This Is The Best Wood To Use For Smoking A Turkey

Figuring out how you want to cook a turkey can be a bit of a conundrum. Do you want to roast it? Is it better to fry it? How would grilling a turkey work exactly? But let's say you've forgone all of that and are in the mood for really wowing the crowd. According to Food & Wine, smoking your turkey is a wonderful way of achieving just that. Cooking your turkey in a smoker allows it to soak up the delicious aromas of the wood (or wood chips) you are using, something that will only add to the flavorful end result. Another added bonus? Food & Wine adds that the turkey's skin will come out a rich, deep mahogany color (who wouldn't love seeing that?). 

Now that you've made the decision to smoke your turkey, the next important decision to make is what wood you would like to use. Grill Master Randy Watson and Chef Tony Matassa from BBQ Guys have a few suggestions that might help. Matassa is partial to a mixture of 50 percent hickory, 50 percent oak, with a bit of pecan and cherry sprinkled throughout. Watson, on the other hand, enjoys the flavors he gets from mixing both pecan and apple (woods that both pair well with poultry).

To ensure that you have the best smoke for your Thanksgiving turkey possible, it is important to have good wood. But, if you're not familiar with purchasing wood, The Spruce Eats has some useful tips to help your buying (and cooking experience) be as pleasant as possible. They explain how in order to ensure your turkey is smoked properly, you need to use and find woods that are low in resin but carry a slightly higher pronounced flavor. This is an important note because you don't want to eat (or serve your guests) something that has an added unwelcome layer of something you probably should not be consuming. 

The Spruce Eats suggests you think of it like this — if the tree in question makes fruits or nuts you enjoy consuming, then it will most likely be a wood that is good for smoking. Mind you, there will be some woods that smoke better than others, but The Spruce Eats suggests using more mellow flavored woods if you will be smoking for longer periods of time.