Can You Grill a Turkey?
Happy Thanksgiving Week to all you Grillers out there. If the weather is cooling down, but you aren’t quite ready to put away your grill for the winter, you might be wondering if you can grill your turkey this week. In fact, grilled turkey the best turkey we’ve ever tasted. We know because Grill Girl had to try it out at the office one day.
You can easily grill a turkey on your gas grill with delicious results. Heat your grill to 325 degrees and use indirect heat, smoking chips, and the spatchcock method. Then get ready for a Thanksgiving meal worth celebrating. Check out details below or watch Grill Girl’s step by step videos!
Grill a Turkey, Step 1: Spatchcock the bird.
If you want to grill your turkey this year, Grill Girl highly recommends cutting out the back bone and flattening the bird down by breaking the rib bones. Then, cook the bird breast-side up. While the inside of the turkey gets cooked, the thighs and wings get done with a crispy skin. Most importantly, the breasts are cooked but not dry.
What’s in Grill Girl’s Roasting Pan?
Combine 1 Cup Apple Cider, 1 Bottle White Wine, 1 Quartered Onion, 2-3 Halved Carrots, 2-3 Halved Pieces of Celery, 3-4 Smashed Garlic Cloves, and 1-2 Teaspoons Ground Black Pepper.
A note from Grill Girl: “Feel free to use one bottle minus one cup of wine in the roasting pan, but drink it AFTER you cut out the backbone of the bird. You need to be sober for that part.”
“Salt The Bird” Tips
Grill Girl’s go-to rub for poultry is 2:1 Herbs de Provence and kosher salt (for a whole turkey, it’s about 1/2 cup herbs, 1/4 cup salt). Herbs de Provence is a blend of dried herbs and spices, that traditionally includes thyme, basil, rosemary, tarragon, savory, marjoram, oregano, and bay leaf. If those spices are a little much for you or you simply don’t have that blend, you can use any of those in combination with each other.
Spread the rub all over the skin. Then, work the rub under the skin where you can, including the thighs and the breasts. Lastly, sprinkle the remainder on the underside of the bird’s rib cage.
Grill a Turkey, Step 2: Prepare The Grill
Get smoke flavor into the turkey with smoking wood chips. You’ll need 4 cups of wood chips (whatever type you like best). Use one packet of dry chips and one packet of wet chips for maximum flavor. In other words, soak half the chips for about 15 minutes in water. After that, make 2 packets using aluminum foil with 2 cups of dry chips in one packet and 2 cups of wet chips in the other. Additionally, cut slits in the top of your packets. In the grill, place the packets directly over whichever burner is turned on. Rest the packets on the heat plates or briquettes. You can use a cast iron or stainless steel smoking tray instead.
Grill a Turkey, Step 3: Grill The Bird
First, remove your cooking grids. Heat your grill to 325 degrees. Then, turn off half your grill. Place the roasting pan over the burners that are turned off and the smoking chips over the burners that are turned on. The roasting pan and smoking chips will sit on the heat plates or briquettes you have covering your burners. Finally, replace your cooking grids and put the turkey over the roasting pan on the “off” side of your grill. As a result, the indirect heat and packets of chips create a smokey perfection.
Place an internal thermometer in the thickest part of the breast. For an accurate temperature, be sure the probe is not touching a bone. Cook your turkey to 165-170 degrees internally. For example, Grill Girl grilled this 12 lb bird for about 3 hours.
Grill a Turkey, Step 4: Remove, Slice, and Serve.
Currently, this is our favorite way of cooking the Thanksgiving bird here at GrillPartsSearch.com. With browned, crispy skin, and a beautiful pink smoke ring in the meat, our crew polished off this turkey in no time.
Likewise, running out of space in the kitchen? Throw your potatoes or other vegetables on the grill with your turkey for a complete, grilled Thanksgiving meal.
In short, Get Grilling and Happy Thanksgiving!
-Grill Girl
