This Thanksgiving Why not Grill your Turkey in Your Backyard

Try grilling your Turkey this holiday season. Once you do you probably will never go back to using your oven. Grilling adds a smoky flavor and creates a crispy skin. It is easier and requires much less clean up.




The Many Advantages of Grilling

• Basting is so much easier because there is no leaning over


• Taking the heavy bird off the grill is easier than out of the oven.


• Checking the temp of the turkey was also easier.


• No Turkey pan to wash or lift, or take up space in my kitchen


• Super moist, gently smoky flavor


• Plenty of room in the oven for cooking and keeping sides warm

Charcoal or Gas Grill?

• The most important weather condition to watch out for is wind. Wind robs heat from outdoor cooking appliances.


• You will need an indirect fire that will hold a steady temperature in the 300 degrees F. to 350 degrees F. range


• If the weather isn't going to cooperate I strongly recommend gas. You can control the temperature much easier


• If you want to use charcoal you will need a way of lighting additional coals outside of the grill. A charcoal chimney is really the best method for this.

Prepare Your Turkey for Grilling

• Use a Turkey between 12-15 lbs.


• The day before, brine the turkey to keep moisture in and prevent dryness. Remember when the turkey is removed from the brine to rinse it off thoroughly in the sink with cold water until all traces of salt are off the surface inside and out. If you choose not to brine your turkey you can inject and baste your bird to keep it moist and tender.


• Turn the wings back to hold neck skin in place and don't tie up the bird, because it slows down the cooking of the thighs. Brush the turkey with oil. Season with salt and pepper, inside and out. Don't hesitate to prepare your turkey like you normally do.


• The turkey should not be stuffed, as the cooking method makes it difficult to ensure the stuffing reaches a safe temperature

Getting Grill Ready

• Turn the heat up all the way. Once it reaches 325 degrees turn off the middle burner. You want to use indirect heat for roasting. If your grill only has two burners see notes below about turning and rotating


• If you are using a charcoal grill you want the coals in either a ring around the turkey or banked on either side of it. You want even heating so one side does not cook faster than the other.


• Set a shallow pan (an old disposable aluminum pie pan works fine) on middle of the grill to catch the juices for basting and drippings for the gravy. Add water or chicken broth to this pan.


• If you want that smoked flavor you will need, wood chips for the gas grill or wood chunks for the charcoal grill. You can use a fruit wood chip like cherry or apple or an oak or hickory. Soak the chips for a while, and then put them into an aluminum foil "pouch" leaving a small opening, for the steam/smoke to escape.


• Don’t forget to have plenty of fuel on hand. If you are using a gas grill you really need an extra, full tank on hand. If you are using charcoal, make sure you have plenty.

Now You are Ready to Grill

• You need a meat thermometer to test for donenesss


• Set the turkey, breast side down on a well oiled V rack over the pan catching drippings or aluminum roasting pan.


• If you will be using a rotisserie, grilling will be pretty easy. You just need to keep a close eye on the bird to make sure that the skin isn’t burning.


• If you have three burners you will be using two of them. This creates heat on both sides of the turkey so that you will only need to rotate the turkey every hour.


• If you have dual burners you will you will need to rotate the bird after about 30 minutes, flip and rotate 30 minutes after that and rotate after another 30 minutes.


• If you are using charcoal you will want to keep a close eye on the temperature to keep it in the right range. Add additional burning coals as necessary to keep temperature in the range between 300 and 350. Also rotate about every hour

While Your Turkey Cooks

• After about 2 hours you really want to start testing the temperature. Your target temperature is 165 degrees F. This needs to be the coldest part of the turkey since you need every little morsel at or above this temperature. Test in several places.


• Internal temperature rises only about 10 degrees every 15 to 20 minutes, so keep this in mind when determining the next time to recheck. You don't want your bird full of unecessary holes from rechecking too often.


• Since you are grilling at about the same temperature you would in an oven you will need about the same amount of time to get your turkey done. Cooking times table


• Periodically add broth or water to dripping pan to maintain a moist environment and to keep the drippings from burning away


• Once turkey is done, remove from the grill and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. The resting period allows the juices to flow back out into the meat.
  
• Remember if the weather does not cooperate or you start getting short on time you can always move the turkey to the oven and finish it off there.