tie legs with butcher’s twine and tuck wing tips behind the shoulders.

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2. Preheat your smoker or grill

• Gas grill: Preheat to 225°F, lighting only half the burners.

• Charcoal grill: Light coals, place them on one side, and adjust vents to about 25% open.

• Dedicated smoker: Preheat to 225°F.

Once preheated, add your wood of choice (apple, cherry, or hickory work great). You want a steady stream of thin, blue smoke, not thick white smoke.

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3. Season the turkey

• Brush turkey all over with melted butter or olive oil.

• Generously season with the sweet rub, coating all sides.

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4. Smoke the turkey

• Place the turkey breast-side up on the grates.

• Add a pan with 4 cups of water to help maintain moisture. Refill as needed.

• Smoke at 225°F for about 30 minutes per pound (roughly 7.5 hours for a 15 lb bird).

  • At 250°F, plan for 25 minutes per pound.

• Always allow an extra 30 minutes buffer for timing.

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5. Check the temperature

• Use an instant-read thermometer.

• The breast should read 165°F and the thighs 170–175°F.

• Check both sides if using a charcoal or gas grill (heat can be uneven).

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6. Rest & serve

• Remove the turkey and rest uncovered for 15 minutes before carving.

• If it finishes early, wrap in foil and then in several layers of towels to keep warm.

• Carve, serve, and enjoy!

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Tips for Success

• Use a mild fruit wood (like apple or cherry) for subtle smoke, or hickory for a bolder flavor.

• Keep the smoker lid closed — every peek adds extra cooking time.

• Save the drippings for gravy!

Spread the holiday cheer! If you loved this Smoked Turkey Recipe, pin the image below to your Pinterest board. Thanks for sharing the festive vibes! 🦃🎄🌟

Smoked Turkey for Thanksgiving

Smoked Tukey is amazingly delicious and has this tempting smell that you’ll quickly fall in love with. It’s a lot more beneficial than typical roasted Turkey. The biggest advantage of smoking Turkey instead of roasting is that it frees up your oven, and you will be able to use the oven for making other dishes in your meal plan.

So it will definitely save you time by enabling you to make more dishes at the same time. It has a fantastic taste and mouthwatering aroma that will bring a splendid change in your Thanksgiving. Smoking the turkey maintains its taste and also adds a smoky flavor to your turkey.

Smoking the turkey retains the tenderness and moisture in it. It’s easier to cook just like Roasted Turkey and gets cooked in the same or a little more time.

Given below are all the details and necessary smoke your bird perfectly. Just carefully follow the simple steps and get ready to earn holiday fame and a lot of appreciation from everyone.

Temperature for Smoking Turkey

The key to making a perfect smoked turkey is indirect heat and steady temperatures. Maintain the temperature of your grill to 225°F during the whole cooking time. If you use gas, turn on half of the burners to medium-low flame and keep the remaining burners off. For a charcoal grill, preheat the coals until they’re ashed over, tip them on the far side of the grill, and open the vents up to 25%. For a dedicated smoker, preheat the grill to 225°F.

If you are using a gas grill, add chips to the smoker box and generate the smoke. For charcoal, place the wood pieces directly in the burning coals. If you are using a smoker, follow the manufacturer’s instructions to smoke your turkey perfectly. Whatever method you use, ensure you get the thin, swirling, and tinted blue smoke from your grill vents.

Preparations for Smoking Turkey

First of all, take the defrosted turkey out of the packaging. Now remove its neck and giblets from the inner side of the bird. If you’ve bought a brined turkey, rinse its exterior carefully with cold water.

Next, pat dry the turkey with a paper towel. Now use the butcher’s twine to tie both legs together and tuck the tips of the wings behind the shoulder joint. Doing so will keep the tips from burning and will create an eye-catching presentation of your Tukey.

Coat the exterior side of Turkey with melted butter or olive oil, and then season the best sweet rub on the bird’s sides. If you’ve brined your turkey, it will already be marinated enough and won’t require any additional seasoning on its exterior. It’s better to still coat it lightly with melted butter or olive oil to get crispier skin.

Stuffing the interior of a turkey before smoking is not recommended. Because by the time the stuffing gets cooked properly, the exterior meat of the bird gets overcooked. You can use onions, herbs, apples, or citrus to stuff your turkey and to get their additional flavor.

Don’t overfill the turkey so that the air circulates throughout the bird. Don’t forget to discard the stuffing after you are done smoking.

Smoking time for a Turkey

Once your smoker gets ready, it’s time to place your bird on the grill! Keep the breast side up on the grill grate breast side up on the side of the grill with indirect heat. If you are using gas or charcoal (which usually has a slightly higher temperature on one side of the grill), rotate the turkey several times during the cooking process to cook evenly.

It will take approx. 30 minutes per pound of the turkey at 225°F. If you’ve set your smoker’s temperature at 250°F, it will take 25 minutes for each pound. For example, a 15-pound turkey will be properly cooked in 7 ^1/2 hours at 225°F. I always estimate additional half an hour more, just in case… if it gets cooked in a time lesser than the estimated time, then wrap the cooked Turkey in aluminum foil and place it aside until the remaining items are ready.

I recommend not smoking a Turkey heavier than 15 pounds, but it will take too long to cook. Your turkey will be sitting in the danger zone of food safety at 40-140°F for way too long and there will be the risk of bacteria contaminating and spoiling your turkey even before it’s done.

Serving Per person

As we have smoked turkeys lesser than 15 pounds so it will serve 1^1/2 pounds of meat per person. Keep it in mind you’ll be cooking the whole turkey along with skin, bones, wingtips, etc., that won’t be consumed at the Thanksgiving dinner.

1^1/2 pounds will be sufficient for everybody. You’ll also get leftovers to make sandwiches the next day. A 15-pound turkey will be enough to serve a family of 10-12. If you have more family members, don’t cook bigger birds rather go for cooking multiple turkeys!

Smoked Turkey Drippings

Use a dripping pan to catch the drippings and to maintain the moisture in your smoker’s environment. I usually place an aluminum pan on the grill beneath my turkey.

Add several cups of water to the pan at the start of the smoking. This water is likely to evaporate within the process, so don’t forget to refill the pan if the water dries up, and make sure it has a few cups of water throughout the smoking. Once your turkey is cooked, use these drippings collected in the pan as the tastier gravy for your Turkey.

More detailed Temperature for Smoked Turkey

The safest temperature for cooking a perfect smoked Turkey is 165°F. Ensure the correct internal temperature is achieved to retain its juiciness and ensure food safety.

Start checking if the turkey is done an hour before the estimated time because every bird has a different cooking time. Check properly between the cooking to ensure the meat does not get overcooked. Check the temperature of the breast and thighs of the turkey using an instant-read thermometer. Check both sides of the turkey, ESPECIALLY if you are using a charcoal or gas grill, which usually has higher temperatures than the other grills.

Go off of the lowest reading you’ll get on each side of the turkey. Once all the temperature readings exceed 165°F, it’s time to dish out the turkey on a large platter or on a cutting board.

Turkey should rest for about 15 min before serving. And if Turkey gets cooked before that, wrap it in aluminum foil and add more layers of paper towels around the foil to insulate the towels to keep it hot until serving. Doing so will make the skin a little softer. To make it crispier gain, just broil the turkey for 1 – 2 minutes. Now it’s up to you if you are a dark or light meat!

You must have had delicious cherries decorated beautifully on a Cocktail. Cocktails are usually garnished with taste-enriched beautiful cherries. These cherries are either Luxardo Cherries or Brandied Cherries. Both of these are excellent in taste and quality alike.

Luxardo Cherries

Although the store-bought version of Luxardo Cherries is great, homemade Luxardo Cherries serve as the best garnishing for the cocktail. Homemade Luxardo Cherries are made up of Luxardo liqueur. You can also try other spices for your homemade version of Luxardo Cherries.

But what makes the Maraschino Cherry Recipe so unique? The remarkable thing about this recipe is that it allows you to use the liqueur and spices of your choice to make a cocktail according to your taste. If you don’t have Maraschino, you can use brandy or an aged rum instead.

This will give you equally great taste. You can use Cinnamon and Cloves if you don’t like the taste of Nutmeg. They give excellent taste and can be a fantastic gift for your old-fashioned friends and Manhattan lovers.

A perfectly garnished Cocktail looks enchanting and tastes great as well. We ensure the use of the freshest and the best quality ingredients to make our cherries. We always look forward to enhancing our core ingredients to provide you with the best quality product you deserve.

Ingredients

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• 1 cinnamon stick

• ½ cup water

• 1 pinch kosher salt

• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 cup Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

• 1 lb cherries, pitted and stemmed

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Instructions 

1. Prep Jars

   • Wash canning jars, lids, and rings in hot soapy water.

   • Place jars in a large pot of simmering water (not boiling) to keep them hot until ready to fill.

   • Keep lids in a small pot of hot (not boiling) water to soften the sealing compound.

2. Make Syrup

   • In a medium saucepan, combine water, sugar, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, and salt.

   • Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar fully dissolves.

3. Add Cherries & Liqueur

   • Stir in cherries and Luxardo liqueur.

   • Simmer for 5 minutes until cherries just begin to soften.

4. Fill Jars

   • Using a slotted spoon, pack cherries into the hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace.

   • Pour hot syrup over cherries, keeping the same headspace.

   • Remove air bubbles with a clean utensil, then wipe rims with a damp cloth.

5. Seal & Process

   • Place lids on jars and screw bands fingertip-tight.

   • Process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes (start timing once the water returns to a full boil).

   • Adjust for altitude: Add 1 minute for every 1,000 ft above sea level over 1,000 ft.

6. Cool & Store

   • Remove jars and place on a towel. Let cool undisturbed for 12–24 hours.

   • Check seals — the lid should be concave and not flex when pressed.

   • Store in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. Refrigerate after opening.

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Notes

• You can use fresh or frozen cherries. If using frozen, thaw and drain them before adding to the syrup.

• Both sweet and sour cherries work — choose based on your preferred flavor profile. Sour cherries give a more classic cocktail bite.

• Stored in the fridge, they’ll keep for several weeks and get even better as they sit.

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Classic Old-Fashioned with Luxardo Cherries

Ingredients

• 1 tsp sugar

• 2 cherries (Luxardo preferred)

• 2 oz bourbon

• Club soda (splash)

• 4 dashes Angostura bitters

• 1½ orange wheels

Instructions

1. In a rocks glass, add sugar, 1 cherry, 1 orange wheel, bitters, and a splash of club soda.

2. Muddle gently to dissolve the sugar.

3. Remove the orange, then add bourbon and a large ice cube (or several smaller ones).

4. Garnish with the remaining orange wheel and a Luxardo cherry. Serve immediately.

What makes these cherries different from regular cherries?

When you think of Cherries, the regular pinkish-red Maraschino cherries that are readily available in grocery stores pop up in your mind. These Cherries are way different and better than those regular cherries.

Luxardo Cocktail Cherries have a unique taste. Unlike regular cherries, Luxardo Cocktail Cherries are dipped into warm water to induce higher levels of lusciousness. Luxardo Maraschino liqueur gives a unique signature taste to these Luxardo Cherries.

Which Cherries are best for Luxardo?

I’ve always used the regular, sweet-in-taste, pinkish-red cherries that are available at all grocery stores. You can also try sour cherries. I’ve seen many recipes that use sour cherries.

These cherries are absolutely fine to use. But I’ve never used them personally. If you try sour cherries, don’t forget to share your experience with me.

What Luxardo Maraschino actually is?

Luxardo Maraschino is a liqueur made up of ripe Marasca Cherries (a sour cherry), pits, leaves, branches, honey, and some other secret ingredients. 

The interesting fact about Luxardo Maraschino is that it provides floral, nutty piney, and flavors while still maintaining its primary taste of cherries.

How can you use Luxardo cherries?

I’m actually a Bourbon lover, so I think they are perfect for old-fashioned. You can also enjoy plopping them into a strong cocktail.

With its amazing crust and juicy rose pink inside, Baltimore is very well known for its pit beef! This Baltimore Pit Beef is Baltimore’s signature sandwich; it begins with huge, rubbed with spices, roast beef grilled on fire.

The beef is sliced very thin, placed on a large, soft bun, and topped with a couple of fresh onion rings. How hard is it to remake this spicy, savory, and sloppy mess of a sandwich in our home? Some tips about what I’ve discovered:

Regular Baltimore pit beef normally begins with whole top or bottom rounds. While filled with flavor, these large cuts will also be really tough if cooked at medium rare. We’ve chosen the top sirloin roast for low-cost, tender, and full-of-flavor sandwich beef that was better compared to the round roasts while testing both on the grill.

When having the ratio right within our paprika rub, we discovered that despite the savory exterior, the beef’s inside was still undeniably bland. To correct this, we’ve sliced our beef roast in half—the seasonings allowed the two smaller roasts quicker, and now it is double the smoky and spicy crust.

Ingredients

Tiger Sauce

• ½ cup mayonnaise

• ½ cup prepared hot horseradish

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• Salt and pepper, to taste

Pit Beef

• 4 tsp kosher salt

• 1 Tbsp paprika

• 1 Tbsp black pepper

• 2 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 boneless top sirloin beef roast (4–5 lbs)

• 10 kaiser rolls

• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

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Instructions

1. Make the Tiger Sauce

1. In a bowl, whisk together horseradish, mayonnaise, and garlic.

2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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2. Season the Beef

1. In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and cayenne.

2. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Rub with 2 tablespoons of the seasoning mix.

3. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6–24 hours.

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3. Prepare the Grill

For Charcoal Grill:

1. Light a chimney starter full of charcoal briquettes, with vents halfway open.

2. When coals are partially ashed over, pour evenly over one half of the grill.

3. Replace cooking grate, cover, and open lid vent halfway. Heat for about 5–6 minutes until hot.

For Gas Grill:

1. Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat until hot (about 15–16 minutes).

2. Leave the main burner on high; turn off other burners.

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4. First Cook – Indirect Heat

1. Oil the cooking grate.

2. Wrap the roast loosely with foil on one side.

3. Place the roast on the cooler side of the grill, foil side facing heat.

4. Cover and cook until the internal temperature reaches 100°F (40–55 minutes).

5. Remove roast and discard foil.

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5. Prepare for Searing

• If Using Gas: Turn all burners to high.

• If Using Charcoal: Light another ¾ chimney of charcoal, pour over spent coals, replace grate, cover, and heat for 5–6 minutes.

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6. Second Cook – Direct Heat

1. Pat the roast dry again. Rub with the remaining spice mix.

2. Place directly over the hot side of the grill.

3. Cook, turning occasionally, until charred on both sides and internal temperature reaches 120–125°F for medium-rare (about 10–20 minutes).

4. Transfer to a cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and rest for 15 minutes.

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7. Assemble & Serve

1. Slice beef thinly against the grain.

2. Toast kaiser rolls if desired.

3. Pile beef onto rolls, top with sliced onions, and drizzle generously with tiger sauce.

4. Serve immediately.

Baltimore Pit Beef Tips

• Prevent Overcooking: To get a perfect roast without overcooking just beneath the crust, wrap the roasts in aluminum foil until they reach about 100°F. Then crank up the grill, add more seasoning, and sear for about 15 minutes for a beautifully charred exterior and a uniform rosy interior.

• Tiger Sauce Variation: This version combines horseradish, mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper for a creamy, tangy kick. Adjust horseradish-to-mayo ratio to taste.

• Thin Slicing Matters: A meat slicer or electric knife allows you to cut the beef ultra-thin so the flavor shines with just a hint of onion.

• Customize Your Sandwich: Some people love it with sliced dill pickles, others go heavy on the sauce—make it your own.