Thanksgiving is over and many people may be sick of turkey right now. Not me, I love turkey. I love all the leftovers  and am sad when they run out. And, I don't wait until Thanksgiving each year to enjoy turkey. In fact, over the past year, I have been smoking a turkey at least once a month, trying to perfect the technique. I have also read articles from cooking magazines, watched YouTube videos from TV cooking shows and obtained information from various websites. As a result, I can now smoke a turkey and have it turn out just as I like it — tender and juicy, but with a nice, crispy skin. Here’s how I do it. 

Note: This is more of a procedure than a recipe. I will leave some of the details — for example, the composition of the brine and spice rub — to you. (I’ll tell you what I did, but  there are many options you can pursue.) 

Here’s what I use:

11–13 lb. turkey

a 24 oz. “keg can” of Heineken or a 500 mL “oilcan” of Foster’s Lager,

8 oz. of coarse salt (such as kosher salt, sea salt, etc.)

2.5 gallon Ziplock bag

spices (more on this later) 

a smoker, fuel (I use charcoal) and hardwood chunks (I use mesquite)

Here’s my procedure: (And, I give the rationale behind certain steps.)

1.) Take the frozen turkey and place it in the Ziplock bag. (You could also put it in a stainless steel or glass bowl, but you’ll need to make more brine.) 

2.) Stir 1 cup of coarse salt into 1 gallon of cold water (use less salt if it is finely ground, like table salt) and pour it in the bag. Zip the bag up, excluding as much air as is feasible. (Squeeze the bag so the liquid level comes almost all of the way to the top, then zip it.) 

2A.) Option: You can also add spice to your brine. Sometimes I will add a beer (as part of the gallon of liquid) or some orange slices or a little rosemary. I always go easy on the spices at this step, however, because I don’t want too much spice or other flavors to soak into the meat. I like turkey meat to taste like turkey, not spices. 

3.) Let the bird brine in the refrigerator an hour for every pound, or overnight. (A web search for “turkey brine” will bring up the rationale for brining.) Some recipes call for thawing the turkey first, then brining. I combine the two steps and it has worked well. 

4.) Rinse the turkey under cool water and let it air dry for about 4 hours. (You can also remove the giblets and other stuff at this time. If they are still frozen in place, running a little “room temperature” water into the cavity will help you get them out.) I air dry the bird by pouring the liquid out of the Ziplock bag and setting the turkey on top of it in the refrigerator. (The rationale here is to let the skin dry a bit; this makes it easier to get nice, crispy skin.) 

5.) Prepare your smoker as you normally would. I use charcoal and soak 2 fist-sized mesquite chunks overnight in water for the hardwood smoke. On my smoker, this yields a moderate amount of smoked flavor, which is what I like. (If you don’t like mesquite smoked foods, many BBQ websites can give you recommendations for other types of hardwood that work well with poultry.) Take the beer out of the fridge and pour out a little over half. (A lot of the time, I put this beer in the water pan of my smoker.) 

6.) Take the thawed, brined turkey out of the fridge and add your spice rub. (I usually go easy of the spices, because — as I mentioned before — I like the taste of turkey. I don’t think strong spicing works well on a smoked turkey. Your mileage may vary.) Most of the time, my spice rub is salt, pepper and one other fresh spice. I have a rosemary bush, so fresh rosemary is a frequent choice, but thyme or any other “poultry spice” or spice combo will work fine. Most of the time, I put sliced oranges in the water pan in my smoker, but that’s optional.

7.) Set the turkey on top of the big beer can, in the same way you would when making beer can chicken. To get it to balance, pull the legs forward and push down on the bird to work the can deep enough into the cavity that it holds. (With an 11–13 lb. bird, the can-to-bird proportion is about the same as in a beer can chicken. With a smaller turkey, the can won’t fit into the cavity. I’ve never tried this with a larger bird.) 

7A.) Option: You can put spices or other flavorings — I’ve used orange slices — in the beer can before inserting it into the turkey. 

8.) Place the turkey in the smoker and start smoking the turkey at 350 °F. Hold at this temperature for 30–45 minutes. (This is much hotter than normal smoking temperatures; the idea here is to cook the skin sufficiently that it will be crisp in the end. As an option, you can raise the temperature to 350 °F at the end of smoking. I’ve tried this both ways and both work. I find it’s just easier to start hot. If you smoke the turkey completely at normal smoking temperatures, the skin stays soggy and isn’t very appealing. If you want to make smoked turkey gravy, put a pan under the turkey to catch the drippings. (I use a “disposable” aluminum pan that I line with aluminum foil each time.) 

9.) Lower the temperature to your preferred smoking temperature for poultry. When I’m smoking turkey, I usually smoke at 275 °F. I haven’t seen much benefit to smoking the bird for longer times at lower temperatures. (The first few times I tried this, I smoked at 225 °F.) For me, the smoking time is usually around 5 hours. I don’t baste the bird while cooking. My aim is not to open the smoker at all until the bird is ready. 

10.) When you think the bird might be done, use a probe thermometer and check the internal temperature. Sources differ on when to pull the bird off. Some say it is cooked when the temperature reaches 160 °F. I usually smoke until it’s at 170–175 °F. The skin and meat texture seem better to me and the bird is still juicy (if it is still sitting upright on it’s can) when cooked to this temperature. (If you smoke the turkey at 225 °F the whole time and pull it off at 165 °F, the breast meat is pinkish —something many BBQ aficionados prize. It is also very juicy. For my tastes, however, I think the meat has a bit of a “slimy” cast when done this way, and some of the cooked turkey flavors I like are missing. And, as mentioned before, the skin is soggy. If you follow my directions the skin is crispy, the meat is white, it tastes like cooked turkey and is still juicy, but not “wet” like turkey smoked “lo and slo.” Adjust cooking temperatures and times to suit your taste.) 

11.) Once you’ve got the bird off the smoker, let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then, get someone to hold the can and pull the turkey up off of it. (The can and bird are hot; use pot holders or oven gloves.) Carve the turkey and serve. (Make the smoked turkey gravy, if you put a pan under the bird. Smoked turkey gravy is insanely tasty.) 

Finally, I know this is a brewing blog, but I also know lots of homebrewers like grilling and smoking. So I'm a bit off topic, but I think most folks won't mind.