Thanksgiving? BBQ the Turkey! Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday! Cooking, eating, drinking and yakking with family and friends all day - what could be better? The only gifts you need to think about are what you bring to the table! What’s really fun is having a bunch of folks over and everyone brings a favorite dish to add to the feast.
Wanna be a hero? Cook the turkey on the grill! Forget the weather! (As long as I can get a fire going and hold a Martini in hand, I’m good - even in snow!) Yes, you can do it! And, it’ll be great! So, here we go:
This technique is based on my chicken recipe, just on a larger scale. Depending on the size of your group, you’ll want a bird typically in the 12 to 18 pound range. The folks behind the meat counter at any store can give you guidance on size. I’ve cooked a 25-pounder on my 22-inch Weber, so don’t worry about the size of the bird as long as you’ve got a grill with a good-sized domed lid to handle it.
Timing: Remember that word? If you’re planning to eat around 4 or 5 PM, you’ll need to start the process by around 9 or 10 that morning. You want to allow plenty of time for it to cook. Keep in mind - an average chicken is done in about 1 ½ hours. A typical turkey is done in about 3-4. That 25-pounder I did took nearly 5, so allow enough time! WHen the wings and drumsticks start to fall away from the body, that's a pretty good indication it's done. If you've got a kitchen thermometer, you're looking for 165 degrees, when pushed into the center of the breast. Once it's done, remove from the grill and let stand for about 20 minutes before carving.
Fresh or Frozen? If you bought a frozen turkey, you’ll need to follow package directions for thawing it properly and thoroughly. Picking it up on Monday or Tuesday prior, might be a good idea. If you ordered a fresh one, pick it up Tuesday or Wednesday and keep it in the fridge.
Thanksgiving Morning: Again, basic prep is the same as mentioned earlier for chicken: Take the thawed bird out of the fridge, rinse and dry it thoroughly, then place it on a roasting rack. Remove the neck, liver and gizzards from the cavity and set ‘em aside. (More on them later…) Next, chop up 2 or 3 cloves from a fresh bulb of garlic. Make the pieces tiny little nuggets, about 1/4 the size of your pinkie finger nail. Now, take a small kitchen knife and carefully jab a hole about ½ inch into the skin and twist the blade just enough to allow you to slide a garlic nugget into the hole. Make sure it stays under the skin! Repeat the process until you’ve dotted the entire bird - legs and all - with those little garlic chunks. Everywhere! Don‘t forget the sides and toward the bottom! Toss any garlic chunks you’ve got left into the cavity. You can also chop up a mixture of onions and celery (about a fist-full) and toss that into the cavity as well. Don’t pack it, though! Too much will lengthen the cooking time - a lot!
Okay, final step: Pull out that jar of mayonnaise and smear a very light coating all over the skin. Not too much! Just enough to protect it from drying out. The mayo coating helps seal the juices in the bird, keeping it tender and moist. Trust me on this - it works! I learned this from a restaurateur buddy of mine, who uses it with chicken. Okay, once you’re done, place the bird back in the fridge.
Now, it’s time to get the grill ready. Because of the turkey’s size, it’ll need to be situated in the center of the upper grill rack, rather than off to the side. So, if you’re using a charcoal grill, start with a large pile of coals. Once they’re all lit, divide them into two smaller fires on opposite sides of the grill. If you got the little clip-on coal fences for the lower coal rack, they’ll help keep the coals piled up the sides. If not, just stack the coals as evenly as possible under the slots below the handles in the upper grill to allow adding more charcoal as you need to. Place a foil drip pan between the two piles of coals to catch the drippings, if desired. (The pan will also help keep the coals in place.) As mentioned before, try some wood smoker chips (supermarket or backyard store). Soak a fistful in a big bowl of water for about ½ hour and add them to the coals when ready to start cooking. (Jack Daniel’s makes theirs out of whiskey barrels - really great aroma!).
Once the fire is ready (plenty of coals in each pile), place the lid on the grill to preheat the interior. When nice and hot, you’re ready to start.
Note: For a gas grill that has three separate burner zones, try lighting just the two side ones and place the bird between them. If you’ve got just two sections see if leaving one section off and placing the bird there will still give you enough heat to cook.
Important! This first operation is to brown and seal the skin. Place the turkey on the grill and cover it with the lid. If the lid has no vents, then crack it to the side a bit to allow air to circulate. Keep an eye on it to prevent any flare-ups! If you do get a flare up, close the lid to slow it down.
The initial browning process should take about ½ hour or so. Once the skin is golden brown, wrap aluminum foil around the bird (base, too) like a tent, to protect it from the direct heat, and just let it cook. It’ll take about 2 ½ to 3 more hours for it to fully cook. Be sure to check the coal piles regularly and add more fresh coals as necessary! You need to keep the interior plenty hot! After about the first 45 minutes to an hour, you’ll want to baste it about every half hour or so. Use either the juices from the drip pan or make a basting “cocktail” of equal parts butter and white wine, and drizzle it all over with a baster or dab it on with a basting brush.
Something extra to go with it: Take a medium to large onion, any kind you like, section it with a knife not quite to the bottom to keep it together, semi-wrap it in foil, sprinkle seasoned salt and pepper, drizzle some olive oil and white wine on it, then wrap it up and place it on the grill (not over direct heat) during the last hour of cooking. When it comes out, it’s soft, sweet and tender!
More good stuff: You can also do yams, sweet potatoes or plain ‘ole spuds, just by wrapping them up in foil and tossing on the grill. Again, don’t leave them over direct heat. Just turn them every so often when you check the bird.
Neck, liver and gizzards: Remember them? Try sautéing ‘em in a skillet over medium heat with some olive oil, fresh chopped garlic, and a dash of seasoned salt. Chop them up when done and use them in the stuffing. That is, if you can keep your guests from snatching them first!
Stuffing: If no one else is supplying it, you can make your own with a store-bought mix. Follow the directions on the package. When it’s done, you can add the goodies (finely chopped) from above.
Carving: Once the bird is done and you've let it stand for about 20 minutes, pull a drumstick off and then cut a horizontal slice into the breast down low, about even with the wing. The start cutting thin vertical slices, stopping at that horizontal cut. Once you've done all that, tear it apart in any way you see fit!
A bird done this way usually disappears in short order, so be forewarned: You may want to get a slightly larger one, so you’ll have plenty of leftovers to enjoy.
Bon Appetit! Hope you enjoy this site! More later!
Sauces: The right sauce - as a marinade or baste - can be the secret of your success!
For steaks, and roasts, some of my best results start with either some Yoshida’s Gourmet Sauce, Teriyaki, or Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce, with a few extras to jazz things up. Start by pouring some in a medium-sized Pyrex pitcher or mug with a pat of butter in the bottom. Heat it up in the microwave for about 45 seconds, then you can add a shot of white wine, maybe some crushed garlic, and a few dashes of some sort of seasoned salt, pepper and/or herbs.
For chicken or other poultry, one that my dad used quite often, was melted butter with a few shakes of paprika. Sometimes, he’d add some crushed garlic. Simple, but wonderful!
Something new! Here's something I tried on a Rock Cornish game hen not long ago. It was so good, I just used it on our Thanksgiving turkey, as well, with great results: Pour some olive oil in a 12 to 16 inch skillet and warm it up on the stove. Chop 2-3cups of onion into really fine little chunks, about ¼ inch or less. (One of those rotating “slap choppers” works great.) Add some finely-chopped garlic and sauté in the pan over medium heat with the oil until it starts to brown. Then pour in few splashes of white wine, vermouth or sake and let it caramelize a bit. While that’s going on, take some sort of basting sauce, BBQ sauce or glaze like Mr. Yoshida’s Sauce, or teriyaki, or similar and pour about 1-2 cups into a good-sized Pyrex (microwave-proof) measuring cup (you’re going to use this as a basting cup) and pour the onion-garlic mix from the pan right in. It should feel like a thick syrup. You can warm it up in the microwave for a minute or two. Then, stir well, and use the mix to thoroughly baste the bird while cooking. With a whole bird, splash some inside the cavity as well.
The ultimate, though, is my dad's old Spanish recipe - aioli. Rumored to have originated somewhere in 14th century Spain, its consistency is somewhat like mayonnaise. Best used as a dipping sauce at the table, it starts with a couple cloves of garlic, crushed and mashed into the bottom of a mixing bowl until it’s almost liquefied. Then, add one egg yolk (no white, just the yolk). Mash that around until blended, then add a piece of bread about the size of a silver dollar. Mash that into a paste, then start adding olive oil very slowly (we’re talking a tiny, slow trickle) as you continue to swirl the contents in the bottom of the bowl. The traditional way to make it is with mortar and pestle (round-bottom marble bowl with a flat-ended wooden dowel, where you’re swirling the mix around for a long time, slowly dribbling in the olive oil. On a visit to Spain to see the family, I caught an aunt in the kitchen, whipping it up with a blender. But I find the easy way to do this is with a hand-held food processor. (My dad would not approve!)
Periodically, use a rubber spatula to wipe the sides of the bowl back down into the mix. Be careful! If you add the oil too quickly, it’ll separate into an oily mess. If you do it slow and easy, it thickens into this wonderful garlic paste. If you’re doing it right, the blender or food processor will start to slow down. It’s getting thick! For chicken and fish, I like to add a bit of Teriyaki sauce towards the end of the process for some added zip. This one takes some time, but the result is worth it!
For steaks, and roasts, some of my best results start with either some Yoshida’s Gourmet Sauce, Teriyaki, or Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce, with a few extras to jazz things up. Start by pouring some in a medium-sized Pyrex pitcher or mug with a pat of butter in the bottom. Heat it up in the microwave for about 45 seconds, then you can add a shot of white wine, maybe some crushed garlic, and a few dashes of some sort of seasoned salt, pepper and/or herbs.
For chicken or other poultry, one that my dad used quite often, was melted butter with a few shakes of paprika. Sometimes, he’d add some crushed garlic. Simple, but wonderful!
Something new! Here's something I tried on a Rock Cornish game hen not long ago. It was so good, I just used it on our Thanksgiving turkey, as well, with great results: Pour some olive oil in a 12 to 16 inch skillet and warm it up on the stove. Chop 2-3cups of onion into really fine little chunks, about ¼ inch or less. (One of those rotating “slap choppers” works great.) Add some finely-chopped garlic and sauté in the pan over medium heat with the oil until it starts to brown. Then pour in few splashes of white wine, vermouth or sake and let it caramelize a bit. While that’s going on, take some sort of basting sauce, BBQ sauce or glaze like Mr. Yoshida’s Sauce, or teriyaki, or similar and pour about 1-2 cups into a good-sized Pyrex (microwave-proof) measuring cup (you’re going to use this as a basting cup) and pour the onion-garlic mix from the pan right in. It should feel like a thick syrup. You can warm it up in the microwave for a minute or two. Then, stir well, and use the mix to thoroughly baste the bird while cooking. With a whole bird, splash some inside the cavity as well.
The ultimate, though, is my dad's old Spanish recipe - aioli. Rumored to have originated somewhere in 14th century Spain, its consistency is somewhat like mayonnaise. Best used as a dipping sauce at the table, it starts with a couple cloves of garlic, crushed and mashed into the bottom of a mixing bowl until it’s almost liquefied. Then, add one egg yolk (no white, just the yolk). Mash that around until blended, then add a piece of bread about the size of a silver dollar. Mash that into a paste, then start adding olive oil very slowly (we’re talking a tiny, slow trickle) as you continue to swirl the contents in the bottom of the bowl. The traditional way to make it is with mortar and pestle (round-bottom marble bowl with a flat-ended wooden dowel, where you’re swirling the mix around for a long time, slowly dribbling in the olive oil. On a visit to Spain to see the family, I caught an aunt in the kitchen, whipping it up with a blender. But I find the easy way to do this is with a hand-held food processor. (My dad would not approve!)
Periodically, use a rubber spatula to wipe the sides of the bowl back down into the mix. Be careful! If you add the oil too quickly, it’ll separate into an oily mess. If you do it slow and easy, it thickens into this wonderful garlic paste. If you’re doing it right, the blender or food processor will start to slow down. It’s getting thick! For chicken and fish, I like to add a bit of Teriyaki sauce towards the end of the process for some added zip. This one takes some time, but the result is worth it!
Okay! So, you want some red meat?
You can do an easy beef round, lamb, or even pork (I know, “the other white meat”) roast in a similar manner. Do the garlic sliver prep from the chicken recipe above, only instead of mayo, lightly dust the surfaces with flour. You can use a poultry rack for this as well. Makes a handy cradle for handling. Depending on size, these take about an hour or so. When it looks done, poke a knife into the center area and check the color. The outer edges twnd to be more well-done, while the center section tends to be more rare, so if most of your guests prefer medium rare ove medium or well-done, pull it off when the center area is just turning from deep red to pink. Remember that when doing pork, you don’t want to see any pink in the meat. It needs to cook just until it’s uniformly white in color. The potato-onion-mushroom in foil trick makes a nice companion dish. Have someone whip up a salad, and you’re done!
Enjoy!
You can do an easy beef round, lamb, or even pork (I know, “the other white meat”) roast in a similar manner. Do the garlic sliver prep from the chicken recipe above, only instead of mayo, lightly dust the surfaces with flour. You can use a poultry rack for this as well. Makes a handy cradle for handling. Depending on size, these take about an hour or so. When it looks done, poke a knife into the center area and check the color. The outer edges twnd to be more well-done, while the center section tends to be more rare, so if most of your guests prefer medium rare ove medium or well-done, pull it off when the center area is just turning from deep red to pink. Remember that when doing pork, you don’t want to see any pink in the meat. It needs to cook just until it’s uniformly white in color. The potato-onion-mushroom in foil trick makes a nice companion dish. Have someone whip up a salad, and you’re done!
Enjoy!
Some fun stuff to toss in while the main event cooks: These are easy to do and taste great:
Solo Onion: Take any type medium-to-large onion, section it so that it’s not quite sliced through to the bottom to keep it together, place it on a large enough piece of foil to completely wrap it, sprinkle some salt and pepper or other seasoning, drizzle a little olive oil and/or some white wine over it, seal it up and place it under the upper grill rack. Keep it upright, so as not to lose the juices inside. Remember to place it away from the coals and turn it occasionally. Done in about 45minutes.
‘Taters & onions: Thinly slice a potato or two along with an onion. If you like, slice up some mushrooms as well and place the whole affair on a double-layer piece of foil large enough to wrap the whole thing. Before closing it up, drizzle in some olive oil and shake in salt and pepper. Seal it up tight, and place it on the upper grill rack, away from the flame. Turn it from time to time, but don’t rotate it upside down - you’ lose the oil. Let it cook for about 45-60 minutes. Enjoy!
Yet another way: Place the sliced potatoes, onions, mushroom (and some sliced sweet peppers, if you like) in a long-handled fireplace corn/chestnut popper. Drizzle olive oil and shake spices through the mesh and initially lay it on top of the fire for a couple of minutes on each side. Then move it to the side and continue cooking. (If you get a flare up, move it immediately to the side.) The great thing about this method is that you can add oil or spices without opening the popper. Takes about 30-45 minutes. Works great!
Corn on the cob: Place each ear on a piece of foil large enough to wrap it. Butter it, salt it and wrap it up. Place it on the grill around the edges, like the onion. Turn every so often. Takes about 30 minutes.
Asparagus! This one’s a bit different. Place cleaned asparagus spears in a platter and drizzle olive oil and some balsamic vinegar over them and let them stand awhile. Rotate them around a bit to ensure everyone gets coated. Place them directly on the upper grill and replace the lid. Timing: These guys cook pretty quickly, in about 25-30 minutes, so plan accordingly. Killer!
Solo Onion: Take any type medium-to-large onion, section it so that it’s not quite sliced through to the bottom to keep it together, place it on a large enough piece of foil to completely wrap it, sprinkle some salt and pepper or other seasoning, drizzle a little olive oil and/or some white wine over it, seal it up and place it under the upper grill rack. Keep it upright, so as not to lose the juices inside. Remember to place it away from the coals and turn it occasionally. Done in about 45minutes.
‘Taters & onions: Thinly slice a potato or two along with an onion. If you like, slice up some mushrooms as well and place the whole affair on a double-layer piece of foil large enough to wrap the whole thing. Before closing it up, drizzle in some olive oil and shake in salt and pepper. Seal it up tight, and place it on the upper grill rack, away from the flame. Turn it from time to time, but don’t rotate it upside down - you’ lose the oil. Let it cook for about 45-60 minutes. Enjoy!
Yet another way: Place the sliced potatoes, onions, mushroom (and some sliced sweet peppers, if you like) in a long-handled fireplace corn/chestnut popper. Drizzle olive oil and shake spices through the mesh and initially lay it on top of the fire for a couple of minutes on each side. Then move it to the side and continue cooking. (If you get a flare up, move it immediately to the side.) The great thing about this method is that you can add oil or spices without opening the popper. Takes about 30-45 minutes. Works great!
Corn on the cob: Place each ear on a piece of foil large enough to wrap it. Butter it, salt it and wrap it up. Place it on the grill around the edges, like the onion. Turn every so often. Takes about 30 minutes.
Asparagus! This one’s a bit different. Place cleaned asparagus spears in a platter and drizzle olive oil and some balsamic vinegar over them and let them stand awhile. Rotate them around a bit to ensure everyone gets coated. Place them directly on the upper grill and replace the lid. Timing: These guys cook pretty quickly, in about 25-30 minutes, so plan accordingly. Killer!
