Terry's 2 Hour Turkey

thanksgiving turkey recipe

Everyone’s got their own family recipe for a Thanksgiving turkey, whether it's passed down from generation to generation, scribbled on an index card, or just lived out from memory. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s that you don’t need an all-day cook to get big flavor. With the Old Smokey Electric Smoker, you can have a juicy, perfectly smoked turkey on the table in around two hours flat. It locks in the moisture, cuts down the time, and turns out that deep, smoky flavor every time.

  • Yield: 1 delicious turkey
  • Prep Time: (not including thawing the turkey) 20 minutes
  • Cook Time:  This took about 1 hour 45 mins on this 15.3 lb. turkey. That's about 7 minutes per pound.
  • Total Time: A little over 2 hours

Note: The electric smokey cooks quicker because the lid doesn't let moisture or heat escape hardly. 

For the Turkey

Ingredients:

  • HEB Turkey- (If you don't have an HEB, so sorry! You can also use a Riverside whole frozen young turkey, or really any turkey will do)
  • 1/2 cup of Olive Oil
  • 1/2 cup of Pimento de la Vera (Sweet Paprika)
  • Meat Church Blanco
  • Prasek's Vegetable Spice

Turkey Injection

Ingredients:

  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter
  • 1 Tbsp Garlic powder
  • 1 Tbsp Onion powder

Prep Instructions:

  • Place turkey in refrigerator for 2-3 days prior to cooking to thaw. 
  • After turkey has thawed completely take turkey out of bag and rinse thoroughly and remove neck and bag of liver and gizzards (you can use these to make gravy if you choose)
  • Pat dry with paper towels
  • Rub olive oil all over turkey inside and out to completely cover
  • Sprinkle sweet paprika inside and out of Turkey to completely cover
  • Use rest of spices to cover turkey inside and out.  This is a judgement however this turkey used a 1/4 cup of each.
  • Melt butter in microwave and add garlic powder and onion powder.
  • Inject butter after it's melted into breasts, legs and thighs

Cooking Instructions:

  • Set up the Old Smokey Electric Smoker
  • Place one handful of Old Smokey wood chips in the bottom smoke pan
  • Set temperature to high
  • Take out top grill grate and place seasoned turkey on bottom grill grate.  For this cook, turkey was placed on its back but you can also stand it up if you have a turkey holder.
  • Cook until turkey breast registers 160 degrees. The leg will also move easily when you grasp and rotate it.
  • Sit back and let the compliments roll in, then take a nap (obviously)

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