Thanksgiving Turkey

M

momoleelee

< 25 Posts
I know it's a bit early for Thanksgiving prep, but I'm living outside the US right now and it takes a while to collect American ingredients if I need them. I'm planning on making my first Thanksgiving dinner (yikes!) for about 15 expats/Brits, and while I have the side dishes covered, I need turkey advice.

My husband wants to grill it, which I think is a great idea for two reasons: 1) we have a single oven, and I need it for sides, and 2) a turkey probably won't fit in our small oven.

Any advice on grilling a turkey? I don't even know where to start...

Thank you!
 
perhaps you can grill it with indirect heat like a beer can chicken. you'd need a larger can, like a tall boy.
 
momo- I'd suggest, if you're using a gas grill, you can think of it as an outdoor oven.

Turn it on, adjust the burners as to achieve the constant temp you're after. Once you find that, watch the grill for 10-15 mins to assure it's gonna stay that way, then put the turkey in in the same type of pan you'd use in an indoor oven.

Once you get it in, and the grill gets back to temp, resist the urge to open the grill for at least a few hours, providing it appears ok from the outside.
 
You can always smoke the turkey. I have had great success smoking a turkey on a Foster's Oil can in an electric smoker. I brined and injected the turkey and place it in the smoker. It was amazing.
 
i would not grill it. use the oven. not idiotproof, but youve got a better shot at success here than on a grill. secondly, and more importantly, brine it. makes a big difference. soak overnight in an ice chest with salt water, sugar, a squeezed orange. it will do wonders in preventing a dry turkey.
 
One thing I am going to try this year is the ice bag trick where you put a baggy full of ice on the breast for about 20 minutes before you start cooking it. This way the breast and the thighs should finish at the same time and breast won’t dry out.
 
If you want to do the whole turkey, you probably shouldn't grill it. As others have hinted, you can probably pull off cooking a turket on a pit if you have the capability of cooking with indirect heat.

If you just want turkey and don't need the whole bird, you can certainly grill turkey breasts just as you would chicken breasts. We've also slow cooked turkey breasts that were heavily seasoned. They turned out a lot like what you get at Rudy's Country Store & BBQ.
 
Most definitely brine the turkey. I will never cook another whole bird (turkey or chicken...I'm guessing a duck doesn't need to be brined) without first brining it. It makes all the difference in the world.

Cowpoke's always full of great advice, so if he says you can grill it, it's a safe bet that you can grill it. See if you can throw some smoking chips on there. Last year I smoked our turkey and it was unbelievable. Easily the best turkey I've ever had.

Good luck.
 
1. I would recommend frying it.

2. I would smoke instead of grill it. For sure you should brine.

3. If you and the hubby are adventurous. Turkey in a Bucket is the way to go. Link
 
I cook Thanksgiving dinner every year for about 20 to 25 people and the best way to cook a turkey in my opinion is as follows......

Wash and pat dry the bird.
Rub with extra virgin olive oil.
Season with salt, pepper and sage.
Chop some onion and celery in large chunks and keep the leafy part of the celery.
Get some large oven cooking bags.
Follow the directions on the bag but line the bottom of the bag with the celery and onion chunks and place the turkey on top of these. I also put some of the chunks inside the turkey.

Bake until done.
It will be incredibly moist and you will have the best turkey broth in the world reserved in that bag.
I then use that broth for the gravy and the stuffing.

Of course this is all dependant on wanting an oven roasted turkey.
 
I think we are going to end up using the oven. There are a lot of good suggestions (frying, smoking, etc) that just aren't options for us because we live in a tiny flat in a country that doesn't do Thanksgiving. I think I'm just going to cover the turkey with foil and stick it in the cooler while I use the oven for the sides. The logistics are the hard part...

I'm just happy that a workmate went to NYC over the weekend and brought me the remainder of the ingredients I need for the sides.
bounce.gif
 
My parents have done whole turkeys on a charcoal grill before with no problems. But like others have said, you have to treat it like an outdoor oven. Push the coals to the side with a water pan in the middle. Put the turkey in a roasting pan just like you would if you were doing it in the oven. Turkey will work fine this way.
 
Momo

I highly recommend the bag method above if you are going to bake the turkey in the oven.

They turn out absolutely perfect and golden brown.
You will never have a jucier turkey and as I mentioned that broth that is created in that bag is incredible.
 
For that many people, and if it's possible for you, I recommend going with two smaller birds rather than one large bird. The meat on the smaller turkeys, in my opinion, tastes better than the big ones andm generally speaking, your overall cooking time is shorter.
 
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