What do you do with smoked turkey? (2024)

FAQs

What do you do with a whole smoked turkey? ›

Place your smoked turkey on the broiler try rack and tent securely with tin foil. Place the trayed smoked turkey in the middle of a 350° F oven and cook for about 1.5 – 2 hours (or until a meat thermometer reaches about 140° F in the center of the breast). Remove the turkey and carve for serving.

You can either reheat it, cook it from frozen, or cook it fresh. Reheating is the quickest and easiest way to cook a pre smoked turkey. Simply put the turkey in a baking dish and heat it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes per pound. If you are cooking it from frozen, you will need to thaw it first.

Refrigerate meat and poultry within 2 hours of removing it from a smoker. Cut the meat or poultry into smaller portions or slices, place it in shallow containers, cover, and refrigerate. Use it within 4 days or freeze for later use.

Temperature and Timing

Just as with the beef jerky smoking temperature, there's a fine line between over drying your turkey and not warming it efficiently. Our advice is to set the oven to 325°F. This temperature is high enough to heat the turkey thoroughly without drying out the meat.

Butterball Smoked Whole Turkeys are fully cooked and ready to eat. They can be used in recipes calling for cooked turkey without prior heating. The pink color of the meat comes from smoking and curing and is not a sign of undercooked meat. To serve cold: Remove turkey from wrapper.

This smoked and cured young turkey is fully cooked. It may be served either hot or cold.

Smoking Your Turkey

That smoke, paired with the lemon zest and herbs of our Crazy Chick Lemon Garlic, will have your guests coming back for seconds, thirds and fourths. Not to mention, smoking your turkey low and slow is a great way to keep it tender and juicy.

Cook the turkey to internal temperatures of 175° F to 180° F in the thigh and 170° F in the breast. Your turkey may take up to 12 hours to cook. When done, remove the turkey from the smoker, protecting your hands with washable mitts or towels, and let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

The exact time period cooked turkey can sit out depends on a few different factors. As a rule of thumb, if your meat has been out in the temperature danger zone for more than two hours, even after being refrigerated, throw it out. If the turkey was just cooked and is cooling down, try to put it away within two hours.

Will smoked turkey dry out? ›

For optimally juicy breast meat, you're looking for a maximum temperature of 150°F. Don't let it get any hotter. For the legs, you're looking for a minimum temperature of 165°F, and you can safely go higher without drying out the meat because of its ample connective tissue and fat.

Though smoked chicken and turkey can still create HCAs and PAHs, they are, overall, heathier choices than red meat. Go lean. Next in line after poultry are lean cuts of pork (like pork loin, tenderloin and center cut chops).

Today's smoked turkeys are less salty, more moist, and far more palatable than any cured product our ancestors ate. The milder cured and smoked meats today need only be stored under refrigeration. This fine smoked turkey may be kept in the freezer up to 6 months or in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks–enjoy!

It doesn't matter if you're roasting, frying, or smoking your turkey, there's no need to give it a rinse unless you've brined it (more on that below).

If the package in the store says “ready to eat” then yes. If the package says cooked before cold smoking then yes otherwise cook the bird first!! Smoking is a preservation method. Well smoked meat does not need to be cooked but can be if you like.

After taking the turkey off the smoker, put it on a platter and wrap it in foil. You'll want to let the meat rest for about 20 to 30 minutes before you carve and serve it.