This is a recipe cobbled together from a bunch of “how to” videos on YouTube. That said, the family said it was one of the best turkey’s we’ve ever made for the holidays. I use a cheap electric box smoker for this. I know there’s a huge market in crazy expensive “grill-ware”, but I’m prefer keeping things simple and cheap like the BBQ gods intended. Using an electric smoker takes out all the stress of maintaining temps as well.

Ingredients

• 1 (12-14 lb) turkey
• 1 jar Cajun butter injector
• Rub (Weber N’Orleans Cajun)
• Salt
• Apple wood chips

Instructions

1. The day before you’re smoking open up and rinse the bird, making sure it is completely thawed. Throw away he pop-up thermometer. Save the neck and giblets in the fridge for making the dressing tomorrow.
2. Set the bird on a rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle it with coarse kosher salt, rubbing it over and under the skin and inside the cavity.
3. Place the bird in the fridge. I usually do 1 day, but you can do 2 or 3 if you’re braver.
4. About 5 to 6 hours before you want to eat, pull out the turkey and grab some strong kitchen shears. I actually bought garden shears just for this. Set the bird on the breast with the back facing up. Use your shears to cut along both sides of the backbone and remove it.
5. Flip the bird over and work it until it almost lays flat. Then give it a solid push down to crack the bone and allow it to lay completely flat. You’ve just spatchcocked your bird.
6. Now grab your injector and work your way around the bird, injecting the cajun butter throughout. I usually adjust the angle of the syringe with each insertion to distribute the seasonings.
7. Liberally coat the bird top and bottom, with the rub.
8. Remove the mid and top grates from your smoker and set it to 275 degrees and 6 hours. Don’t worry, it won’t take that long.
9. While the smoker warms up, bring bring a grate into the kitchen and arrange the bird breast up covering most of the grate.
10. Once the smoker has heated up a bit, slide the grate into the middle of the smoker. Insert an electric thermometer and run the cord out the door. Seal everything up and make sure the vent is about half way open.
11. For the first 2 hours, regularly add apple wood chips to the smoker. I usually do this every 20 to 30 minutes.
12. Continue to smoke the bird until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. This cakes around 3.5 to 4 hours for me.
13. Pull the grate with the bird out of the smoker and move it to the kitchen. Let the turkey rest for 15 minutes before carving.