Honey-Smoked Turkey
Try this honey-smoked turkey for a moist turkey coated in a sweet honey glaze. This is the easiest way to cook a big bird! It will be the best turkey you have ever had. I hope you enjoy it as much as my friends and family do when I make it. I never have any leftovers.
Ingredients
- ½ pound mesquite wood chips
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons celery salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 12 pound whole turkey
- 12 ounce jar honey
Instructions
- Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Soak wood chips in a pan of water and place them next to the grill.
- Mix sage, pepper, celery salt, basil, and oil together in a bowl.
- Remove and discard neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse turkey and pat dry; place into a large, disposable roasting pan and rub all over with herb mixture. Turn turkey so the breast is facing down and tent loosely with aluminum foil.
- Place the roasting pan on the preheated grill. Throw a handful of wood chips onto the coals. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour.
- Throw about two more handfuls of soaked wood chips onto the fire. Drizzle 1/2 of the honey over turkey and tent again with foil. Close the lid and continue cooking until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
- Leave turkey on the grill. Remove the foil and carefully turn turkey so the breast is facing up; baste with remaining honey. Cook, uncovered, for 15 more minutes; cooked honey will be very dark.