Carolina Smoked Turkey - Recipe
Carolina Smoked Turkey
Nothing better than a smoked turkey for the Holidays!! Pig Powder inside and out, Carolina Butter under the skin, stuffed with red jalapenos and glazed with UR Carolina BBQ Sauce yields a succulent bite with a little bite of its own. (and an awesome gravy)
Serves about 7-8
Ingredients
- 10-12 lb turkey, thawed and rinsed, giblets removed
- Underwood Ranches Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce
- 1 ½ sticks butter, softened
- Trim Tabb’s Pig Powder
- 16-24 jalapenos, red or green (or poblanos)
Instructions
- The night before cooking, rinse off the thawed turkey. Dry with paper towels.
- Using a large wooden spoon or your fingers, loosen the skin from the turkey body, especially the breast area and the legs and thighs.
- Carolina Butter: Stir together 1 ½ sticks softened butter with 3 T UR Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce until combined and silky.
- Spread the Carolina Butter under the skin as far as you can reach without tearing the skin.
- Liberally sprinkle the Pig Powder or favorite dry rub on the outside and inside the cavities of the bird.
- Cover and let sit in fridge overnight.
- An hour before you are ready to cook, remove turkey from the refrigerator and stuff cavities with topped red jalapenos. Can use green jalapenos, poblanos or whatever you have to impart a layer of flavor.
- Preheat smoker to 225 degrees and place turkey in a disposable foil roasting pan, breast side down.
- Smoke for about 90 minutes, increase temperature to 325 and cook for about 1 hr. Turn the turkey to breast side up and cook for about 1 hr – 1 ½ hrs or until breast meat registers 160 and the thigh meat is about 175. Cover thinner parts that seem to be cooking faster with foil.
- Brush on UR Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce and raise temperature to High or about 425 for about 5-10 minutes or until it starts to glaze up a little.
- Remove from smoker and let sit for about 20 minutes. Collect drippings from the pan, pour off fat and make up a gravy with cornstarch and water. Triple layers of flavor!!
Karen 11.22.2020