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.”
Oh my god. Thank you for this AMAZING recipe!!! We don’t have Thanksgiving here in Australia but I’m half American and decided to throw a thanksgiving party for 10 of my friends this year. I somehow thought it was sensible to lure them in with the promise of a turkey without having ever roasted/smoked/brined/seen a turkey. Because I don’t have a smoker I opted for just regular roasting and after some research, decided to roast it in an oven bag (something else I’ve never done). Besides being thrilled beyond words that I actually pulled it off and didn’t require medical assistance and/or a fire brigade, this recipe was SERIOUSLY AMAZING. My friend even said it rivaled his mum’s infamous Christmas turkey. Highest. Praise. Ever. Roasting it in the bag meant that it stayed moist so I didn’t need to brine it (even though that sounds life-changing and may try it next time) or do anything during cooking time and it took only 2 hrs to cook a 4.2kg/9.2lb turkey! It actually caught me by surprise because I wasn’t expecting it to be done yet, but thankfully even though it had to sit for a while until everyone arrived, it was still lovely and moist but with crispy skin and tasted fantastic!! Thanks again!!!!
I am trying this recipe today, just got a master built for Christmas. My fiancé would like to know how to keep me from drinking the bourbon while I wait for the turkey to cook…lol
We actually made this today [ 8-9-2014 ] It was DELICIOUS! We all agreed that we had never had such a tender turkey. The meat was absolutely succulent! We smoked a 5# breast [ with bone ] in about 2.5 hours. Couple bits of advice: 1 — have an entire bottle of bourbon before you begin. You will use almost an entire bottle. 3 – you will need a extra large ziploc bag for the brining; a 2 gallon will hold almost all the brine and the turkey breast. 3 — there is A LOT of salt for the entire recipe. I did not use low-sodium broth and I wish that I had: our grave was very salty. 4 — Save the carcass – it makes an AWESOME starter to a pot of soup! 5 — Keep in mind that this recipe takes at least a day, you don’t want to hurry the process. I started the brine process about 4 PM and we began smoking the breast at 3: 30 the next day. We WILL make this again. We may substitue a dozen boneless chicken breasts next time. This is a wonderful meal!!! thank you!!
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Alright, Jessica, we’re going to follow this recipe for Thanksgiving!! I never ate the turkey at thanksgiving until Nate smoked one last year. It was SO delicious and you never steer me wrong, so I’ll let you know how amazing it is on Instagram! :) Hope you’re feeling well. You are so close!!
thank you for sharing the recipe.
it’s delicious!
one opinion, which of course, is a matter of taste, literally: the brine was too sweet for my tastes. next time (and there will DEFINITELY be a next time!), i think i’d eliminate the brown sugar from the brine and use 1/2 cup of the maple syrup.
truly, this recipe will be on my grateful list for thursday!
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This was a HUGE home run! We’re making it for Christmas too!
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This looks so delish! I would love to make this for Thanksgiving but do not have a smoker. Would this turn out as good if I roasted the turkey breast?
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I’ve made this recipe twice now, once with two turkey breasts and last night with a 20lbs behemoth. Both times it turned out great and my guests loved it. One comment that I received was that the gravy was a little chunky or grainy. Does anyone else have this problem or am I missing something. Both times I diced up the shallots and apple and when the gravy was complete sent it throught the ninja for a few minutes. Any suggestions?
Recipe looks wonderful, no smoker though. How would you change the recipe to make it in the oven?
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This looked and smelled wonderful but sadly my turkey was still raw after 6 hours (followed the directions and those of my smoker) and the gravy was really bitter. My husband feels like he ruined Thanksgiving because of this. :( Well, there are plenty of sides to eat and I had a packet of Turkey Gravy in the pantry.
Made this for thanksgiving. It was nothing short of spectacular and everyone was blown away. Two of my guests Contacted me Today to see if they could have some of the leftovers–it’s that good.
We did ours in our electric smoker and brined using apple cider instead of the bourbon listed on the recipe. We used the bourbon in the water tray in the smoker and in the gravy—very tasty. Thank you from sparing me from a boring roasted turkey breast!
This was the first time I have ever brined a turkey before smoking it. I used a 14 pound turkey & used your recipes for the brine, the rub and the gravy. (I doubled the rub) It took about 4 hours to cook & was super moist & tender. Everything was awesome. My husband & I declared this was our best bird & gravy ever. We are also thoroughly enjoying grazing on the leftovers.
Hello from Scandinavia !
I am wondering, how much is 4 cups of bourbon? I checked that am.cup is same as 2,37 dl (and 8 fl.oz) SO 4CUPS IS almoust 1 litre?
Theres no way I can steel one big bottle from my husbunds booze stocking:) Is 4 cups like 4 tiny cups?
Anyway this looks great and now I just have to wait until Xmas eve
That turkey looks amazing ! Def gonna be making this sometime soon ! What did u have as side dishes with it ?
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THis looks soo good, I’ve smoked our Thanksgiving turkey every year for the last 9 years. Last year I tried a brine I found online http://smokingmeatgeeks.com/how-to-brine-meat/, this year I’m gonna try this applewood turkey.
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Looks super yummy ! Would love to make it ! How do you make without a smoker ??
I made this yesterday for Friendsgiving and it turned out AMAZING! I just doubled the brine and the rub for a whole turkey (15 pounds) and it worked fantastic. I smoked it in our Weber Smoker at 200 ish for 4 hours with applewood soaked in apple cider. I had planned to finish it in the oven, but it ended up being right at temperature (around 150) when I pulled it out of the smoker. I let it rest and come up to final temp in the oven. Oh and the gravy recipe was amazing too!
How was the skin? Was it like a rotisserie or was it crispy at all?
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A terrible waste of bourbon!
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I’m using my propane grill–low heat–to smoke the breast as I write. I’m 2 hours in and I’m wondering whether the skin will get crispy enough.
1) did you turn the bird during cooking?
2) did you broil it to get crispy skin?
Thanks! I’ll report back on results
hi sara! i did not try this on a grill, we make it every year but we use an actual smoker and it does get crispy. let me know how it turns out!
Thanks Jessica for this wonderful recipe. I was nervous about using the grill to smoke it but it turned out fabulous. The skin was like a crispy rotisserie after 5 hours. Flavor was superb. My only problem was that I opened the grill too much and that resulted in less of a smoky flavor. I will definitely trust my equipment next time (no peaking)! I also took the temperature to 155 which resulted in a slightly dry turkey BUT only slightly. I’ll just be sure to bring to 150 next time. For those who want to grill, soak wood chips 15 minutes then wrap with foil. Leave ends of foil open so smoke can escape. Place directly over heat coil next to drip pan.
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