What Traeger Pellets Should You Use For Turkey? A Detailed Guide

Cooking up a juicy, flavorful turkey on your Traeger grill requires finding just the right wood pellet blend. The wrong pellets can make your bird overly smokey or impart a bitterness that overwhelms the delicate turkey flavor

Traeger offers several specialized turkey pellet varieties tailored to enhance the bird’s natural taste without drying it out. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the best Traeger pellets for turkey along with tips to get perfect results.

Overview of Traeger Turkey Pellet Options

Traeger currently provides three main pellet varieties designed specifically for turkey:

• Turkey Blend – This limited edition blend combines maple and hickory wood with a touch of rosemary. The maple provides a mildly sweet, subtle flavor while the hickory infuses a savory, smoky essence. Rosemary adds an extra layer of herbal aroma.

• Poultry Blend – Made with a mix of apple maple and cherry woods. The fruit woods like apple and cherry impart a sweeter fruity profile contrasted by maple’s earthy, woodsy flavor. This is ideal for complementing and balancing the turkey’s delicate natural taste.

• Signature Blend – Traeger’s flagship blend featuring maple, hickory and cherry woods. The cherry helps mellow out the smoke while maple and a bit of hickory add texture. This versatile option provides a middle-of-the-road flavor that works well with any protein.

This diverse lineup provides a wide spectrum of flavor profiles ranging from sweet to savory. Turkey benefits most from a more delicate pellet smoke that enhances but doesn’t overwhelm its mild flavors. The fruit woods and maple components in these blends are perfectly suited for the task.

Benefits of Using Traeger Turkey Blends

There are a few key advantages these specialized turkey pellet varieties have over traditional heavier smoking woods like hickory and mesquite:

• Milder Smoke – Hickory and mesquite produce an extremely potent, bitter smoke that can easily make turkey taste overpowering and acrid. The fruit woods and maple used in Traeger’s turkey blends temper the smoke for a mellower, cleaner flavor.

• Moisture Retention – The lighter smoke generated by woods like apple, maple and cherry doesn’t dry out turkey meat nearly as much as heavy, dense smoke from hickory or mesquite. This helps keep the meat nice and tender.

• Sweetness – Fruit woods like apple, cherry and maple have an inherent delicate sweetness from their sugars. This adds balance and rounds out the flavor profile of the turkey.

• Herbal Notes – Blends like the Signature and Turkey add aromatic hints of rosemary or maple that provide a subtle seasoning effect to further enhance the overall flavor.

• Complexity – By layering complementary woods like maple, cherry and apple, you get added complexity without overwhelming the delicate white meat turkey.

Tips for Smoking Turkey With Traeger Pellets

Follow these tips when smoking turkey with Traeger pellets to get perfect juicy, flavorful results:

• Always brine the turkey in a saltwater solution overnight before smoking to ensure it stays nice and moist.

• Coat the turkey skin with some olive oil or butter and then apply your favorite dry seasoning rub. This helps form a flavorful, crispy bark.

• Smoke the turkey at a temperature between 225°F and 275°F using indirect heat. Place a drip pan underneath to catch drippings.

• Use a digital thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, aiming for 165°F in the breast and 175°F in the thighs to ensure doneness.

• Let the turkey rest for 30 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute. The internal temp will rise another 5°F or so.

• Apply a mop sauce or spritz the turkey with juice while smoking to prevent the skin from drying out.

• Add a water pan or fruit juice to the smoker to provide extra moisture and flavor.

• Use herbs like sage, thyme, rosemary, garlic, onion, salt and pepper to complement the wood smoke.

Best Traeger Pellet Flavors for Every Turkey Preference

With turkey, you can tweak the flavor profile by using different Traeger blends to match specific tastes and preferences:

• For turkey purists – The Signature Blend enhances natural flavor without overpowering. The cherry tames the hickory smoke while maple provides balanced sweetness.

• For flavor contrast – The Poultry Blend contrasts the fruity apple and cherry with earthy maple for excellent balance. It’s a touch sweeter than the Signature Blend.

• For savory enhancement – The limited edition Turkey Blend amplifies umami flavor notes with smoky hickory and herbaceous rosemary.

• For convenience – The Turkey Brine Kit + Pellets bundle includes the Turkey Blend along with brine and rub to simplify prep work.

• For bold smoke – Small amounts of Pecan or Mesquite pellets (25% or less) can be blended with maple or cherry to add more robust smoke.

• For fruitiness – Extra apple or cherry pellets boost the sweet, fruity essence for those who enjoy it.

Getting Creative With Rubs, Glazes and Sauces

Feel free to branch out and experiment with unexpected spices, glazes and sauces on your Traeger smoked turkey:

• Rub turkeys with cajun seasoning or jerk rub for a kick of heat and spice.

• Glaze the turkey with a basic brown sugar glaze, fruit preserves, chutney or spiced honey.

• Infuse olive oil with garlic, citrus and herbs to brush over the skin while cooking.

• Inject turkey with a marinade of melted butter, herbs and citrus juice before smoking.

• During the last 30 minutes of smoking, glaze the turkey with your favorite barbecue sauce.

• Right before serving, sprinkle fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro or green onion on the smoked turkey.

Traeger’s turkey-specific pellet blends take the guesswork out of infusing amazing flavor into poultry. The Signature, Poultry and Turkey varieties provide the ideal balance of fruit woods and maple smoke. With the right pellet selection and a little creativity, you’ll be able to serve up the perfect wood-fired turkey.