Turkey grilling ideas?

[BLACKJACK]

Doing a whole turkey on Sunday, I've done them before, my usual method is over a pan of water thats surrounded by briquets. It usually turns out good and moist but looking of other ideas/variations. Was thinking of maybe throwing it into a brine for 24 hours? Anybody have any good brine recipes? Don't want it too salty though. And will a brine reduce the cooking time?

Any ideas welcome!!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I did one rotisserie last year and it was fantastic.

[Jim Almquist]

I have done this Alton Brown - Good Eats recipe on the rotisserie and it was great with a lot of flavor. It was a lot more work but I thought it was worth it. I always brine my turkeys no matter how I cook them.

Ingredients

1 (14 to 16 pound) frozen young turkey

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon vegetable stock

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger

1 gallon heavily iced water

For the aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

Canola oil

Directions

2 to 3 days before roasting:

Begin thawing the turkey in the refrigerator or in a cooler kept at 38 degrees F.

Combine the vegetable stock, salt, brown sugar, peppercorns, allspice berries, and candied ginger in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve solids and bring to a boil. Then remove the brine from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.

Early on the day or the night before you'd like to eat:

Combine the brine, water and ice in the 5-gallon bucket. Place the thawed turkey (with innards removed) breast side down in brine. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure it is fully immersed, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area for 8 to 16 hours, turning the bird once half way through brining.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Remove the bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard the brine.

Place the bird on roasting rack inside a half sheet pan and pat dry with paper towels.

Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes. Add steeped aromatics to the turkey's cavity along with the rosemary and sage. Tuck the wings underneath the bird and coat the skin liberally with canola oil.

Roast the turkey on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees F for 30 minutes. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.

[Swimbait2009]

Can't go wrong with Alton Brown!!

[goblueM]

i've started using a "dry brine" (you can buy some at a store, or just make one up)

they work great and are very easy!

[McGurk]

However you decide to brine it, I have found a new to me way to grill it. It's called "spatchcock-ing," and it is a way to shorten your cooking time by exposing more of it to heat as long as you have a larger grilling surface to work with.

To "Spatchcok" a bird, you thaw, brine, and prep the bird as normal, and grab your kitchen shears. Place the bird backbone up, and start cutting on each side of the backbone from the cavity opening up towards the neck. It will seem tough, but can be done (I've even done it with a sharp paring knife). Throw the backbone away.

Now that you have it completely removed and opened, flip it over so the cavity side is down on a large cutting board or other prep surface. This is a little tricky, but you need to push down on the breast-area of the bird to crack a few bones to allow it to lay flat. You'll know by sound and feel when it's done, and be sure to do it on both sides. Tuck the wing tips underneath the "shoulders", lay it flat, and grill away!

It will look like this:

Ignore the skewers and hunks of wood; they're just some jalapeno poppers I threw together, and have nothing to do with the turkey. I used a smoker at around 300 deg, and it was done in around 2 1/2 hours, and very tasty!

[BLACKJACK]

Mcgurk, that looks like an interesting way of doing it. Do you have coals underneath the whole bird??? I'd be a little worried about dripping and flare-ups.

I ended up getting busy on Sat and didn't get around to brining the turkey and ended up doing it 'straight', just put my pan of water on, put coals all around the outside of the water pan, lit them, when they were grey and the water was starting to boil, I put the turkey over the water pan, back down. Also put a couple chunks of apple wood on the coals before I put the cover on. The turkey turned out nice and brown and moist and was done in 2 1/4 hours!!

I was just looking at turkeys today in the grocery store, at 1.09 a pound I'm not going to hesitate to pick up another one - then maybe I'll try something wild and crazy like brining!!

[McGurk]

I do and I don't have coals under the whole bird. It is around 31" above where the coals are so it is a form of indirect heating. Flareups are part of the cook, and can impart an extra flavor that a drip pan won't allow for. It doesn't burn the bird, though, being it is as far away from the fire as it is.

[bak2MN]

I soak mine in water, liquid smoke, tender quik, and canning salt for 24-48 hours. The before I cook it I melt a stick of butter and season it with a little bit of everything. Then inject it into the bird. Dry the bird rub with olive oil season the outside and inside with a little bit of everything. I use a 22 1/2 inch weber charcoal grill. drip pan down the center no water, and charcoal on the sides. Wrap the wings in tinfoil and let grill for about 2 hours for a twelve pound bird.

I did two birds this weekend at the same time on my wifes uncles grill, That thing was huge. They turned out awesome. Well thats what everyone told me any ways.

[sweept]

Mgurk is that an UDS you are using?

[McGurk]

Mgurk is that an UDS you are using?

Correct! There's a build post in here somewhere, if you look.

[Agent Andy]

If you want the best turkey recipe go to Weber.com and lookup the recipe ( I think it is on page 3) for sage orange turkey. Every one that has tried it has said it is the best tasting turkey ever. Last year a neighbor at the lake wanted help deep frying 3 turkeys. I took one and grilled it and after he tasted my turkey he said he was getting rid of the deep fryer.

[sweept]

I built myself one last winter. Having a blast with it. Sunday we did 2 chuck roasts, 2 pork butts and 2 racks of ribs.

[rundrave]

I had to bump up this old thread because the first thing that came to mind was that pic from McGurk.

I snatched some turkey breasts at Target since I saw they were for sale in the meat sales thread.

I would like to cook these indirectly over charcoal in my charbroil barrel grill/smoker. Its been thawing for a couple days in the fridge.

Can I get away without brining and what temp should I cook them at and for how long?

Any suggestions on seasonings or some extra touches?

[delcecchi]

No brining since they are injected "with up to 15% of a solution". Look on label to confirm. If you brine on top of that it will be too salty.

[Jim Almquist]

I like to make up some foil packets of hickory chips and throw them in the charcoal while the turkey is cooking. I use my Weber and a rotisserie with the coals on the outside and a drip pan in the center. I also put a couple cans of Swanson's chicken broth in the drip pan. It will take on the smokey flavor and makes a great gravy. I don't think you will get enough drippings from just breast but they will take up some flavor from the wood you use to make some smoke. great for sandwiches and salads later on is a plus.