Bacon Wrapped Whole Smoked Turkey

Are you ready to see my Bacon Wrapped Whole Smoked Turkey with Beer Injection?

Well this recipe will show you how to slow smoke your big ole bird and keep it moist, tender and delicious. You will need some cherry and alder wood along with BEER (we used KCCO Black Lager beer this time) and some thick sliced pepper bacon … oh yeah… bacon wrapped whole smoked turkey… I like where this is going. Keep Calm and Chive On! #KCCO… or as we like to say… Keep Calm and Wrap it in Bacon! 😉

(Serves about 10 people)

16 pound Turkey
1 bottle KCCO Black Lager Beer
3/4 pounds Thick Sliced Pepper Bacon
3 ounces Turkey Fixin’s Cajun Style Marinade
1/2 box Stove Top Stuffing (for turkey)
1/4 cup Butter
1 ounce Beer and Garlic Seasoning Salt
3 ounces EVOO

1.) Place your (defrosted) turkey in a large aluminum container for prep work.
2.) In a small mixing bowl or big measuring cup, add seasoning packet to KCCO beer.

3.) I used Turkey Fixin’s Herb/Butter marinade mix. You can normally find this at Mills Fleet Farm (aka the Man’s Mall). It is a great blend of herbs and spices that really complements the taste of turkey when mixed with KCCO beer. HINT: Just replace the word “water” with “beer” on the instructions. Alternatively you can make your own homemade Beer N Butter marinade like the one I have posted here

4.) Now inject your newly mixed beer-liquid goodness into the thickest points of the turkey. For best results, insert needle at different angles through the same hole while very slowly pulling out at the same time as you are injecting the marinade. Make sure to inject the legs, thighs and multiple places on the breast. Inject all but 1/5 of the marinade (we will use that in just a bit).

5.) Put 1/2 stick of butter inside the turkey… no really, trust me, it’s important.

6.) Pour 1/2 packet of dry stove-top stuffing into the inside of the turkey. The butter will melt and try to find it’s way back out of the turkey while cooking and in so doing will infuse the stuffing. NOM NOM NOM! Pour the rest of marinade over the top of the stuffing. Putting the turkey up on end (where the head was down) makes this easier.

7.) Next cover the entire bird with extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). This will give you bird a beautiful golden color after it has cooked and also give the seasoning something to stick to.

8.) Wrap bird with a bacon weave then lightly sprinkle the entire top and bottom of the turkey with Beer and Garlic Seasoning Salt.

9.) Load your smoker with wood chips. With this recipe we are using about 1/2 cherry wood and 1/2 alder.

10.) Place the turkey directly on the middle rack and cook at 200 degrees for 10 hours.

11.) At the 9 hour mark test the thickest part of the breast for temp. Your goal is to get the internal temperature up to least 165F. Raise the temperature  of your smoker up to 300 for the last hour if necessary.

12.) Remove from smoker and allow to rest for 45 minutes before carving.

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Oh… and as long as you are here, you might also enjoy the following related topics:
Bacon Recipes | Tailgating Checklist | Grilling Recipes |  More Turkey Ideas

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first posted: Nov 27, 2014