Cajun Smoked Turkey Recipe

Cajun Smoked Turkey Recipe

If I had to choose one work to describe smoked turkey, it would be DELICIOUS!!! This Cajun smoked turkey recipe is actually pretty easy, but it does require plenty of time, patience and a large enough smoker to smoke your bird. Thanksgiving Day turkey no longer has to be boring, and you might even cook turkey more than once a year after you taste this smoked perfection!

This recipe is property of GreatChefRecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 13lb. turkey (thawed)
1 bottle of Tony Chachere’s Injectable Creole Butter Marinade
Olive oil
Tony Chachere’s seasoning salt
Apple wood chips
3 64oz. jugs of apple juice

Directions:
1. Fill water pan with apple juice and turn on the smoker. Let it heat for at least 30-minutes.
2. In a large bowl of water, grab 8 handfuls of apple wood chips and soak.
3. Make sure your turkey is completely thawed and rinse the inside and outside with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
4. Drizzle the bird with olive oil and season the inside and outside with the Tony Chachere’s seasoning salt. (You can use other dry rubs, but Tony’s and turkey are a great combination without all of the extra work.)
5. Inject your bird with the Creole Butter Marinade.
6. Place the turkey in the smoker and smoke for approximately 9 hours until the turkey reaches 165 degrees.
7. Add one handful of chips to the bottom of the smoker every hour.

Some Additional Tips
1. Only add one handful of wood chips each hour. While its tempting to add more ‘smoke/ flavor’ to the turkey, adding too much will ruin the turkey. One handful each hour is the perfect ratio to flavor, aroma and a tasty turkey.
2. After 3-4 hours of cooking, check the water pan. You want to make sure that there is still plenty of apple juice in the pan. If it dries out, the turkey will cook too fast and be very dry. You want to keep the meat as moist as possible.
3. If the turkey can’t get over the hump (some smokers can’t seem to get the turkey to 165, feel free to finish in a 400 degree oven.)

Wine Pairings:
We preface all of our wine pairing suggestions by letting you know that it’s really a matter of personal taste. While we do offer our opinions and why we selected a specific varietal, there is no right or wrong answer when pairing a wine with your dinner.

Riesling Wine
This Cajun Smoked Turkey recipe produces a salty smoky bird. A Riesling is the perfect accompaniment to this dish, as it gives you a nice semi-sweet flavor to offset the salt and smoke from the turkey. This is my go-to wine for Thanksgiving day! Follow the link to our wine review site to find our favorite Riesling wines-LetsHaveWine.com

Have you tried this recipe? If so, leave us your comments below!