Smoked turkey is a delicious and versatile dish, but it’s important to know how long you can leave your smoked turkey out before it becomes unsafe to eat.
This article will answer that question and more, including why resting is so important and how long each type of meat should rest before serving.
How Long Should a Smoked Turkey Rest?
The general rule of thumb is to rest your turkey for at least 20 minutes, but the ideal resting time can vary depending on how you smoked it.
If you cooked your turkey using indirect heat and a smoker box, it’s best to let it rest for 45 minutes or more before serving.
This allows all of the juices from inside the bird to settle down and redistribute evenly throughout its flesh.
If you used direct heat (such as an electric smoker), then 30 minutes should be sufficient just enough time for those delicious flavors from whatever seasoning mix or marinade you used to penetrate into every bite!
- A thermometer is crucial when determining whether or not your bird has reached safe temperatures throughout its entire body cavity.
How to Rest a Smoked Turkey
Once you’ve smoked your turkey, it’s important to let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
While a few minutes might not seem like much of a difference, there are some very good reasons why resting is so important.
First, when you cut into a hot piece of meat or poultry (and especially if you use an electric knife), all the juices inside will run out onto your cutting board and if they don’t have anywhere else to go but down into the grooves in between boards or onto other surfaces below yours, then those precious juices will be lost forever!
So make sure that when you’re carving up your cooked bird after smoking it or any other kind of food cooked on high heat you use only one cutting board at a time and keep this surface clean by transferring everything else off onto another surface.
While working with each piece individually before moving on again until everything has been served up properly.
Secondly: What temperature should my turkey rest at?
Like most things related directly back into cooking temperatures themselves without any other factors coming into play first (such as time spent cooking).
There aren’t really any hard rules here either way but generally speaking we recommend letting them cool down slowly over time rather than immediately transferring them straight from hot smoker box onto ice cold countertops where nothing bad happens immediately.
But still makes us feel better about ourselves anyway because now we’ve done something proactive instead just sitting around waiting patiently like nothing ever happens here either way.
The Benefits of Resting a Smoked Turkey
The turkey should rest for at least 30 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, making it more tender and juicy.
Also, resting is important for food safety reasons because it allows bacteria to die down after cooking and prevents overcooking if you’re not going to eat right away.
If you have time (and space), let your turkey rest overnight in an empty fridge or cooler this will allow even more moisture loss from its skin and bones, resulting in extra-crispy skin when you cook again tomorrow!
How Long Can a Smoked Turkey Rest?
The maximum resting time for a smoked turkey is 6 hours, but it’s best to keep it out for no more than 4 hours. If you leave it in too long, bacteria can start growing on the meat and cause food poisoning.
A good rule of thumb is that if you’re worried about how long your smoked turkey has been out, use a thermometer to make sure it hasn’t reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
How to Store a Smoked Turkey After Resting
Once your turkey has rested, it’s time to store it. The best place to keep your smoked turkey is in the refrigerator, where it will stay fresh for up to two weeks.
It’s important that you don’t let it sit out at room temperature for too long because this can cause bacterial growth and spoilage.
If you’re planning on storing your smoked bird for more than a day or two, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and foil before putting it into an airtight container or baggie this will help prevent any unwanted odors from getting onto your meat while also keeping flies away!
Reheating a Smoked Turkey
Reheating a smoked turkey is a little trickier than simply popping it into the oven.
The ideal temperature for reheating is 165 degrees F, but you’ll need to use a thermometer to make sure that your meat has reached this point.
If you don’t have one on hand, it’s best not to risk eating undercooked poultry!
The best way to reheat your smoked turkey is in an oven or microwave with caution:
Cooking at too high of heat can dry out the meat and give it an unpleasant texture. If using an oven, set it at 350 degrees F; if using a microwave, cook on medium power until heated through.
Tips for Smoking a Turkey
The first thing you need to know about smoking a turkey is that it’s not as simple as throwing a bird in the smoker and letting it go.
There are some key steps that must be followed, or else the meat will come out dry and tough.
First off, you should use a thermometer for measuring the internal temperature of your bird during cooking.
This is important because if you don’t check its progress regularly (and accurately), there’s no way of knowing when it’s ready to eat–or even if it has been cooked long enough!
Second: make sure that whatever smoker you use has an adjustable temperature control system so that both sides can be kept at different temperatures throughout their cooking time.
This allows us to cook one side faster than another without overcooking either side of our turkey breast meat by accident.
Conclusion
Now that you know how long a smoked turkey can rest, it’s time to put all of this knowledge into practice.
In order to get the best results from your smoked turkey, make sure to use a thermometer when checking its internal temperature.
If you don’t have one at home or work, ask around–you may be surprised by how many people have them lying around!
Once your turkey has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (74 C), remove it from the smoker and let rest for at least 30 minutes before carving.
This will allow for better distribution of juices throughout the meat as well as give any fats time to cool down slightly so they don’t melt away when exposed to heat during slicing or serving time later on in life (or death).
