I feel like I have never really been involved in the cooking of anything at the holiday celebrations that we have throughout the year. Of course, I enjoy BBQ-ing and I cook this way as often as I can (steak, ribs, brisket and other roasted veggies). I enjoy it so much! Sometimes there are just fun things to throw on the BBQ and see what kind of tastes you can come out with! Hence what I am writing about: how to grill up a golden delicious turkey!
I started out where everyone starts, the prep work! I tend to trim up any meat that I grill, especially where there is excess fat or skin. Next: choose your seasonings! Anything that is acceptable to your taste will do. In this case, I picked thyme, rosemary, salt, onion powder, and oregano. Take your time in this phase. Make sure that you get all the areas of the turkey covered with these tasty spices, use as much or as little as you deem necessary.
Most people would decide against grilling or BBQ-ing a turkey because it tends to dry out. Although you may have done your best to keep it moist, it went south. This is our trick, we cut up half of an onion into shards and cut a small apple into pieces. Now stuff the turkey with these high moisture, aromatic items! I used a few tooth picks to hold in the apple and onion pieces to make sure they didn't dump out in the moving or flipping process of grilling.
Now it's time! Make sure your grill is heated up and ready to cook! You'll want to keep your grill in the 350-400 degree range to ensure that the turkey will cook well. Even heat is your friend here.
Cooking time will vary by weight but because this guy was a small one, weighing in at just under 8 pounds. I grilled it for about 3-1/2 hours. Initially, I put down some foil for the first 2 hours, as well as over the top of the turkey to make sure that the heat would not just cook the under side of the bird or char the skin.
I also added in a bit of my own flair, I placed a few cups of water in a oven safe dish, put it on the grill and added mesquite liquid smoke to the water! When your grill starts to boil up the water, the mesquite will add a wonderful flavor to the turkey.
Now you wait. Keep moving of the turkey and opening of the grill to a minimum for the first 2 hours. Allow the smoke flavor to sink into the meat. ( Now I'm Hungry! ) After a few hours had gone by, I took out the foil completely. At this point, you want to start getting those glorious grill marks on the turkey. I rotated the bird every 30 minutes. Once you have achieved a lower turkey breast temperature of 165 degrees, you are done! Here is the end result!
Enjoy this fun Thanksgiving cook out idea and check back tomorrow for Erica's post about how to include clean eating in your Thanksgiving meal as we continue our Countdown to Thanksgiving!
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