South Dakota Thanksgiving: How to Smoke a Turkey, Recipe and Pics

We hit a homerun on smoking a turkey and thought I'd share the recipe and pics - and it was a ridiculously juicy bird.

I used a thawed 13 -14 lb. turkey and patted it dry. Remove the neck and giblets. Now go ahead and stuff that bird with a cup of real butter, apples, and a large quartered onion. Now, hang on...this is going to get crazy: pour 2 cans of cola in the cavity.

We didn't go crazy on the seasoning. Rub the outside of the bird with a poultry seasoning, seasoned salt, and coarse ground pepper. Let that bird sit loosely covered with foil and preheat your smoker between 225 - 250 degrees F.

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Place it on the smoker. This is very important to get that skin just right: Every hour or two, take a large spoon and baste the bird with the pan drippings. The cola will give it a great shine.

The 14 lb. bird took about 7 hours on the smoker. I waited until the internal temperature reached 180 degrees F.

This turkey turned out great and the family has requested we do it the same way for Thanksgiving. That's a Dad win.

Ingredients:

• 13 - 14lb. turkey thawed
• 1 cup real butter
• 1 large apple
• 1 large onion
• poultry seasoning
• season salt
• coarse ground pepper
• 2 cans of cola