When it comes to the holiday season, we all know smoked turkey is the undisputed king. Smoking a turkey is one of the best ways to lock in juicy meat with rich, wood-fired flavor and crispy golden skin. Whether you are planning Thanksgiving dinner or a holiday feast, learning how to smoke a turkey ensures your bird comes out tender and packed with flavor every time. On a Traeger, steady heat, pellet versatility, and features like Super Smoke make it simple to master smoked Traeger turkey like a pro.

Best Smoked Turkey Tips

• Spatchcock your turkey for even cooking. For faster, more consistent results, smoking a spatchcock turkey is the way to go. By cutting out the backbone, pressing your bird flat, and smoking it skin-side up, more surface area of your bird will be exposed to the wood-fired flavor, ensuring the thighs and breast cook at the same time. This is perfect for anyone mastering how to smoke a turkey on a pellet grill that guarantees juicy meat every time.

• Achieve golden, crispy skin. Air-dry your turkey uncovered in the fridge overnight to remove excess moisture. Right before smoking, lightly dust the skin with baking powder or spray it with duck fat. This jumpstarts the Maillard reaction, giving your turkey that professional, restaurant-quality crisp and irresistible texture.

• Blend your wood pellets for maximum flavor. Cooking your turkey with wood pellets guarantees extra wood-fired flavor; however, you don’t need to settle for a single pellet. Mix 50% apple pellets and 50% pecan pellets for a balanced, slightly sweet smoke, or cherry pellets with hickory pellets for a bold, robust flavor profile. Learn which are the best pellets for turkey to get the deepest, most flavorful smoke possible on your Traeger.

• Adjust cooking for high altitude. If you’re smoking above 5,000 feet, allow an extra 10–15 minutes per pound. High-altitude cooks often require more time, but with proper temperature control, your smoked turkey will stay tender, juicy, and flavorful.

• Pull your turkey at the perfect internal temperature. Smoke the breast to 160°F; it will rise 5–10°F while resting. Using a MEATER meat thermometer makes it easy to monitor internal temps, ensuring your turkey comes out juicy without drying out.

• Keep breast and thighs perfectly cooked. If the breast finishes before the thighs, tent it with foil and continue smoking. Wait until the thighs reach 175°F to serve a perfectly cooked turkey from tip to tip.

• Protect the skin without steaming it. Tent only if the skin is browning too fast. This method preserves the crispy, golden skin that makes smoked turkey stand out.

• Enhance your smoke ring. Start with a cold turkey and use a water pan in the grill to keep the cooking chamber humid. The result is a deeper, more flavorful smoke ring that delivers that signature Traeger taste.

• Use Super Smoke for intense flavor – If your Traeger has Super Smoke, run it for the first 2–3 hours of the cook. This is the optimal window for your turkey to absorb maximum smoke flavor and aroma.

• Create rich, smoky gravy while cooking. Place aromatics, butter, and broth in a disposable pan under the turkey. As drippings fall, you build naturally smoky gravy. Prep ahead using this make-ahead turkey gravy recipe to complete your smoked turkey feast.

Before you get to smoking a turkey, get your Thanksgiving supplies together:

1. Turkey: You can get your turkey frozen or fresh – luckily, either works for a smoked turkey recipe. Just keep in mind the guest count. You can follow our chart below:

Our recommendation:

• 8-10 people: 1 12-14 lb. turkey

• 12-14 people: 1 16 lb. turkey

• 16-18 people: 2 12-14 lb. turkeys

• 20+ people: 2 16 lb. turkeys

• Pellet Grill & Wood Pellets: If you're wondering how long to cook a turkey, it can take up to 6 hours, depending on the size of your bird. Make sure you’re well stocked with your favorite wood pellets for smoking turkey (especially our premium turkey pellets), and have your pellet grill ready to go.

• Meat Thermometer: Turkey can be a high-stress cook, so a meat thermometer, especially a wireless meat thermometer, is a must-have. Invest in a good quality one, like the MEATER, so that you can monitor the internal temperature of your bird from the comfort of your couch.

• Seasonings & Brine: While you can always do a basic salt and pepper seasoning for your bird, brine and additional spices will make your turkey epic and full of delicious flavor. Take a look at our smoked turkey brine guide for the best tips and tricks.

• BBQ Tools: Make sure to get your BBQ tools, like your basting brush, a big spatula, and more, before the big day.

• Injector: If you've decided on trying out a turkey injection recipe this year, you'll need to get a turkey injector for the big day.

Why Smoke a Turkey on a Traeger

If you are wondering how to smoke a turkey on a pellet grill, Traeger makes it foolproof. Consistent temperature control means no more babysitting a bird in the oven or fighting flare-ups on a gas grill. Instead, you get steady heat from start to finish, which locks in flavor and guarantees juicy meat every time. You can simply Set-It & Forget-It. On top of that, nothing compares to Traeger’s signature wood-fired flavor. It transforms an ordinary turkey into the star of your holiday feast. With WiFIRE technology, you can control temps, track progress, and get real-time alerts straight from your phone. It is precision cooking with peace of mind, designed to take the stress out of the holidays.

Where Traeger truly stands apart is in the exclusive features that give your smoked turkey an edge. Turn on Super Smoke to pack in bold flavor during the first few hours of the cook when the bird absorbs the most smoke. Place a pan under the drip tray to catch juices and build smoky turkey gravy while the bird cooks, no stovetop required.

Take advantage of pellet versatility to create your perfect flavor profile, whether that is applewood for something sweet and mild or a hickory and cherry blend for a deeper, richer smoke. From consistent temps to wood-fired flavor, smoking a turkey on a Traeger is more than easy. It is the ultimate way to deliver big flavor and backyard bragging rights.

In addition to turkey size, you should also pay attention to bird quality. When you’re in the meat aisle, do yourself a favor and avoid any labels with words like “enhanced” or “basted.” If you buy a turkey that’s already had its flavor tinkered with, you’ll be signing away control of your flavor profile. You’ll also probably be paying extra for water weight and not getting as much meat as you’re expecting.

Finally, always buy fresh. If you’re cooking for Thanksgiving or Christmas, you’ll need to be on your A-game. A lot of stores don’t stock these birds in great numbers until the week before a holiday, although you can typically place an order for a fresh turkey in advance. Ideally, buy your turkey no more than four or five days before you’re planning to smoke it.

Once you’ve chosen your turkey, it’s time to think about how you’d like to season it.

First of all, if you’ve bought a frozen bird, learn how to thaw your frozen turkey so that it’s ready to go come smoke time.

For seasoning and brining smoked turkey, there are a few different methods:

• Brining: If you haven’t bought a pre-brined turkey from the store, make sure to read our guide on how to brine a turkey for smoking. Brining (soaking your turkey in a salty bath) makes it moist, tender, and most importantly, full of flavor. And yes, you can brine frozen turkey (just make sure it’s completely thawed out).
• Seasoning: There are a ton of different rubs and seasonings you can use on your bird this Thanksgiving (including one specifically made for turkey), to add some extra flavor to your meal. Make sure to apply any dry rub to the turkey about 12-24 hours in advance so that the flavor can penetrate the skin. If you leave it uncovered and let the skin dry out a bit in the fridge, you’ll get an extra crispy texture when smoking.

How To Prep a Turkey

Defrosting Frozen Turkey

Fresh turkey not an option? It’s not a crime to buy frozen. You’re just going to need to commit more time to the cause. It normally takes 24 hours to thaw for every 5 pounds of turkey, so if you have a 16-pound turkey, we could be talking about three days of thaw time.

Remove Giblets

Many store-bought turkeys come with giblets — the liver, heart, gizzard, and neck of the animal. Usually, the giblets are in a paper bag in the turkey cavity. You can use the giblets to add flavor to stuffing or gravy, or you can simply discard them.

Season Your Turkey

A good smoked turkey recipe will call for seasoning the turkey with salt and pepper or some sort of rub. A good poultry rub enhances the natural flavor of the meat and introduces an appetizing color to the skin.

Turkey Injection, or No?

You don’t have to inject your turkey, but it never hurts. Turkey injection is great for adding moisture and flavor, and there are very few cons apart from the potential to oversalt and uneven cooking if you don’t do it right. However, you will need a meat injector if you don't already have one.

If you do choose to inject, though, it's best to do it 12 to 24 hours before smoking. This will allow the flavors to distribute and soak into the meat. If you’re short on time, you can inject as little as 1 to 2 hours before smoking, but it won’t be as deeply flavored.

After injecting, let the turkey rest in the fridge to allow the marinade to evenly distribute. And just because you inject, don’t forget to season the outside of the turkey still for well-rounded flavor.

Choosing a Stuffing

Truthfully, when it comes to smoking a turkey, we do not recommend stuffing the cavity. Smoking at lower temps can make it harder for stuffing to reach a safe internal temperature, and that can risk uneven cooking or food safety issues. Plus, leaving the cavity open allows smoke and heat to circulate more freely, which gives you juicier meat and deeper wood-fired flavor.

If you love the idea of stuffing, there are still ways to bring it to the table. Smoke your stuffing in a separate cast iron skillet or pan alongside the turkey so it soaks up that same rich flavor without slowing down the bird. You can also add aromatics like onion, garlic, citrus, and herbs to the turkey cavity for flavor without the risk. This way, you get the best of both worlds: perfectly smoked turkey and a stuffing that is just as flavorful, cooked safely on the side.

Here are some good stuffing recipes for you to try out:

• Cornbread Sausage Stuffing with Cranberries
• Baked Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing
• Griddle Sausage and Bacon Stuffing

Truss the Turkey - Or Not

Trussing a turkey means securing the legs close to the body of the bird. Some store-bought turkeys come with a built-in plastic truss. You can also use kitchen twine to tie the ends of the legs together.

The point of trussing is to make the surface of the bird a more regular shape. Sometimes, this can prevent hotspots on certain parts of the bird, which could dry out the meat. However, you can easily skip this step if you want.

And, perhaps obviously, if you're spatchcocking a turkey, you can't truss it.

If you are looking for a faster cook time and more even results, spatchcocking your turkey is the way to go. By removing the backbone and flattening the bird, you increase surface area and expose more of the meat to steady pellet grill heat. This helps the thighs and breast cook at the same pace, which means no more dried-out white meat while you wait for the dark meat to finish. On top of that, spatchcocking gives you extra crispy skin from edge to edge.

Not sure how to do it? It is easier than it sounds. All you need is a pair of sturdy kitchen shears and a little prep time. Check out our step-by-step spatchcock turkey guide, complete with visuals and photos so you can follow along with confidence. Once you master the technique, you will wonder why you ever cooked a whole bird the old-fashioned way.

Select a Wood Pellet

When choosing a wood pellet flavor for turkey, you’ll want something that enhances the bird’s natural flavors without overpowering it. Pellets that are a little sweeter, and more mild will complement your bird and let the natural flavors and brine shine through. You can find the best pellets for turkey by reading our guide.

Preheat the Grill

When you’ve done all your turkey prep, set your pellet grill temperature to 225°F with Super Smoke if available and preheat with the lid closed for 15 minutes.

Smoke the Turkey

Once you’ve chosen your pellets and preheated the grill, it’s time to smoke your bird. First, insert your wireless meat thermometer into the thickest part of the turkey breast and place it breast-side up on the grill. You can either smoke the bird at this temperature until fully cooked (165°F) or start with smoke for a few hours and then crank the heat to 350°F or so to finish for browner more crispy skin. The time this takes will vary depending on the size of your turkey, but it will be at least 3 to 4 hours.

The best internal temperature for smoked turkey is 165°F at the breast. (The thighs can go higher.)

To ensure it's fully cooked and safe to eat, insert a meat thermometer into the deepest part of the breast, making sure not to touch any bones, as that can give an inaccurate reading.

A leave-in meat thermometer, wired or wireless, lets you monitor the temperature remotely without having to open the lid.

Let the smoked turkey rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute.

How Long to Smoke a Turkey

A good rule of thumb is that smoking a turkey typically takes about 30-40 minutes per pound at a temperature of 225°F to 250°F.

For example, a 12-pound turkey will take approximately 6 to 8 hours. It's important to keep the smoker's temperature consistent and monitor the internal temperature of the turkey closely.

You can increase the smoker temperature to 275°F towards the end of the cook to help crisp the skin, if desired.

HOWEVER, the best way to tell if a turkey is done is by measuring internal temperature, NOT time. A wireless meat thermometer will be your best tool to use.

Now that we’ve walked you through smoking a turkey, it’s time to try out a recipe on the grill. Take a look at some of our favorites to get inspiration for Thanksgiving:

• Traeger Smoked Turkey
• Easy Smoked Turkey Recipe
• Crispy Pellet Grill Turkey
• Traeger Smoked Turkey Breast
• Herbed Traeger Spatchcocked Turkey

Deliciously smoked turkey calls for some equally epic sides. Take a look at our some delicious sides to cook along with your bird:

• Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
• Ultimate Scratch Gravy
• Smoked Green Bean Casserole
• Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls
• Cranberry Sauce
• Traditional Stuffing

And that’s it. You now have all the expert knowledge you need to smoke a turkey that will go down in the history books. So, are you ready to create your own mouth-watering work of art? Check out our smoked turkey recipes for some inspiration and get smoking.