What Is The Best Wood For Smoking Turkey?

Turkey is a staple of the holidays, and I always want to impress my family when I bring the bird to the dinner table. And a big part of that is answering the question of what’s the best wood for smoking turkey. I like to use maple because it’s not going to overwhelm the flavor of the turkey, brine, and your rub. But it’s going to bring a nice subtle sweetness and mild smoke flavor.

And if, like me at first, you struggle with dry, overcooked turkeys, here’s another turkey tip for you. Brining and then smoking your turkey results in juicy and flavorful turkey every single time.

What Is The Best Wood For Smoking Turkey?

Turkey doesn’t have a strong flavor like beef. That means it can take on flavor quite well, but it’s also easy to overwhelm the meat. That’s why maple is the perfect choice. It adds a subtle sweetness without overwhelming the rub, brine, and natural flavors of the turkey. Maple is an ideal wood for smoking poultry, which is why it’s perfect for smoking turkey.

Also, the smoke from maple wood adds a golden hue to the meat. And who doesn’t want a beautiful golden turkey? 

Alternative Smoking Wood For Turkey

But you don’t have to smoke your turkey with maple. There are plenty of other options there for you to try!

• Alder – Alder wood isn’t the most common flavor of wood out there, but it’s a great option for smoking poultry like turkey, fish, and vegetables. It has a very mild and slightly sweet flavor which makes it a good alternative option.
• Cherry – If you’re looking to take your turkey in a sweet direction, cherry is another great option. Rather than give turkey a golden color like maple, it’ll add a cherry-red hue for a unique look as well.
• Oak – If you’re looking for more of a smoke flavor than all of these milder options, you can try oak. It’s my vote for the best wood for smoking chicken, and it can check off the same boxes for turkey. But you do want to ensure that you don’t oversmoke your turkey and turn it bitter. If you’re looking for more smoke flavor, maybe mix oak and maple together to get the best of both worlds.

What’s The Right Kind Of Wood For Smoking Turkey?

Now that we’ve looked at the best wood for smoking turkey and some alternatives, what kind (or form) of wood should you use? That depends entirely on the grill or smoker you’re using. If you’re going traditional and smoking your turkey on an offset smoker, you need wood logs or splits. 

I personally would not use a charcoal or gas grill for smoking a whole turkey. But if you’re opting to smoke a turkey breast on either of these grills, check out our article on the differences between wood chips and wood chunks to help decide what’s best for you!

And obviously, wood pellets are the fuel source for pellet grills and vertical pellet smokers. When it comes to pellets, we here at Angry BBQ are big fans of Bear Mountain BBQ pellets. They have many different flavors and blends, including alder wood.

Final Thoughts

In my opinion, the best wood for smoking turkey is maple wood. It’s subtly sweet, doesn’t overwhelm all of the flavors from the turkey itself, the brine, and the dry rub, and it gives a golden hue to the turkey as it smokes.

But there are other options that can give you great smoked turkey based on the flavors you want. At the end of the day, we here at Angry BBQ want you to make the best backyard barbecue that suits your tastes. And that means figuring out what types of meat, dry rubs, and wood smoke you want to use. 

What’s your favorite wood to smoke turkey with? Have you found the perfect blend for smoking turkeys? Let us know in the comments!