Have you ever tried smoking a turkey? Oh, yes you answer. And it was delightful and unforgettable. You sat with your family and ate delicious nuggets of smoked turkey with a glass of cold beer. Do you want to repeat? But first, we will choose the best wood for smoking turkey that is now on the market. Turkey meat can be smoked in a comfortable home environment and enjoy the taste and aroma of naturally smoked. Both smoking and grilling are suitable for this. All you need to start is wood chips.
For best results when smoking a turkey, the smoke should not overwhelm the turkey’s natural flavor; it should not be thick, but lighter. Here we share the top-rated turkey smoking forests.
Contents
We offer you a list of the best firewood for smoking turkey
Jack Daniels Smoking Chips
Many meat-roasting enthusiasts rank oak wood as one of their favorite woods for its ability to deliver a unique flavor and appearance to food. Oak wood is often used to steam meat, and is considered to impart a distinct, deep reddish color to white meats like turkey. The smoke aroma enhances the flavor of the turkey.
Jack Daniels products working in chunk form for smoking turkey worked very well for more than just turkey, giving off a nice taste for all types of meat. Using it means you can perfect the art of smoking whole chickens, barbecued wings, sausages, hamburgers, baby back ribs, salmon or trout, braised briskets, and pork loins, among other things.
The smoke aroma of this wood is more intense than those of maple, cherry, apple, or peach, but it is still lighter than that of hickory, acacia, black walnut, etc.
Jack Daniels Cooking Bits are made from aromatic oak wood. This aromatic wood from the original whiskey barrels is completely natural, that is, without pesticides or other harmful chemicals. The wood chunks are cut into smaller 4-inch blocks that are ideal for larger or personal grills and smokehouses. Pieces of wood can also be used for charcoal, gas, or electric grills so that they serve as the only heat source.
BELLA WOOD Smoking BBQ Wood Cubes in Cherry Flavour
BELLA WOOD products are 100% natural European wood (made in Germany). Products from the forests of Eastern Europe without the use of any chemicals during production, so you can enjoy the delicious scent of smoke! The products have good reviews. Comes in a beautiful package and is very convenient to use. This brand has different woods and there are set options for several varieties. Nice to take for a gift when you go to visit. Here is cherry wood for smoking turkey. Cherries are one of the best woods to use for smoking turkeys because they give the meat a pleasant flavor.
When used for smoking, it gives the turkey a cherry-like flavor that is light and sweet at the same time. In addition, the wood is highly flammable and completely burns, creating and imparting a delicious flavor to the turkey.
The all-natural smoked wood chunks of this brand are perfect for smokers, gas grills, and charcoal grills. The wood will not add any toxic chemicals or pesticides to smoked turkey because it is made from 100% natural, untreated wood. The wood is cut into neat pieces in the shape of a cube.
In addition to smoking turkey and other poultry, this wood can be used to smoke vegetables, seafood, pork, and cheeses, and enhances the flavor of any meat, and turns it into something more than grilled food. Try it, you will be satisfied!
Weber Apple Wood Chips
It is recommended that apple wood be used to smoke lighter meats (with more delicate flavors), such as turkey or other poultry. The fruity timber in your turkey will make it taste more flavorful since it will impart its flavor. With fruit flavors, you don’t get too much smokey flavor in your food, but rather you get a mildly sweet aroma that enhances your poultry with a delicate taste.
Adding a subtle hint of sweet apple to the turkey will give your plate light and refreshing feel. No hazardous chemical pesticides were used in wood processing. Your health is completely safe, as it is completely natural.
Camerons BBQC10-Pe Outdoor BBQ Chunks Pecan-840
While Pecan wood has a strong, fruity, nutty flavor, when it’s used for smoking turkey, it infuses the meat with a wonderfully, rich, sweet flavor that doesn’t overpower the turkey’s flavor.
Wood Chunks are durable and cut into sizes that fit well in the grill or smoker. Pecan Wood Smoking Chips pairs well with seafood, beef, pork, and game. All Natural, no additives. Made in the USA.
Weber 17833 The best mix for Smoking Poultry
We have selected for you a ready-made mixture for smoking any poultry, including turkey. 100% natural product.
A turkey’s taste will be enhanced by the mild taste of cherry wood, just like applewood. In addition to coloring your turkey with a distinctive appearance on your serving tray and table, cheery wood for smoking also gives it a deliciously distinct appearance. In addition, it doesn’t overpower the delicate flavor of the turkey with too much smoke.
Weber 17833 Pieces of cherry wood will make smoking and grilling even more delicious. They impart a subtle cherry-fruity flavor to the turkey thanks to the clean-burning/burning of the chunks. Besides chicken and fish, these woody pieces pair well with vegetables and pork as well.
Natural hardwood is used to build these chunks of wood. Artificial additives and binding agents are not added. Depending on the size of your smoker or grill, they are easily fit into it.
The Best Wood for Smoking Turkey: A Buyer’s Guide
- When smoking a turkey, it can be difficult to get the firewood you need. You are smoking a specific type of turkey, so the taste and smell of the poultry will differ depending on which wood you use. Will wood improve flavor and aroma? Does wood retain aroma and taste? Some woods overpower the turkey flavor and you don’t need to.
- Besides the aroma of wood and products, there are other aspects of wood. It is important to consider these aspects as well, because each wood is unique and thus will behave differently. Some wood shavings burn faster and therefore you may need to soak them in liquid to burn them slower and last longer.
- Also, the size of the wood chips/chunks matters a lot because they determine the burning rate. Wood chips cut into 3- or 4-inch blocks will burn slower, while the smaller shavings burn faster, though they bring will generate a more intense/heavier flavoured smoke within the smoker, which helps the flavours to penetrate the turkey meat.
Why use wood chips and what are the benefits of using them when smoking
- Although wood chips can be used as the sole source of heat in a smokehouse, this is not their main purpose. The main purpose and benefits of using wood chips when smoking turkey it is the added flavor the wood gives to the turkey. Different types of smoked wood have different smoked flavor characteristics that they impart to your smoked meat.
- Takeaway from it all: Adding wood chips to charcoal or propane in yours gives the added bonus of extra flavors without overwhelming the charcoal or propane.
What types of wood for smoking turkey we recommend to improve the taste.
- As mentioned already, turkey has a delicate flavour and hence it needs a wood type that is lighter or medium in flavour. A wood that poses no risk of overpowering the turkey’s delicate flavour with too much smoke forward flavours. The recommended woods types and their flavour profiles, that work well for smoking turkey are:
- Smoking Woods with lighter (mild) flavours suitable for smoking turkey include Cherry, apple, maple and alder. These are fruit trees and they infuse the turkey with their beautiful, delicious, sweet flavours and aroma. The woods also colour the turkey with a lovely golden skin colour that makes it look amazing on the serving table. Some of these woods, for example, alder can be mixed with other hardwoods that have a strong flavour and the alder will help to tone it down while also adding its own delicious characteristics.
- Woods with a medium flavour which are suitable for smoking turkey include Pecan, post oak and hickory wood. These woods offer some of the most distinct flavors to the smoked meat. They are not as heavy as hickory, neither as light as elder, maple or apple, which helps them to strike the right balance between taste and flavour. For example, Post Oak wood, a European classic smoking wood favourite among many BBQ lovers provides a rich, deep smoke flavor which may be little much for a turkey, though it usually does not overwhelm the turkey’s flavour and taste. They can be mixed with the lighter wood to tone down their flavors if necessary. In addition, Oak can colour your white turkey meat with a distinct reddish tint that makes it look amazing on the serving table.
- Another recommended wood for smoking turkey is mesquite. Naturally, mesquite is a strong flavored wood and it poses a risk of overpowering the flavor of your turkey. However, it is still a favorite in the southwestern states who want mesquite’s powerful forward flavors on their birds. If you must use it, it is recommended to mix it with a milder wood to balance out the effects.
FAQ
How many wood chips should I use?
You can start with 5 ounces of wood chips because this is usually the amount that can fill a standard smoker. However, the number of wood chips to use will depend on many variables such as the smoker size, the rate at which the wood burns, and whether the wood is going to act as the only heat source or just added to charcoal or propane for the flavor bonus. Other determinants of how many wood chips to use include meat’s cooking time, and temperature. So, the takeaway here is that there is no set rule. If you find that 5 ounces does not give off or impart enough flavor, or the chips burn too hard at first and you need to refill them constantly for a short time, which could upset the smoker’s internal temperature, then you can increase the amount of firewood.
Should I soak the wood before smoking Turkey?
Advocates of soaking wood chips for smoking point out how this practice helps the wood chips to last longer. However, there are those with opposing views with evidence suggesting that it is a waste of time because water does not penetrate the wood surface as easily and that there is a likelihood of the steam that emits from the water interfering with your smokes and coals. The choice is yours, experiment.
How long should I smoke the turkey?
A smoked turkey is considered ready when its internal temperature reaches 165°F/73°C. This depends on the quantity of turkey you are smoking. About 30 minutes at 225°F/107°C, per pound of turkey meat is ideal. Therefore, you should aim to monitor the internal temperature of the turkey while smoking, not the time.
What is the best wood to use when smoking turkey?
Turkey has a natural delicate and delicious flavor profile and tender meat. Turkey meat easily cooks and absorbs smoke flavors. Using a strong flavored wood poses the risk of overwhelming the turkey with its strong, which could bury the turkey’s delicious flavor. Therefore, for a great-tasting turkey, the best wood to use is one with a lighter or medium flavor profile. These include apple, maple, and cherry. Some meat-smoking fanatics love strong flavors that woods like pecan and mesquite give. Hence, they can also be used, but sometimes it may require mixing them with the light woods to tone down the strong flavor a bit and produce a characteristic unique, yet sweet flavor. For example, plum is mixed with maple to smoke meat.
Is cherry a good smoking wood for turkey?
Yes, cherry is one of the best wood you can use for smoking turkey. Cherry is a fruitwood, and fruit woods are good for smoking lighter and delicate meats like turkey. This is because fruit woods like cherry infuse the turkey with their sweet fruity flavors. This thus just enhances the turkey’s natural flavor without the risk of overpowering your turkey with too much smoke-forward flavor. If you want to get an even more deliciously flavored turkey, you can combine cherry wood with strong-flavored woods like pecan.
Is Oak good for smoking turkey?
Yes, oak wood is good for smoking turkey because it infuses the turkey with a sweet “whisky-smoke” flavor. It also colors it with a distinctive reddish skin tint that will leave you astonished. However, caution is called for when you chose to use oak because its deep smoke flavor may be too much for the turkey. For an amazingly delicious taste and flavor, Oak can be blended with maple to give a mild, sweet smoke flavor that results in rich, smoky coloring on the turkey.
Is pecan wood good for smoking turkey?
Sure! Pecan wood will give you a show-stopping, thanksgiving, delicious smoked turkey. Pecan infuses a sweet, nutty, and rich flavor, which is great for turkey. Though pecan wood has a flavor stronger than other fruit woods, it is still milder than hickory and mesquite. Pecan also blends with other wood types to give unique flavors.
Is mesquite wood for smoking turkey?
Yes, Mesquite can be used for smoking turkey. However, you have to tread carefully because this wood delivers a strong flavor which runs the risk of making your turkey taste bitter. It is a favorite of many BBQ lovers because it is a fast-burning, temperature-heavy wood that provides a strong distinct flavor. Too much smoke from mesquite can overwhelm the turkey flavor and could make it taste bitter.
How do You Prepare a Turkey for Smoking?
You can easily prepare a delicious smoked turkey in a few simple steps as outlined below:
- Get your turkey: The best turkey to smoke is one which is fresh. However, if you don’t have fresh one, you can also use a minimally processed frozen turkey. Just make sure it is completely thawed before the smoking.
- Prepare the turkey: Preparing the turkey involves removing its inside. Also detaching the skin from the breasts. This helps the brine to easily reach and penetrate into the breasts.
- Immerse the turkey into brine solution: The brine solution should be prepared before, then immerse the turkey into this solution. By brining, the salt in the brine solution helps the turkey to retain moisture and flavors. The salt breaks down the proteins in the turkey meat so that the meat doesn’t contract while smoking. This means less water and flavours will be lost during smoking, thus a more juicy plump turkey.
How long to brine a turkey?
How long to brine will depend on the thickness of the turkey, but generally, the longer the better. Longer brining times lead to stronger seasoning, a more robust flavor, and a more tender and juicy meat. But you must also avoid over bringing which could make the turkey become too salty. I generally recommend a minimum of 12 hours and up to 2 days for a whole turkey and breasts. While for chicken wings, you could brine between 4 to 6 hours.
- Wash and drain the turkey: Remove the turkey from the brine solution and wash it thoroughly in cold running water. Then drain the turkey of moisture, also thoroughly, both inside and outside.
- Cure the turkey: Curing is the act of living your turkey in a refrigerator for some time, normally half a day or a full day so that the salt can continue to penetrate evenly into the meat. This has the added advantage of slowing spoilage and preventing microorganisms from growing in the meat.
- Spice the turkey to your liking: Add a variety of herbs and spices on every part of the turkey to enhance its taste (make it taste good). Let the meat soak in these spices and herbs.
- Smoke your turkey in a smoker: Before you put on the turkey, ensure the smoker is preheated up to 220 degrees. You can add your favourite wood chips to the smoker to infuse their distinct flavours and skin colour to your turkey.
- Serve: When your turkey is ready. Serve it with your favourite side dish.
Conclusion
The reward of a delicious and amazingly great-looking turkey after smoking is why some people chose to smoke instead of just roast this bird. However, to get that show-stopping taste and appearance, the wood you use plays a significant part. While choosing the best wood for smoking turkey can be intimidating, that is why we have written this guide and hope it helps you to find what is ideal for you. Do be afraid to experiment with different woods and wood combinations so as to discover what you like and don’t like, and what you will consider as your overall best wood to smoke your turkey.
“I was more than happy to uncover this site. I wanted to thank you for your time for this particularly fantastic read!! I definitely liked every bit of it and i also have you book-marked to see new information on your blog.}”
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon on a daily basis. Its always helpful to read through content from other authors and practice a little something from other web sites.
Thanks, I’ve been looking for this for a long time