How to Cook a Turkey | Smoked & More (2024)

Whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just another day of the week, turkey is the perfect meat for a flavorful and versatile meal. Burgers’ Smokehouse fully cooked and smoked turkeys make preparing for any large gathering easy and allow you to spend more time with your family and less time in the kitchen.

Burgers’ Smokehouse Turkey offerings

All of our turkeys come from the best USDA Grade A hens.

Hickory Smoked Turkeys: Our original favorite is expertly brined for days before being slow-smoked and fully cooked. This includes our whole bone-in turkey and bone-in turkey breasts.

Boneless Turkeys: Crafted from the same process above, these turkeys are all meat and no bone. They are easy to slice and full of flavor and juiciness. They are availablesliced and unsliced.

After either process, when the smoking and cooking step is complete, the turkey is ready for shipment to its new home and can be eaten anytime.

Frozen Turkey

Conventional Oven Method

1. Defrost your turkey in the refrigerator. For every four pounds of turkey, it takes approximately 24 hours to defrost in the refrigerator. If you want to eat your smoked turkey cold, you can eat it as soon as it is defrosted (fully cooked!)
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
3. Take the turkey out of the refrigerator (and its original packaging) & place it in a baking bag (breast side down) and the roasting pan. Make 2-3 slits in the bag for venting. Note - If you don't have a baking bag, you can wrap it tightly in foil.
4. Heat the turkey for approximately 10 minutes per pound.
5. Check the turkey with a meat thermometer about 30 minutes before the recommended cooking time finishes, ensuring no overheating.
6. Finish heating to desired warmth.
7. After the internal temperature is reached what you prefer, we recommend removing it from the oven and allowing it to rest for 10-15 minutes. This allows the juices to stay locked in the turkey before slicing.

Additional Tips When Preparing a Smoked & Fully Cooked Turkey

You can still make gravy with a fully cooked turkey. After heating, add a cup of water to the bottom of the pan and use the drippings and water to absorb the turkey flavor.

Do not stuff a pre-cooked turkey because it will not be in the oven long enough to cook the stuffing. Instead, prepare your stuffing separately in the oven or stovetop, but serve with the turkey as usual.

• Replace chicken with turkey in your favorite pot pie recipe
• Add turkey to the soup
• Make a grilled turkey sandwich; add cranberry sauce (and even leftover stuffing) for extra flavor.
• Put the chopped turkey in your omelet or scrambled eggs
• Top your salad with turkey
• Put the turkey in a panini
• Add turkey to your favorite lasagna recipe
• Create a turkey, avocado, and bacon sandwich
• Add turkey to a plate of nachos
• Put the turkey in enchiladas
• Make a turkey casserole

1. Turkeys are native to northern Mexico and the eastern United States.
2. 50% of Americans eat turkey at least once a week.
3. A 15-pound turkey usually has about 30% dark and 70% white meat.
4. Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving.
5. The average weight of a Thanksgiving turkey is 15 pounds.
6. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the United States national bird.
7. The heaviest turkey was 86 pounds.
8. The world’s largest turkey farm is in Norfolk, England.
9. Minnesota is the state that produces the most turkey.
10. It takes about 75 pounds of feed to raise a 30-pound turkey.
11. The United States produces about 6 billion pounds of turkey meat each year.
12. Americans consume an average of 17.6 pounds of turkey per person each year.
13. The Pilgrims probably did not eat wild turkey at their first Thanksgiving feast because it was not a common food then.
14. Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong ate turkey as their first meal on the moon.
15. The most popular recipes for leftover turkey are turkey sandwiches, stew, and casserole.

Sources: extension.illinois.edu, guinnessworldrecords.com, time.com, mentalfloss.com

How big of a turkey should I buy?

Buy one pound of turkey for each person who will be eating it.

When should I buy my turkey?

Store a raw, fresh turkey in the refrigerator for two days. A frozen turkey can last for up to a year.

How long does it take to thaw a frozen turkey?

For every four pounds of turkey, it takes 24 hours to defrost in the refrigerator.