Applewood Smoked Turkey with Cider Bourbon Gravy.
I want to faceplant into this plate so hard.
So here’s the deal. I smoked a turkey breast for time intensive reasons and in hopes of not wasting any food. I HATE wasting food. This was not an issue considering we took down this turkey in a matter of days – just the two of us.
You can absolutely smoke a whole turkey this way, and I have link some instructions in the recipe below. Since every turkey is going to be a different size and every smoker may be different, it’s difficult to get an exact recipe for what I did – BUT! I’m telling you exactly what I did for my little 7-pound turkey breast and Masterbuilt smoker.
My parents bought Eddie a smoker for his birthday this year and he has been a smoking fool. We’ve smoked pretty much every meat we can get our hands on and ultimately declared about four or five weeks in a row, “this is the best chicken I’ve ever had!” and “this is the best pork I’ve ever had!”… respectively.
And now I can pretty much say that this is the best turkey I’ve ever had.
I’m still on board with my thoughts from earlier this week – as delicious as it is, it’s definitely a detour from my traditional, classic Thanksgiving table.
But on the other hand, it is freaking awesome. With the leftovers, we made salads and quesadillas and sandwiches and of course – you know I made you some leftover dishes like usual. I’ll always hook you up!
Let me give you the rundown: the turkey is prepped in a maple bourbon brine. YES. It’s not required but, um…. hello? Why not. It’s then smoked with applewood chips and bourbon and a pretty classic brown sugar spice rub that I just threw together on a whim. I measure it for you but I’ll probably never measure it again. Make it your own! Finally, it’s drizzled with an apple cider bourbon gravy which I watched my husband eat with a spoon. Yes. That is huge.
Also, as a note, if you’re not a huge bourbon person, the gravy does not have a heavy bourbon taste. Eddie hates the taste of bourbon (one too many college nights) and he loved this, but he usually enjoys bourbon glazes and marinades. Just a tip.
So yes… adventures in smoky turkey. It’s so good.
Applewood Smoked Turkey Breast with Cider Bourbon Gravy
Ingredients
brine
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup whole black peppercorns
- 4 cups cold bourbon
- 1 1/2 gallons cold water
- 1 (7-pound) turkey breast
turkey
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons smoked paprika, I used bourbon smoked paprika – so good
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- soaked applewood chips for smoking, our smoker calls for about 2 cups
- 1/2 cup bourbon
- 1 cup water
cider bourbon gravy
- the reserved turkey neck
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 shallots, diced
- 1 small apple, diced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup bourbon
- 2/3 cup apple cider
- 2 cups COLD low-sodium chicken stock
- 3 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Before beginning, make sure your bourbon, water and chicken stock are COLD.
- To make the brine, combine the the salt syrup, sugar, peppercorns, bourbon and water in a large bucket. Remove any pieces from the turkey, like giblets or the neck, reserving to the neck for the gravy. Make sure to refrigerate it a resealable bag. Once the turkey is cleaned up, it in the liquid and refrigerate it for 8 to 12 hours.
- Remove the turkey from the brine and pat it completely dry with paper towels. Place it on a baking sheet and refrigerate it for an hour or two so it dries thoroughly.
- Preheat your smoker to 300-325 degrees F, adding your wood chips to the burner.
- In a bowl, combine the sugar, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder and cumin, mixing well to combine. Gently lift the skin of the turkey and rub the melted butter all over the meat. Use it all up! I use both my hands and a spoon to drizzle it down in spaces that I can’t reach. Take the spice rub and rub it all over the meat as well, underneath the skin. Rub the rest of it all over the outside of the skin, covering the turkey.
- Combine the water and bourbon in a glass and pour it into the water pan of the smoker. Place the turkey in the smoker (I like to do it breast side down so the juices run down into it) and shut the door. Our smoker recommends smoking poultry for 20 to 30 minutes per pound, so I smoked this turkey for about 3 1/2 hours. Read the suggestions on your smoker and according to your turkey size, adjust the cook time. If desired, you can baste your turkey with melted butter while smoking, but I find that opening up the door to my smoked releases a good amount of heat, thus lowering the temperature. Once the turkey is finished, be sure to let it rest for about 20 minutes before slicing.
- About 30 minutes before the turkey is finished, begin the gravy. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and the apple with the salt and pepper, stirring to coat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the shallots and apple are soft. Add in the garlic and the turkey neck and brown it on all sides, cooking for about 5 minutes per side. Increase the heat to medium-high and pour in the bourbon. Stir continuously, scraping any brown bits from the pan and cook until almost all of the bourbon evaporates – you just want a thin layer of it left in the pan. Add in the cider and bring it to a simmer.
- Pour the cold broth into a shaker bottle or jar. Add the flour on top, place the lid on the shaker and shake continuously for at least 30 seconds until the flour is incorporated. Remove the neck from the pan and begin to whisk the cider continuously. Slowly pour in the stock and flour while whisking and continue to stir for at least 10 to 15 minutes while the gravy thickens. Don’t stop stirring!
- Carve your turkey as desired and serve it with the gravy. I find that this gravy reheats well also – simply add it to a saucepan over low heat with a drop of water or stock and heat it, stirring occasionally, until it liquifies again.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
And this picture makes me uncomfortable but I don’t even care.
153 Comments on “Applewood Smoked Turkey with Cider Bourbon Gravy.”
Smoked turkey sounds incredible. It looks beautiful.
That looks incredible.
My husband has been wanting a smoker for so long but I feel like it’s just one more appliance to take up room! That turkey has me reconsidering though! What kind of smoker do you have? I may have to cave.
i agree, it’s why we never bought one on our own (eddie got this as a bday gift) but it’s actually tall and thin (like a bit rectangle) and doesn’t take up much space. we have a masterbuilt!
Is it electric or propane? We have an electric Masterbuilt and my boyfriend smoked ours last year, didn’t do, anything special, no brine even, and it was te best turkey I’ve ever had. And my dad grilled ours when I was growing up, which was also delicious.
Also- we bought my sister’s husband this 7-in-1 smoker fryer etc from Cabela’s for their wedding last winter and he said the other day it was the best wedding gift they got.
Wow, this looks amazing! I do not have a smoker but still want to try that gravy. I love the idea of using apple cider!
This looks amazing! Did you use a turkey breast that was organic, or from a local farm, or something of that nature? I once tried smoking a store brand (Harris Teeter) turkey breast which was injected with some kind of saline solution. That plus the brine made the turkey so. salty. and it had this bizarre wet/dry texture. Thanks girl, and i love your blog!
yes! so every time i roast a chicken i always make sure to get an organic, antibiotic free, etc one, but a lot of times i will pick it up at my local grocery store (which i really don’t trust.) with the smoker, we have actually drove to whole foods (it’s about 45 mins away) each time and bought organic meat to smoke because it is such a long process and takes a bit of work, and we always want to make sure that it’s as perfect as can be! ha.
i think one of the keys to avoid that texture is making sure that after the brine, you let it dry fully. the chow recipe i adapted it from calls for 2 hours of drying; mine was done in about 1!
Thanks! I am trying a whole chicken today…because clearly I didn’t have enough poultry already
I just emailed my entire family to get their approval on making this for the big day!! It looks and sounds delicious. You totally had me at cider and bourbon, LOL :) Thanks for the great idea — and I hope I hear back a resounding “yes” from everyone!! And if not, I’m totally making this a different day b/c it’s so awesome.
Oh my gosh this looks SO good! I’ve never used a smoker before, but that may have to change!
Happy Sunday :)
You are totally making me rethink my plan to make a turkey roulade for my Friendsgiving dinner next weekend. Maple-bourbon brine?? Have merrrrrrrcy!
Wohhhh!!! I wish I could come over and eat the leftovers!
Looks and sounds like Thanksgiving to me!
You are killing me. You can’t just show a hungover girl beautiful pictures of turkey she can’t eat. It’s just not fair.
I’m weeping with turkey envy.
Biscuit recipe???? It looks divine!
I’ve tested 25+ biscuit recipes.
Hands down, the best, most consistent, easiest, cannot-mess-it-up, there-won’t-be any-left biscuit recipe is:
By chef Kevin Gillespie, in his Fire in My Belly cookbook.
Out of respect for copyright laws and the blogger, I won’t post it here. Sorry. BUT, the cookbook has MANY fabulous recipes so you should order it online. I have no relation to him and get ZERO benefit if you buy it, so this advice is just that IMHO it is the best value for the $ I ever spent. And the biscuits are that good, sry to my grandmother and her recipe which had been quite good but is no comparison to Mr. Gillespie’s.
I got my husband a smoker for Christmas last year (Masterbuilt!) and we’ve got chickens going today. He hasn’t used it much, but he seems interested lately in using it more. We’re having Thanksgiving with our neighbors this year and we’ve volunteered to bring the turkey, which my Mr. is going to smoke so I’m going to suggest this recipe. The last picture is so inappropriate, but in a good way.
Good lord that looks incredible!! Mmmmm….. I need to get roasting!!
http://www.yummei.com
I know, I know…we got a smoker about a year ago too…and for a year we’ve been saying, ‘this is the best salmon ever…” and just the other night, “these are the best ribs ever!.” We are totally going to make this…we’re not of the ‘no-like-bourbon’ mindset, so the 4 c of it in the brine sounds amazing!
Cide bourbon gravy sounds amazing!!!
Ooh, wow! I don’t really like turkey, but I think I could devour this whole! This looks fantastic!
I have been holding off on a smoker for so long. My reason was always that we rented an apartment and had no room. We just bought a house though so that reasoning is out the window. For this though I would be willing. Looks marvelous!
I don’t eat meat, I don’t even really like the vegetables at Thanksgiving because they’re usually on the mushy side…LOL…but the cider bourbon gravy – wow, now that’s a twist on gravy I’d love to try! Your flavor comobs are always amazing and so inspired. I love your creativity!
What a morsel!! Come to mama!
Is there anyway to make this WITHOUT smoking it? I don’t have a smoker and I’m sad cuz this sounds AMAZING and I want to try it NOW!
yes you can use the brine and rub and roast it!
I also don’t have a smoker, but currently brining my bird now, and can’t wait to roast it! Thanks for the amazing recipe Jessica!
Do you think I could use the same recipe and roast it (coz I dont have a smoker)? Also, I’m intrigued by the upside down part, do you think it would have the same effect of keeping it moist? It looks amazing!
yes definitely! same spice rub and brine, it should work.
as far as the upside down technique – it’s the only way i roast my chickens so yes, it will definitely work. however, it doesn’t make for a pretty presentation!
PERFECTION.
I love this cute little mini-turkey! Perfect for those Thanksgivings when you don’t want to go nuts with a 20-lb bird. I love that the gravy has bourbon in it but what I love most most most about this is the suggestive turkey picture at the end!
As per usual with your recipes, this looks amazing! I’m going to jump on the “I don’t have a smoker, can I do it some other way” bandwagon + ask: what would be your recommendations as far as temp + time for roasting this in the oven instead? I do your roasted chicken recipes all the time + figured it’d be similar, but thought I’d ask for your input! Thanks!
i’ve honestly never roasted a whole turkey on my own! i’m pretty sure my mom says it’s something like 30 mins per pound – this recipe will definitely work but if i were you i would ask a more reputable source on exact time/temp!
Haha! I’ll try mom’s advice. Thanks, you’re the best! =]
Your photos are always so beautiful! And I love the idea of having a Thanksgiving before your Thanksgiving. I love a traditional Turkey Day as well but the innovative Turkey Day is so tantalizing! Yum – great job as usual! :)
Oh my goooodness, those photos are making me remember how I skipped breakfast this morning. I love love love turkey, and this looks so moist and delicious. I’m jealous. Seriously.
I bought a turkey without doing proper turkey research. I REALLY want to brine my turkey but I bought a frozen butterball, fail. Do you think if I brine it with less salt, I could still brine it, or would you skip the brine and just do the rub? Next year, a fresh organic turkey it is!
That cider bourbon gravy is everything!
So, I read (above) that you can roast this in the oven if you don’t have a smoker. But, would you use just a roasting pan? Lid or no lid? Does it need a special rack? I’m usually in charge of side dishes and leave the bird and/or ham up to someone else; however, this seems too good to pass up!
What a perfect plate of food. I wish I had a smoker – that turkey looks delicious! I am not a big turkey fan, unless it is smoked. Then, I love it!!
okay, i literally have tears in my eyes from LOL at the last picture of the turkey and your comment underneath it!! I have been on the hunt for the perfect turkey recipe for thanksgiving and am totes making this one! thank you!
You seriously have a brilliant mind. The food you make is always mouth watering!
This looks absolutely gorgeous. I wish I knew someone with a smoker so I could try this recipe.
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I made this recipe last night with a 4-pound turkey, and roasted it in the oven. The skin had so much crispy flavor, and the meat was perfectly juicy and tender. I used the drippings from the turkey to make gravy, and I couldn’t be happier with the results! My boyfriend said it was the best turkey he had ever had in his life (but don’t tell his mom ha) Thank you for your amazing recipes!!!!
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I wonder if anyone is planning to roast a full size bird with this brine, rub and gravy? I’m going to give it a go with a 15 pounder and hope for the best! Have to improvise due to the increased size – fingers crossed!
I’ve heard from a few people who did successfully this past weekend – let me know how it goes!
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I want to brine this dry instead of wet, should I just omit the water?
I’ve never done a dry brine (is that technically just a rub then?) Jeff so I am hesitant to say – have you done one before?
I’m so excited to try this tomorrow!!! Usually I brine for at least 24 hours…any particular reason for only 14-16 hours? Thank you so much for sharing this recipe the whole family is VERY excited!!!
hi melinda! i’m not super familiar with brines so i just followed the instructions on time from the recipe i adapted this from. i think 24 hours would be fine! please let me know how it turns out. :)
OMG!!!! This turned out amazing!!!! I brined a whole 15lb turkey for about 24 hours…took about 5 hours to smoke (it was 30 outside, so times might vary). It was WONDERFUL in every way!!! The brine came through nicely, the bird was beyond juicy, the gravy was the perfect compliment to everything. I did take my immersion blender to the gravy to make it a bit smoother, but the flavor was perfect!! Thank you so much for sharing this and for your quick response to my question!! Happy Thanksgiving!!
Looks awesome! We’re going to try this on our Big Green Egg tomorrow with applewood chunks and smoke it at 250 to get a nice smokey flavor. Looking forward to it!
Mike
I made this today. Ohmigoodness.
I’ve decided that this is the ONLY way I’m making turkey ever again. EverEverEver. We don’t have a smoker (ah, the perils of apartment life…) and instead baked it in the oven, but it was still the best friggin’ turkey I’ve ever had. My husband doesn’t even LIKE turkey and he loved it!
I made this recipe and was it good. I am unsure if the brining and seasoning did a lot for taste on the turkey. But it did come out moist and had a great smokey flavor. I used Pecan chips instead of Apple. The gravy was by far the kicker that made the meal. It was sort of an apple chutney sauce that went well on the meat and the dressing. I don’t think cooking with the neck would be necessary. I didn’t really taste bourbon, but it was fun to cook with. haha Thanks for the recipe Jessica and a great Thanksgiving!
Tried this yesterday for our Thanksgiving menu and it was wonderful! My turkey was a bigger than 7# so I just doubled everything and it turned out great. All our guests loved it. I think it may become a “staple” for every Thanksgiving. Thanks for this recipe.
This turkey was incredible! I am sad the leftovers are almost gone. Thanks for the recipe.