Whole smoked turkey

turkey (whole) · verified system recipe · Thanksgiving / holiday standard

Pit temp
275°F
Pull at
165°F
Total time
~4.3 hr

Phase timeline

180m
60m
20m
Smoke (breast-up)Crisp the skinResttotal: 4h 20m

Step-by-step

  1. 1. Smoke (breast-up)

    → 140°F · ~180 min

    275°F pit, cherry + apple (light smoke — turkey takes it strong). Truss the legs. Butter under the skin.

  2. 2. Crisp the skin

    → 165°F · ~60 min

    Crank to 325°F. Tent the breast if it's getting too dark. Pull when breast hits 165°F in the deepest part.

  3. 3. Rest

    ~20 min

    Tent, 20 min. Carve thighs first (probe at 175°F+), then breast.

Rub
Dry brine 24hr ahead (salt + sugar + sage). Day-of: butter rub under skin
Wrap method
none
Rest method
tent_loose
Minimum rest
20 min

📐 Scale for guests

Target weight
4.0 lb
1 lb/guest
Cuts needed
1
~14 lb per cut
Cook time / cut
4h 0m
+ 20m rest

Each cut cooks at its own rate — even if you double up, plan the same hours. For very large crowds, run multiple cuts in parallel and stagger by 30 min.

🎯 Adjusted for your pit

Sign in to see times adjusted for your specific pit (warmup time + temp bias).

Want SmokeStack to predict when this cook will be done, alert you on temp breaches, and adapt the recipe to your pit?

Sign up free →