Discover how to grill shrimp using this simple marinade that makes the shrimp so delicious you don’t even need cocktail sauce. You won’t even taste the cayenne pepper, so don’t let that worry you. My little ones adore it. It is also a big hit with company and easy to prepare. If the weather isn’t conducive to grilling outside, I make this dish with frozen or fresh shrimp and use my indoor electric barbecue. Try serving it with garlic bread, a baked potato, and a salad.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 hrs |
| Total Time: | 10 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 13 |
Ingredients
- 1 (10 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets removed
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons seasoned salt
- ½ cup butter
- 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans cola-flavored carbonated beverage
- 1 medium apple, quartered
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups hickory wood chips, or more as needed (Optional)
Instructions
- Preheat a smoker to 225 to 250 degrees F (110 to 120 degrees C).
- Rinse turkey under cold water, and pat dry.
- Rub crushed garlic over the outside of the turkey, and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Transfer to a disposable roasting pan.
- Fill the turkey cavity with butter, cola, apple, onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cover turkey loosely with foil.
- Add wood chips to the smoker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Place the roasting pan in the preheated smoker. Smoke the turkey, basting every 1 to 2 hours with juices from the bottom of the roasting pan, for 5 hours.
- Add more wood chips if desired. Continue smoking and basting, until turkey is no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 5 more hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).
- I like to use hickory chips or hickory wood in my smoker. Hickory generates a more even smokiness than other woods, and it does not matter whether the wood is green or seasoned.
- For best results, maintain a temperature of 225 to 250 degrees F (110 to 120 degrees C) while cooking and basting the turkey.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 625 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 10 g |
| Cholesterol | 225 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 71 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 1185 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 32 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Easy and simple recipe 11hrs later .. time to rest Well see if the taste matches the looks
This is not only the best Turkey I’ve ever made, it’s the best I’ve ever tasted anywhere! The whole family was blown away.
It was great I’ve done it this way for years
The recipe is great and the flavor really comes out! The only issue is, you definitely do not want to cook your turkey in the smoker for ten hours at 225, unless you’re planning to make turkey jerky. I’ve made this recipe three times now, all with turkeys over 15 pounds, and they are usually done in 4-5 hours. Dropping the temp to just the smoker setting will add an hour, or so, but the 10 hours is a definite stretch.
My husband decided this for Thanksgiving we would smoke our turkey was at 19lbs. He allowed for 20 hours of cooking time. We basically doubled the ingredients. We used a apple wood pellet and set smoker to 200 degree. After husband spent all night and every 2 hours basing it. At 16 hours our turkey was golden and holding internal temp of 184. I will say the meat was so tender it fell of the bone, the breast of the turkey was juicy and tender. This is amazing my whole family loved it. It takes time so plan ahead and don’t rush it
Best, most juiciest turkey I’ve ever had, let alone cooked in my life! I halved the recipe, brined the breast for 36 hours, and smoked a 4.5 pound turkey breast with applewood for about 3.5 hours at 225-250° to reach an internal temp of 160° and let it sit for 30 minutes. My goodness! My husband isn’t even a fan of smoked food and is very picky about turkey having that dry, stick to your teeth feeling, this had none of that and he freaking loved it! I can’t sing enough praises for this! I don’t even like turkey and would consider cooking this for a summer bbq just for fun! I will never consider roasting a turkey ever again!! Adding this to my handwritten recipe box!!! Do yourself a favor and just cook it! p.s., I used Pepsi!
Yes, the meat needs to reach 165 degrees for one second (white meat), but its also safe when the meat maintains a 145 degree temp for 10 minutes or 150 degree temp for three minutes. When the white meat reaches 150 degrees let it cook for three more minutes and you’ll be safe. I’ve been doing it this way for over 10 years without any problems at all. And you won’t need to brine it since cooking it this way produces moIst white meat
YUP this is a winner ! I used ” Out of this world turkey brine ” for 24hrs. I used the Brine recipe and added one cup of apple cider vinegar and one orange into slices with rind. Now the turkey I used a Traeger fin and feather rub over the garlic, everything else exact as described. Cooking time I used the 30 minute per pound rule at 225. So the 15lb turkey was as 165 after 7.5 hours of smoking. But we like our turkey at 185, so I cooked it at 350 with foil cover off for an extra hour to get the temp and a dark brown color on the bird. Used a half apple and half mapple mix pellet in the hopper. After letting the bird set for 30 minutes it was carving time. The first slice had everyone amazed. Perfectly cooked but wow to the juices. Bottom line this recipe with out a doubt is a repeat. I think this will be a recipe that we make for a normal meal with out a special occasion. Highly recommended ??
Best turkey ever!
This was the winner in our house for Thanksgiving this year. It’s a keeper and a new tradition.
This is by far the best smoked turkey recipe ever, thank you Doug! Used a 16-oz Coke, 14-lb turkey and cook at 240-degrees (was a little cold in MI) and it was done in 10-hours.
my favorite turkey recipe
This recipe was a hit with everyone!
This was magnificent! I had a 19 lb. turkey and a request to put it in the smoker. I tried a different recipe last year and wasn’t thrilled so I was not too excited about smoking one this year. But I came across this recipe and the reviews were great so I decided to try it. I put it in a brine the day before and in the smoker the next morning at 250° (thinking that would be right since it was a bit bigger). I used one can of cola instead of two. I covered it loosely with foil and filled the water pan in the smoker. I did not baste it. The smoker had steam coming out of the vent and condensation inside on the window. Also, I soaked apple and hickory chips and put them in when I put the turkey in and the smoky flavor, in my opinion, was perfect. The bird was done in about 8 hours, sooner than expected. Kept it covered and warm until ready to eat and it was perfect and a big hit! Thanks for this great recipe! (I don’t typically write reviews but this was worth it.)
I already rated this. I just wanted to note that I brined my turkey for 24 hours before cooking it. It was truly delicious.
Best turkey I’ve ever had!!
I did make some changes to the ingredients. Instead of adding table salt I did pink hymilan salt. I did 1 tbsp & 1 tsp of minced garlic versus the 4 cloves. I also largely diced up the apple & I used red onion. I added 1 cutie orange to the mix. I did 24oz of venilla Cherry Coke. Added 1 tbsp of hot sauce & my own rub just for some extra flavor. I think next time I will also try adding jalapeno to the mix. My turkey only took 5 hours on the smoker just because it was already thawed out, but it was seriously the first time I was ever interested in the white meat of the turkey because it was sooo tender.
Made this for Quarantine Easter 2020, 6.5 hours at 230 for a 12.5 lbs fresh turkey. I will only smoke a turkey this way from now on, my kids didn’t like turkey before this, even though I’ve smoked a few over the years that I thought were pretty good! Delicious. I only put half an apple and half an onion to keep some room for airflow through the cavity, but otherwise just followed this recipe.
Wow super easy and the best turkey I’ve ever eaten!
This was the best turkey I have ever made. Super moist and great flavor
This recipe was the best smoked turkey recipe we’ve had for thanksgiving. Bird was juicy and had a very good flavor. I think this will be my go to thanksgiving recipe from now on.