Ready for the step-by-step pics of how I smoke my turkey!? I'm letting out a BIG family secret here...my brother-in-law comes all the way from Washington when I cook this turkey!
I tell ya...you've gotta try this once in your life. It is the BEST tasting turkey in the entire world! I've been cooking my turkeys like this for 8 or so years. Kip asked me tonight where I got this recipe, and honestly I can't remember! The only thing you can't do is stuff it with any bread or rice stuffing. (I'll tell you why in a minute...)
First off:
You must use a BBQ that uses regular charcoal, not a gas grill. I use a large dome lid Weber kettle. You'll also need a very large large bag of charcoal (any kind, and any mixture like Mesquite etc. is fine) I'm using all regular charcoal this time, no fancy stuff.
First remove the smaller lower grill from the bottom of the BBQ, and place a large foil ball about 10" in diameter smack in the middle.
Use a starter chimney thingie to get a bunch of charcoal started.
While that is going...unwrap your fresh turkey (or defrosted frozen turkey) and rinse it inside and out really well with cold water. I throw out the bag of giblets and the turkey neck. (of course you can save it to stew in some soup, but I don't---cuz' it's too icky. ;Þ)
Since you've removed the stuff in the (butt area) I usually stuff some bread or an orange cut in half to "fill it out" It just makes it look nicer than a concave buttocks!
After rinsing the turkey pat it dry with paper towels and place in a heavy duty foil turkey pan that has thick metal handles. (a couple bucks at the grocery store) Rub the skin of the turkey all over with Olive oil or any oil you have on hand.
Add any type of spice rub you want. This time I used a combination of onion powder, garlic powder, lemon pepper, black pepper, paprika, salt, a touch of cayenne---just whatever you'd like! (Just don't use to much salt) I also added a bunch of cut up oranges to the turkey cavity, about 4 garlic cloves and a big bunch of fresh rosemary from my garden.
Now that the turkey is ready to go...check to see how the BBQ coals are coming along. If the look nice and hot dump them in the BBQ around the foil ball making a ring. Add a bunch of fresh charcoal to the hot ones, making sure you don't cover the foil ball.What you are trying to achieve is a ring of coals so the heat won't be directly underneath your turkey, but just around the edges. Like indirect cooking...
Add new charcoal to the hot charcoal.
Put the larger top grate on the BBQ and place the turkey on top of that.
Add a can of chicken broth (14 oz) down the side of the pan not on top of the turkey and cover lightly with foil.
Put the BBQ lid on slightly ajar so air can get to the charcoal...
After about 30 minutes I always check to make sure the new coals have caught fire. If they haven't, then you'll have to remove the turkey, put in your oven on warm and start the chimney charcoal starter thingie again for new hot coals. It doesn't happen very often...
Every half hour or so you must add 10-20 new charcoals down the sides of the grill (where the handles are) so the temp. is kept nice and hot...add more chicken broth to keep about a half inch at all times bubbling away under the turkey.
It's almost done!! I baste it a few times the last hour of cooking. The reason you don't stuff the turkey with a bread or rice stuffing is that the broth and the oils from the turkey just get the dressing inside the turkey too mushy and greasy...believe me, I've tried it, and it just tastes yukie.
Near the end of cooking, check the turkey with a meat thermometer and if it's close to the "poultry done" stage remove it and let it sit in the kitchen still covered with the foil for another 30 minutes to an hour to rest...it'll finish cooking as well.
That's it!!! It smells so good. The rosemary...and the meat just falls off the bones....and leftovers? they taste so smoky and wonderful. I hope you get a chance to try this way of cooking a turkey sometime. Ok! Gotta go eat dinner!
Lori
That looks great, Lolo!
Posted by: dan on December 27, 2003 10:24 PMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm that looks great!! and I love your step by step directions.....I guess I could do the same here...providing I put my mittens and my long john's on.....and some times my snow shovel for stirring the coals.
There sure is something to be said about CA weather and cook'n.
Posted by: Edee on December 28, 2003 05:14 AMWow! An inspiring recipe, with helpful pictures; even I could attempt this one. Thanks!
Another wonderful step-by-step cooking demo! I want to try this sometime...when it warms up here. Just to get some estimate for planning the rest of the meal I was wondering about how long it takes to cook and what was the weight of the turkey? Is it comparable to the oven times or faster?
It does look yummy!
Posted by: Ann on December 28, 2003 08:54 AMAnn, Just so you add the charcoal to keep the temperature consistant---the time is the same as normal oven cooking (15 mins. per pound) this bird was 16.25lbs. I put it on at 1pm and took it off at 5:30pm.
Posted by: Lori on December 28, 2003 10:14 AMWe're going to try this tomorrow...your step-by-step instructions are sooooo easy to follow. BUT...we have a Big Green Egg that we're going to try it on...so far the Egg has not failed us yet in producing the most tender, juicy smoked and grilled foods.
Posted by: rand on April 16, 2004 05:14 PM