Thanksgiving

I am grilling my first Thanksgiving Turkey. I have a weber gas grill and have a few questions to submit to the board:

1. Do you suggest smoking the turkey or cooking it on rotisserie?

2. How long do you suggest cooking a 22lb rotisserie turkey, and at what temperature?

3. Can you suggest any marinade injections for the turkey?

4. typically how much gas will this require?

Comments are appreciated. Thank you

I'd deffinately (and have!) go with the smoked bird. The last one I did was just around 25lbs. I slow smoked it at around 225 using Whiskey Soaked Hickory Chips and a store bought Garlic Herb injection marinade. I also rubbed the bird inside and out with salt and pepper before cooking. Also oil the bird (I prefer olive oil) about every 2 hours or so to help it get that beautiful golden brown. You'll also need to add more wood chips as time goes by. Make sure you remove everything from inside the bird and don't stuff it. Make your oyster stuffing (my own personal favorite) seperate. Otherwise it won't cook right and side effect include more than being sleepy! I usually figure about 30mins per pound or until the leg bone turns freely in the socket or if you're a scientific type it should be 170 at the breast and 180 at the thigh. Mkae sure you have at least half a bottle of propane, or if you're like me I always make sure of a fresh tank for long haul smoking like this, just in case.

I haven't tried cooking it vertically "beer can" style yet but am planning to do so soon.

Good Luck and Enjoy

"Always Go Big"

Turkey wrote:

I am grilling my first Thanksgiving Turkey. I have a weber gas grill and have a few questions to submit to the board:

1. Do you suggest smoking the turkey or cooking it on rotisserie?

2. How long do you suggest cooking a 22lb rotisserie turkey, and at what temperature?

3. Can you suggest any marinade injections for the turkey?

4. typically how much gas will this require?

Comments are appreciated. Thank you

I suggest smoking with a rotisserie! Typically I like smaller birds (around 12#) and find them tastier and easier to handle not to mention, multiple smaller birds give you the opportunity to try 2 different things at one time and don't take as long to cook. Generally you cook turkleys about 15 minutes a pound @ 325 but it varies depending on the temp you cook at. Thigh temp should be 180 degrees (well 170 for me ) however you decide to cook yours. I strongly suggest injection marinating too; absolutely love it! Steve has a few good base recipes that are good jumping off points in his Marinades,Rubs book. No idea how much gas as I use strictly hardwood for the big day. Usually oak and some kind of fruit wood for my recipe.

Good luck! Have fun!

Another option to consider:

Deep Frying

I know its not true BBQ but its outdoor cooking over an open flame so its alright in my book.
Plus the results are quite extraordinary!

Use peanut oil and an injectable marinade.

If you want moredetails on this option I and I'm sure others would be glad to give you all you'd need.

Two years ago we decided to have a deep fryed turkey as well as the regular bird for Thanksgiving and it has now become a tradition by demand. I have been getting phone calls and emails already asking if the "now famous" Cajun Deep Fryed Turkey will be there

Unless you've got a heavy duty rotisserie, I wouldn't try to cook a bird that big--it's likely to destroy your equipment. A cajun injected marinade is a great idea.

I smoked a 10 lbs turkey last Sunday and it came out perfect. Here is my procedure :

Brined turkey in 2 gallons of H2O and 3 3/4 cups of kosher salt for about 10 hours.

Removed turkey from brine, rinse turkey in cold H2O and placed in refrig uncovered overnight.

Sunday morning started up my weber gas grill and placed 3 cups of H2O soaked hickory chips in alum foil. Turned on front, middle and back burners to high....just to get the hickory chips smoking.

I placed my turkey on a V-rack (breast side down) with pan underneath to catch all the dripping (I like a clean grill).....Also, I butter up my turkey before placing in on the V-rack.

With my grill smoking hot, I placed the turkey on the grill. I only left the back burner on (turned off the middle and front burner). Grill temp is about 270 - 300 degree.

After 90 minutes on the grill, I flipped my turkey so the breast side is facing up. This allows my turkey to be evenly cooked (I think) and browns the entire turkey evenly (I know).

The total cooking time is 3 1/2 hours for a 10 lbs turkey. The turkey was very moist and if your wondering it was not too salty (table salt will make it too salty....just use kosher salt). Also, I placed two chunks of mesquite wood with my wood chips. The wood chips did burn out quickly (90 minutes) and I did placed more water soaked wood chips in my alum foil.

Next time, I think I may try the miranade injection gig.

To bring this back to the top and to clarify a statement I made earlier.
If you want to stuff the bird with apples, pears, etc. That great. It will add a wonderful flavor. What I meant is do not stuff the bird with a traditional bread based stuffing or two things will happen. The bird and the stuffing won't cook right. Second, you will get sick if you eat this stuffing (it absorbs the juices of the bird as it cooks and never reaches the proper temp to kill off bacteria.

Good Luck and Enjoy!

Grand Scale -

You talk about fixing a "Big Bird" - do you have some kind of industrial strength rotisserie, or do you just place the bird on the grates directly?

I just put the bird on the grates directly. Although I'm sure someone here has or can come up with an industrial rotisserie.
So far I've had no problems with the direct method using indirect heat. The bottom meat does not dry out.
I have yet to do a bird of plus size beer can style but that is next on the list. I can/have done a 9-15 lb tops bird on the tipsy turkey cooker I have but for a 20+ bird I'm thinking a coffee or pineaplle juice can may just fill the bill, but I'm still concerned with balance. But where there's a wll...

I agree with dkirn and Grand Scale on the deep frying method. Why don't you try both? You seem to have your heart set on smoking so go with that first, but if you have the opportunity, might I suggest putting a 12 pounder in the deep fryer. I used the included package of injectable marinade that came with my turkey fryer for the first bird and it was incredible. Cajun Injector has many nice marinades, or get one from the book as mentioned earlier. The outside gets nice and crispy while the inside was running with moisture. All the while, there was not a hint a greasy-ness. (this was my concern, but I was corrected by people who went before me that it would not turn out that way) Make sure that the oil is brought up to temperature before dunking the bird, or it will soak up excess oil. Follow all safety precautions and DO have a fire extinguisher on hand- no matter how carefully I lower the bird, I always get splash over; thankfully no fires yet. A couple of years back I indirectly cooked a turkey on my weber kettle with a little apple and mesquite wood chunks, and that turned out fantastic as well. Decisions..decisions. Good luck.

Thanks for the help!

A trick I've learned for frying to reduce splatter and burns.
1. Fill your pot to the top with water. Dunk your bird in and let the water overflow. Remove the bird and mark the line, that is where you need to fill with oil. (always use peanut by the way) MAKE SURE YOU THOROUGHLY DRY THE BIRD! Water and hot oil don't mix.
2. This takes 2 guys but instead of lowering the bird by hand, run a broom handle through the handle of the fryer baskey/hook and with a man on each end use the broom handle to lower the bird. This puts you out of reach of any spatter and gives you more control.
Good Luck and Enjoy.

Grand Scale,

Thanks for those tips. My father-in-laws fry's turkey's nearly every other month. I'm concerned for him as he is accident prone. He constantly drops things in the kitchen, often breaking things and the family just jokes about it. I worry that some day he'll drop that turkey! I'm going to pass along the info.

Grand Scale wrote:

I have yet to do a bird of plus size beer can style but that is next on the list. I can/have done a 9-15 lb tops bird on the tipsy turkey cooker I have but for a 20+ bird I'm thinking a coffee or pineaplle juice can may just fill the bill, but I'm still concerned with balance. But where there's a wll...

A can from Bush's beans might work really well for a large bird (the 55. oz size).