Will It Smoke? Viral Cranberry Turkey Breast on the Smoker

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This is a viral slow cooker recipe. I’ve never made it before, so I put it on my smoker to see what would happen. I’m calling this Will It Smoke?, where I take one of those easy slow cooker recipes everyone’s making and try it on the Pit Boss.

The idea came from a reel of a viral crockpot turkey from Allrecipes, credited to @allyssainthekitchen. A turkey breast cooks in jellied cranberry, cider and orange juice, and then the juices get turned into gravy. Cranberry in gravy? I wasn’t sold, so I had to try it.

Why I Love This Recipe

The turkey came out really moist. That was my big worry, because I’ve cooked chicken breasts on the smoker and they get dry. This one wasn’t dry at all. My guess is that having it sit in the liquid at the end is what did it.

The gravy surprised me too. It’s gravy with a cranberry kick to it. It’s also an easy one: a few ingredients, one pan, and you’re mostly just waiting on a thermometer. If you only need a small amount of turkey for the holidays, a breast like this is a lot less work than a whole smoked turkey.

Cooking Basics

• Smoker temp: I set mine to 225°F.
• Pellets: I used Pit Boss Competition Blend.
• Time: about 2.5 to 3 hours for a 3 pound breast. It took somewhere between 1.5 and 2 hours to reach 130°F, and it went pretty quick from there.
• Done temp: 165°F in the thickest part. Go by temperature, not the clock. Here’s my meat temperature guide if you want more.
• Equipment: a pellet smoker, an aluminum pan, foil, a strainer, a saucepan, a whisk and a good thermometer.

Gather Your Ingredients

• 3 pound boneless turkey breast, thawed.
• About 1/4 cup of rub. That’s a rough guess, since you just put on however much it takes to cover it. I used Cockadoodle Brew from PS.
• 1 can jellied cranberry sauce.
• 1/2 cup apple cider. I had some fresh cider from the orchard.
• Turkey gravy. Use the packet that comes with the turkey, or a 12 ounce container like the McCormick I used.

Here’s what I changed from the original. It used more traditional seasonings and a French onion soup packet, all just thrown in together. I wanted this to be more like a smoker recipe, so I went with a smoker rub. It also used a mix of orange juice and cider, and I just used the cider I had.

I also changed how it cooks. To really match the original, I could have put everything in the aluminum pan and braised it the whole way. But half the point of putting it on the smoker is to get some smoke on it. So I cooked it on the grates first to let it get some smoke and a little bark, then braised it the rest of the way.

The big one is the gravy. The original just uses the gravy packet that comes with the turkey, and that’s what I’d normally do too. But my wife has celiac, so I bought a 12 ounce container of McCormick Turkey Gravy, which is gluten-free because it’s thickened with cornstarch. If you’re cooking gluten-free, check the labels on everything, including your rub.

Mix the Cranberry Sauce

Put the jellied cranberry and the cider in a bowl and whisk it. You don’t need to warm it up first. Mine was mostly smooth with a few small chunks, and that’s fine. Set it aside for later.

Season the Turkey

Take the netting off. In the slow cooker version you leave it on because the turkey cooks in liquid the whole time and is supposed to fall apart. I’m guessing that’s why, anyway. I didn’t bother with it here. Then cover the whole thing with your rub.

Fire Up the Pit

Set your smoker to 225°F, put a probe in the thickest part, and put the turkey right on the grates until it hits 130°F. This is where it picks up its smoke.

Mine was set to 225°F, but the pit probe on my Inkbird was reading about 238 to 242°F. That’s why I use a separate probe instead of trusting the number on the smoker.

Pour It On and Foil It

At 130°F, move the turkey to an aluminum pan and pour the cranberry mixture right over the top. It looks a little weird. Cover the pan tightly with foil and put it back on the smoker.

Go until it reaches 165°F. I checked a few spots with my Thermapen, and the readings were a little different depending on where I temped it. Most were 165°F or a little over, and that’s what I was shooting for.

Take the pan off and let it rest for about 15 minutes. It keeps cooking a little while it rests. When you pull back the foil, you’ll have a pan full of dark juices, and that’s your gravy.

Make the Gravy

Move the turkey to a cutting board and pour the pan juices through a strainer into a saucepan.

Warm the juices on the stove, pour in the gravy, and whisk until it’s all mixed and heated through.

Slice and Serve

Slice the turkey and spoon the gravy over the top.

So, Will It Smoke?

I’d say it smokes. I really liked it, and so did my daughter Ali and my wife. Ali liked the sweetness the cranberry gives the gravy. The turkey was moist, and I was happy I was wrong about the cranberry gravy.

Cranberry Turkey FAQ

Can I cook it at a higher temperature?
Yes. I kept mine at 225°F, but you could turn it up to shorten the cook. I don’t think it would change the flavor much as long as you stay in the 200s.

Do I have to leave the netting on?
I took mine off and didn’t have any problems.

Do I need to warm the cranberry sauce first?
No. I whisked it with the cider cold.

Is this recipe gluten-free?
The gravy I used is. Check the labels on your rub and everything else if you need the whole meal to be gluten-free.

Final Thoughts

All in all, this was good, even if you don’t change a thing. A few things to think about:

• More cranberry, less gravy. My wife liked the gravy, but she would have liked to taste more cranberry. Next time I might use half of the container of gravy. If it needs thickening, a little cornstarch should do it.
• Turn up the heat if you’re short on time. I had no rush, so I kept it at 225°F.
• Trust a thermometer. Different spots can read differently, so check more than one.

If you like turkey and cranberry together, my Thanksgiving Smoked Fatty has a cranberry BBQ glaze. And let me know what I should throw on the smoker next.

🔥 So fire up the pit, and let’s grill and chill.