Plan on about 30 minutes per pound at 225°F, or 25 minutes per pound at 250°F, for an unstuffed whole turkey. That’s Hey Grill Hey’s rule, and a 15 lb bird took it about 7½ hours. Spatchcocked birds run much faster. Always cook to temperature, not to the clock.
The sources we read don’t agree on the numbers, and the gap can be hours. So here’s how they compare, a planning table you can scale to your bird, and the one thing that actually tells you when to pull it!
How long to smoke a turkey per pound?
It depends on the smoker temperature and whether the bird is flat or whole. Hey Grill Hey says 30 minutes per pound at 225°F and 25 at 250°F. Traeger gives 30 to 40 minutes per pound at 225°F to 250°F. Omaha Steaks says 12 to 15 minutes per pound for a spatchcocked bird at 250°F.
| Source | Smoker temp | Time | Pull temp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hey Grill Hey | 225°F or 250°F | 30 or 25 min per lb | 165°F, lowest reading |
| Traeger | 225°F to 250°F | 30 to 40 min per lb; 12 lb about 6 to 8 hours | Breast 160°F then rest; thighs 175°F |
| Pit Boss | 225°F to 275°F | About 7 to 8 hours at 225°F, 5 to 6 hours at 275°F | 165°F in breast and thigh |
| Omaha Steaks (spatchcocked) | 250°F | 12 to 15 min per lb | 165°F in breast and thigh |
Pit Boss says its hours are estimates and points to a chart as the starting point. We didn’t see a weight attached to the two figures above, so use them as a feel for how much hotter smoking saves, not as a planner.
How long does a 10, 12 or 15 lb turkey take?
Multiply the weight by the minutes per pound. Using Hey Grill Hey’s rates, a 10 lb bird is about 5 hours at 225°F or 4 hours 10 minutes at 250°F. A 12 lb bird is 6 hours or 5. A 15 lb bird is 7½ hours or about 6¼.
| Turkey weight | At 225°F (30 min per lb) | At 250°F (25 min per lb) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 lb | 5 hours | 4 hours 10 minutes |
| 12 lb | 6 hours | 5 hours |
| 15 lb | 7 hours 30 minutes | 6 hours 15 minutes |
That’s our arithmetic on one site’s rule, not a tested result. Hey Grill Hey also says it always plans an extra 30 minutes, just in case, and we’d do the same.
Why does Hey Grill Hey say to avoid birds over 15 pounds?
Because a long cook keeps the meat in the danger zone longer. Nobody wants that! It says the bird sits between 40°F and 140°F too long, and that bacteria can overgrow before the turkey finishes. Pit Boss gives a similar limit: don’t let the turkey sit below 140°F for more than 3 hours.
Pit Boss’s fix is simple. Smoke 2 to 3 hours at a lower temperature, then raise the heat to finish at 165°F. That’s one way to keep the smoky flavor and still shorten the risky stretch.
What temperature should a smoked turkey reach?
Hey Grill Hey and Pit Boss both say 165°F. Traeger’s guide says the best internal temperature is 165°F at the breast, but it also says to pull the breast at 160°F because it rises 5 to 10 degrees while resting, and to wait for 175°F in the thighs. That’s a real conflict, so choose one and probe both spots.
Hey Grill Hey says to go by the lowest reading you get from each side of the bird. That matters on a gas or charcoal grill, where one side can run hotter.
“How long would it take to smoke a 20 lb turkey non-spatchcocked at 275 degrees to get to 160 internal temperature?”
– r/Traeger (22 upvotes)
None of the sources we read gives a time for a 20 lb bird. The closest guidance is Pit Boss saying 275°F is closer to 5 to 6 hours, and Hey Grill Hey saying it prefers smaller birds. One commenter in that thread asks how to get the thigh and breast to hit their temperatures together. Another suggests pointing the thighs toward the hotter side of your smoker, and Traeger says to tent the breast with foil if it finishes first.
Does spatchcocking cut the time?
Yes, a lot. Omaha Steaks gives 12 to 15 minutes per pound at 250°F for a spatchcocked bird, compared with Hey Grill Hey’s 25 at the same temperature for a whole one. That’s about half. Our spatchcock turkey cooking time guide compares times for a flat bird in the oven too.
Prep matters as well. Thaw in the fridge for about 24 hours for every 5 lb, per Traeger, Pit Boss and Omaha Steaks. If you brine, our turkey brining guide compares salt amounts so the bird isn’t too salty.
When should you start smoking your turkey?
Work backward from dinner. Take the smoking time from the table, add 30 minutes of buffer, then add a rest of 30 minutes or more. A 12 lb bird at 225°F is about 6 hours, so with the buffer and the rest you’d start roughly 7 hours before you eat.
Not smoking after all? If the oven is your plan, our turkey calculator works out thawing and roasting times from your weight and dinner time. Then you can pick a method based on your day, not the other way around.
Smoked turkey questions people ask
What wood works best for turkey?
Traeger suggests mixing 50% apple pellets and 50% pecan pellets for a balanced, slightly sweet smoke. Pit Boss says fruit woods like apple, pecan and cherry give poultry a milder, sweeter smoke, while hickory is bolder.
Should you keep opening the lid to check?
No. Omaha Steaks says to keep the lid closed and uses the saying “if you’re lookin’, it ain’t cookin’.” A probe in the thickest part of the breast lets you watch the temperature without opening up, as Pit Boss and Traeger both suggest.
Does altitude change the time?
Traeger says above 5,000 feet you should allow an extra 10 to 15 minutes per pound.