As a compromise with my sweetie Kirk, and housemate Leyla (who want to cook other dishes in our relatively small oven on Thanksgiving) I am going to cook a turkey on/in the gas BBQ in the patio.
The BBQ is a Grill Mate which comfortably holds an 11×16 roasting pan so it should be plenty big enough for a small turkey. When I remove the warming grill there is ~9-10 inches of headroom above the cooking grids. I will place a drip pan on the ceramic briquets under the cooking grids. There is a thermostat in the grill hood.
I’m going to cook a brined, stuffed small (~12 lbs) turkey. The grill site above has a recipe for doing exactly this!
Here’s my game plan:
Day before:
Brine the turkey in apple cider brine for 18-24 hours. I’m going to brine it in a plastic bag, over ice in a cooler, adding more ice as needed to keep the temp below 40 degrees.
Morning of:
6.5 hours BDH (Before Dining Hour):
Remove the turkey from the brine. Let it drain and dry and warm up to room temp while I prepare the stuffing. Stuff the bird, tie the legs and wings.
5.75 hours BDH:
Turn on the BBQ and bring it up to 500 degrees (temp will drop when I open the BBQ to place the turkey inside). The site above says the grill only needs to be preheated for 5 minutes, but I think that 15 minutes is probably not a bad idea to make sure it’s fully up to temp.
5.5 hours BDH:
Open the BBQ. Remove cooking grids, place the drip pan, put carrots, celery, onions, and cider in the drip pan. Replace the cooking grids, put the turkey on the grids with the bird breast side down. Close the BBQ, note the temp drop. Turn the heat down to low. Watch and adjust the heat during the next 30 minutes to maintain a roasting temp between 350 and 400 degrees. I’ll use the lower temp if the grill holds the heat well when opened (to check/baste) and use the higher temp if there’s a large temp drop each time I check the bird.
A stuffed 12-13 lb turkey usually takes 4-4.5 hours to cook in a regular oven at ~350 degrees.
Check every 1/2 hour, adding hot broth or cider (I’ll keep a pan simmering on the stove) to the drip pan as needed, basting as needed.
~2.5 hours BDH:
When the turkey leg meat temp reaches 140, turn the bird to breast side up. Continue cooking until the stuffing and the breast meat reaches a minimum of 165°F. Cover with foil if it starts to get too brown.
1.5 hours BDH:
When the stuffing and the breast meat reaches 160-165°F, remove the turkey from the BBQ, wrap in foil for 30-60 minutes, put in a (warm) cooler, to keep the temp up at a safe level (above 140°F) while the other meal items are being prepared. Make gravy with the pan drippings and broth from cooking the giblets.
.5 hours BDH:
Remove the stuffing, slice and serve the meat.
ZDH (Zulu Dinner Hour):
Serve and enjoy!