So last year, I BBQ’d the turkey. It was ah-maze-ing. Truly. It was golden and juicy. Even the white meat was delicious (I’m a dark meat kinda girl but dang the whole bird was so good).
Of course, I didn’t document the recipe. So, I’m going to make one up/partially remember and jot it down. I hope it works as good this year as it did last year. I’ll let you know after Thanksgiving.
BBQ’d Turkey on a Gas Grill
- 1 16-18 pound turkey (we use Mary’s heritage birds), giblets and neck and all the other strange stuff inside removed (save the neck and leftover carcass for stock)
- Brining mix (I use Stonwall Kitchen’s Farmhouse Brine or Williams-Sonoma brine)
- 2 quarts of water
- Brining Bag
- 1 1/2 sticks of butter
- 1 bottle of chardonnay
- handful of fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 yellow onion cut into 4 pieces
- 1 orange cut in half
- 1/2 head of garlic (1 whole head cut in half across the cloves)
- salt and pepper
2 days before Thanksgiving: Clean your bird and then put her in the brining bag then put the whole thing in a foil roasting pan. Heat 1 quart of your water in a big pot and add the brining mix. Let cool. Once cooled, add the brining mix, water and extra 1 quart of water to the brining bag/turkey. Refrigerate the whole thing for 24 hours.
The Day Before Thanksgiving: Take the turkey out of the brining bag and toss the brine. Rinse the bird quickly and dry with paper towels. Put a couple layers of paper towel in the foil roaster and then the bird – unwrapped- into the roaster. Place in fridge uncovered for 24 hours. This will dry out the skin and make it so it will be crispy when you roast it.
Thanksgiving Day: Remove the turkey from the fridge. Salt and pepper the inside of the cavity. Fill the cavity with the thyme, onion, orange and garlic. Tie up your bird so the legs and wings are held in tight to the bird. Add pea sized pieces of butter under the skin (use care doing this so you don’t break the skin). Salt and pepper the outside of the bird.
Put the bird, breast-side up, on a foil roasting pan and let her rest.
Heat remaining butter in a pot. Add Chardonnay and put 1/2 the mixture in the bottom of the roasting pan.
Ignite the grill and turn all burners to high. Close the lid and preheat 10 to 15 minutes to bring the grill to 500 to 550 degrees. Set two side burners to medium heat and turn off the center burner. You’ll want to keep the bbq around 375 degrees. Position your turkey in the pan in the center of the cooking grate and place the lid on the grill. Try to keep the grill covered unless your basting it. I remember basting the turkey about 4 times. If you see the bottom of the pan getting dry, add more of your Chardonnay/butter mixture to the bird.
Cook 11 to 13 minutes per pound or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh not touching bone registers 165 degrees and the juices run clear. Transfer turkey to a platter. Let stand for 15 minutes before carving.
Happy Thanksgiving!!! xoxoxo
