Let’s make plans for your Thanksgiving turkey now.
No, don’t panic! I’m not sure how this happened, but somehow, we have been taught that cooking a turkey is a complicated and arduous task, only to be accomplished one day a year and to sweat and fret over.
But that is a myth and a misconception. I’m here to tell you (and show you!) how ridiculously easy smoking a turkey on a Weber Kettle really is. With only five simple steps and just a few easy-to-find ingredients, you will want to make this recipe not only for Thanksgiving but any time of the year you have a turkey craving. So fire up the Weber Kettle, and let’s smoke a turkey.
Why You Should Try This Weber Kettle Smoked Whole Turkey
- The fabulous combination of flavors including wood smoke – Only turkey, butter, sage, and lemon with the bold and intense flavor of wood smoke added. What a remarkable and stunning combination of flavors to prepare for your family’s Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey will be a hit, and you will be a hero!
- Extremely easy to prepare – With only six easy-to-find and economical ingredients, preparing this turkey is a no-brainer. Add salt and pepper, truss the turkey, manage the smoke, baste the turkey, let it rest, and carve. And the best part comes last: devouring the bird!
- Managing the heat and smoke is fairly simple – Compared to an offset smoker, smoking a turkey on a Weber Kettle might be a tad less complicated and less time-consuming. The Weber Kettle was invented not only to be an outdoor grill but essentially an outdoor oven as well. Because the hot kettle surrounds the turkey, it cooks faster as if it were in a kitchen oven. Add the smoke essence, and you have such a winning and flavorful combination, ready to eat in just a few hours.
Ingredients For Weber Kettle Smoked Whole Turkey
- One 12 – 13 pound whole turkey, thawed with giblets removed
- 1tablespoon each salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup (one stick) melted butter
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Directions For Weber Kettle Smoked Whole Turkey
1. Set up your Weber Kettle for indirect smoking – Fill your charcoal chimney fire starter with charcoal briquettes, and when ready, empty the chimney in the center of the charcoal grate. With tongs, move the charcoal to both sides of the Weber Kettle, creating two equal piles. Add three more charcoal briquets to each pile and two small pieces of soaked smoking wood or chips.
2. Bring the turkey to room temperature – Pat the turkey dry and liberally sprinkle the salt and pepper all over the turkey and in the body cavity. Brush the olive oil over the entire turkey and in the body cavity as well. Truss the turkey so the legs are tied together and the wings are secured.
3. Place the turkey on the Weber Kettle grill grate – Place the turkey in the center of the Weber Kettle grill grate and close the lid. Smoke over the indirect heat for approximately 2 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 160 degrees. Be sure to add more charcoal briquets and wood every 30 minutes or more if necessary, as the charcoal coals and wood burn down.
4. Make the turkey baste and baste the bird – Place the melted butter, chopped sage, and lemon juice in a bowl and stir to combine. At roughly the 1 ½ hour mark of smoking, and with a kitchen brush, liberally brush the entire turkey with the butter baste. Repeat this step every 15 minutes until the turkey has come up to temperature and is finished smoking.
5. Remove the turkey from the Weber Kettle – Place the smoked turkey on a cutting board, loosely cover the turkey with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving the turkey.
Variations And Substitutions For Weber Kettle Smoked Whole Turkey
Use other types of poultry – As we’ve discussed above, you can now understand just how easy it is to smoke a whole bird on a Weber Kettle. So let’s experiment and try smoking other whole poultry the same way; use geese, chicken, Cornish hens, duck, pheasant, and even quail. Just be sure to adjust the cooking time and temperature for smaller poultry.
Let’s not forget the gravy – Thanksgiving (or anytime you smoke a turkey) just wouldn’t be the same without gravy. Even a store-bought gravy will do in a pinch, but making a pan gravy while the turkey is smoking for a few hours is really a very simple process. And it will make the time go faster so you can feast on your fabulous smoked turkey even sooner.
Tips And Tricks For Weber Kettle Smoked Whole Turkey
Use a Weber Kettle hinged grilling grate – The hinged portion of the grill grate on both sides lifts up so you can add more charcoal or wood chips as you need to. This is an incredible game changer because you don’t need to lift the entire grill grate off the Weber Kettle every time you need to add more fuel.
Be sure to put foil over your turkey if necessary – If parts of your turkey skin start to become too dark as it is smoking, simply drape aluminum foil around that part of the turkey to protect the skin from overcooking or burning. You can also rotate your turkey away from the most intense heat if necessary.
Add an aluminum pan to your Weber kettle – Use a disposal aluminum pan filled with one inch of water and place it on the charcoal grate between the piles of coals as a drip pan. The water will ensure that the turkey stays moist, and the drip pan catches any fat or grease that drips off the turkey while it’s smoking to make clean-up easier.
Smoked Whole Turkey On Kettle Grill
Equipment
- 1 Weber Kettle Grill
- 1 Charcoal Chimney Fire Starter
- 1 BBQ Tongs
- 1 Kitchen Brush
- 1 Aluminum Foil for tenting
Ingredients
- 12.5 pound whole turkey, thawed with giblets removed
- 1 tablespoon each salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup one stick melted butter
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Set up your Weber Kettle for indirect smoking – Fill your charcoal chimney fire starter with charcoal briquettes, and when ready, empty the chimney in the center of the charcoal grate. With tongs, move the charcoal to both sides of the Weber Kettle, creating two equal piles. Add three more charcoal briquets to each pile and two small pieces of soaked smoking wood or chips.
- Bring the turkey to room temperature – Pat the turkey dry and liberally sprinkle the salt and pepper all over the turkey and in the body cavity. Truss the turkey so the legs are tied together and the wings are secured.
- Place the turkey on the Weber Kettle grill grate – Place the turkey in the center of the Weber Kettle grill grate and close the lid. Smoke over the indirect heat for approximately 2 ½ hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 160 degrees. Be sure to add more charcoal briquets and wood every 30 minutes or more if necessary, as the charcoal coals and wood burn down.
- Make the turkey baste and baste the bird – Place the melted butter, chopped sage, and lemon juice in a bowl and stir to combine. At roughly the 1 ½ hour mark of smoking, and with a kitchen brush, liberally brush the entire turkey with the butter baste. Repeat this step every 15 minutes until the turkey has come up to temperature and is finished smoking.
- Remove the turkey from the Weber Kettle – Place the smoked turkey on a cutting board, loosely cover the turkey with aluminum foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving the turkey.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
