Best Wood for Smoked Turkey

Discover the best wood for smoked turkey in this comprehensive guide. Learn how choosing the right wood can transform your smoked turkey legs or whole turkey into a flavorful feast that will tantalize your taste buds.

Unearth the secrets to smoking turkey perfectly every time. Your journey to culinary mastery starts here.

Why You Should Smoke Your Turkey

Smoking your turkey, whether it’s a whole butterball turkey or a few turkey legs, can make your holiday feast truly memorable. When you smoke a turkey, you’re not just cooking it. You’re adding incredible flavor in a way that you just can’t achieve with roasting or frying.

The subtly sweet flavor from the wood smoke penetrates into the meat, giving it a unique taste that will have everyone asking for seconds.

The smoking process is more than just a cooking method. It’s a tradition passed down through generations. When you’re outside, tending to the smoker, you’re part of a long line of folks who’ve turned to smoking turkeys to create delicious flavors that can’t be beaten.

Plus, smoking your turkey frees up your oven space for all the other tasty dishes you want to serve.

Using the right wood for smoking turkey can give your bird a smokey flavor that is nothing short of mouthwatering. And don’t worry if you’re new to this. We’ll guide you through the process, from choosing the right wood to serving up a deliciously smoked bird.

Get ready to enjoy the best smoked turkey you’ve ever tasted!

Types of Smoking Wood

When it comes to infusing your turkey with that delicious smoky flavor, the type of wood you use plays a big role. Here’s a breakdown of the differences between wood pellets, chips, and chunks when it comes to turkey.

Wood Chips

Wood chips are little pieces of wood that burn fast to give your meat a quick burst of smoky goodness. If you’re using an electric or propane gas smoker, these little guys are your best bet.

If you’re using a gas or charcoal grill, you can wrap your wood chips in a aluminum foil, poke a few holes in it, and set it over the burning charcoal. And just like that, you’ve got yourself a DIY smoke pouch!

When it comes time to buy wood chips, we recommend the Mr. Bar-B-Q Hardwood Smoking Chips Variety Pack. It comes with three different bags of wood chips (hickory, mesquite, and apple wood) so that you get the chance to find your favorite or mix them all together to make your own blend.

Wood Chunks

If you’re all about that intense smoky flavor, you’re going to want to get your hands on some wood chunks. These pieces are about the size of your fist and burn slower, making them perfect for a big charcoal grill or smoker.

A favorite trick among BBQ enthusiasts is to use a mix of wood chips and chunks when smoking turkey. The chips burn quickly for that initial flavor punch, and the chunks burn slowly, infusing your turkey with a continuous smoky flavor.

If you’re in the market for wood chunks, we recommend going with Weber’s Wood Chunks. They’re available hickory, mesquite, pecan, apple, and cherry wood flavors and come in nice big chunks that will burn for a long time.

Wood Pellets

Finally, if you’re looking for an easy, straightforward way to smoke your turkey, pellets are a fantastic option. Made from compressed sawdust, pellets burn evenly and leave behind minimal ash.

Pellets are technically designed for pellet smokers, which automatically feed them into the fire. All you need to do is set your temperature and timer, sit back, and let the smoker do its thing.

Though they are designed for pellet grills, you can also use wood pellets in a smoker tube for an added smoky flavor on gas grills!

When it comes to wood pellets, we recommend Pit Boss Wood Pellets. Pit Boss doesn’t use any artificial additives or chemicals in their wood pellets so you get a nice, clean burn.

They come in all the classic wood flavors like mesquite, hickory, oak, pecan, cherry, apple, and maple, but they also have some unique blends that you can’t find anywhere else.

The Best Wood For Smoked Turkey

When it comes to smoking turkey, the type of wood you use can significantly affect the flavor profile of your bird. Different types of woods impart distinct flavors, and knowing which to choose can elevate your smoked turkey to new culinary heights.

Here, we break down the best woods for smoking turkey, each one lending a unique taste to your turkey dinner.

Pecan Wood

Renowned for its sweet and rich smoky flavor, pecan wood is one of the best choices for smoking turkey. Pecan wood provides an exceptional depth of flavor and a subtle nuttiness that pairs amazingly with turkey meat.

For a top-quality option, consider Weber Wood Pecan Chips. Their natural, additive-free composition ensures a beautiful sweet and smoky flavor that doesn’t overpower the natural flavors of your turkey meat.

Maple Wood

Maplewood lends a spicy, earthy flavor to your smoked turkey, enriching the taste without overshadowing it. Particularly well-suited to herbal rubs, smoking with maple also adds a honey-like flavor to your turkey.

For the best results, we recommend Camerons Smoking Maple Wood Chips. These maple wood chips are easy to light, burn at an even pace, and offer a steady, smoky flavor.

Cherry Wood

For a subtly sweet, crowd-pleasing flavor, look no further than cherry wood. Along with infusing your turkey with a pleasing taste, cherry wood smoke also gives your turkey an attractive red-brown coloration. For an enhanced experience, consider combining cherry wood with a touch of hickory.

We recommend Traeger Cherry Wood Pellets for their rich, clean-burning cherry flavor.

Apple Wood

If you’re after a subtle, sweet, and fruity flavor, applewood might be your best bet. While the apple smoke flavor can be more subtle than other woods, applewood smoked turkey can be an exceptional delicacy with a longer smoking time.

Consider Weber Apple Wood Chunks for their subtle and sweet qualities that perfectly complement turkey meat.

Alder Wood

For those who prefer a lighter alternative to the heavier woods, alder is an excellent choice. Alder smoke has a rich smokey earthiness without the overpowering intensity of stronger woods makes it an excellent ally for turkey smoking.

Alder is particularly useful when paired with milder woods such as apple or maple, adding a gentle hint of smoke. We recommend going with Smokehouse Alder Wood Chunks for your next smoking session.

Woods to Avoid When Smoking Turkey

While many types of wood can enhance the flavor of your smoked turkey, certain woods might overpower the subtle flavors of the bird. Here are a few strongly flavored wood types of wood to avoid:

• Mesquite: This wood delivers a potent, smoky spicy flavor that can quickly overwhelm the taste of turkey.
• Hickory: While hickory wood is a classic for smoking, it has a distinct, heavy flavor that might not suit poultry. If you want to use hickory, we recommend adding hickory shavings to apple or cherry wood chunks.
• Oak: Though oak can be used in combination with other woods for a more nuanced flavor, using it alone might overpower the turkey’s natural flavor.

Choosing the right wood for smoking turkey can significantly enhance the flavor of your bird.

Smoked Turkey Recipes

Looking for the best smoked turkey recipe? We’ve got you covered.

• Smoked Turkey Recipe
• Smoked Turkey Breast Recipe
• Butterball Smoked Turkey Recipe
• Smoked Turkey Legs Recipe
• Smoked Turkey Wings Recipe
• Smoked Turkey Tails Recipe

Smoked Turkey FAQs