
Thanksgiving Turkey at its Finest
It’s turkey time again, and this year why not smoke your turkey? Smoking a turkey is not as difficult as it appears, in fact - in many ways, it’s much simpler to smoke your turkey than the traditional oven roasted bird.
There are several ways to enhance your turkey, from brining to basting (and I’d highly recommend brining your bird), but today let’s look at the easiest way to smoke a turkey: a simple spatchcocked turkey.
Ingredients
- Turkey (size of your choice, this was a 20 lb. turkey)
- BBQ Rub (again, use your favorite - I made my own combining Cajun spices and other BBQ flavors)
Time
30 minutes active
2.5-3.5 hours cook time
3-3.5 hours total
Equipment Used
Charcoal Smoker/Grill

Begin with the butchering of the bird - spatchcocking is a term used to describe the process of removing the spine of a chicken or bird. The benefit in doing so, is it will promote a quicker and more even cooking process. And for me, personally, I believe it's easier to carve when all said and done.
Start by removing the spine - I used a cleaver to break it out, however some heavy duty poultry shears are your best bet for this process.
Cut down both sides of the spine in order to remove it, then flip the bird spine-side down and *crack* the breast bone in order to flatten the bird completely.

Choose your favorite BBQ rub for your turkey - I used a combination of Cajun seasoning with a popular BBQ rub. When it comes to seasoning, you almost can’t overdo it - season it very liberally in order to get plenty of salty skin on the outside to contrast the rather plain taste of turkey.

How Long to Smoke a Turkey | ||
---|---|---|
Size of Turkey | Whole Turkey (@ 275°) | Spatchcocked Turkey (@ 275°) |
12 to 14 lbs. | 2.5 to 3 hours | 2 to 2.5 hours |
14 to 18 lbs. | 3 to 3.5 hours | 2.5 to 3 hours |
18 to 20 lbs. | 3.5 to 4 hours | 3 to 3.5 hours |
20 to 24 lbs. | 4 to 4.5 hours | 3.5 to 4 hours |


- Start with the wings - they are connected to a “shoulder” joint near each breast, so you’ll want to carve just below the bottom of the breast and go inwards to find that joint/socket to make an easy cut through to remove each wing.
- Remove the thigh & drumstick from the body by finding the crease/crevice between the thigh & breast. Cut through that crease and at the bottom you will again run into another “shoulder” joint - the easiest way to cut through it is to find the socket and cut through it. With the thigh & drumstick removed, you can separate the two by once again finding their joint.
- Finally, remove the two turkey breasts by finding the breast bone in the center of the bird. On each side, you’ll want to carve straight down the breast bone until you reach the rib cage. At that point, angle your knife (roughly 45°) and follow the rib cage to the edge. You should get the whole breast removed at once, but if there’s a little meat left behind you can certainly carve it off.

Your final turkey “sections” should be as follows: (2) thighs, (2) drumsticks, (2) breasts, & (2) wings.
From here, you have a much more manageable job in carving the turkey. You can cut the turkey breast into smaller slices (don't slice the long way - slice them across the grain.) The thighs, wings, and drumsticks are all dark meat - usually i just pull this meat off the bone and chop the skin into smaller pieces in order to mix it all in. But I would also highly recommend eating the drumstick like you would a chicken wing.
