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Turkey
Recipes
Barbeque
or Grill a Whole Turkey - Learn How to make a Turkey!
Outdoor
barbecuing or grilling is an easy and efficient way to cook
your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey. A whole turkey may
be prepared on either a gas grill or a charcoal grill. You
will need a covered barbecue grill and heavy duty aluminum
foil. Your turkey will be crisp outside and juicy inside.
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1
(15 to 20 pound) turkey, fresh or thawed, with giblets
and neck removed. |
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Clean
turkey well, removing any bits of pin feathers and cleaning
the cavity of any remaining pieces of innards. Pat dry
with paper towels. Secure legs with twine or a clip
(optional). |
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1/2
cup butter, room temperature or softened, divided |
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Turkey
Stuffing or your favorite turkey stuffing/dressing
recipe |
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3
to 4 slices uncooked bacon |
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Basting
Juice (see recipe below) or use the juices that drain
off |
General
Instructions:
1.
Preheat barbecue grill. Instead of using a roasting pan,
it is easier to make a homemade pan from extra heavy duty
foil - using three layers of foil and making it just big
enough to hold the turkey; the sides need to be about 2
1/2" high.
2. Rub the inside cavity of the turkey with 1/2 of the softened
butter. Stuff the inside cavity with your favorite stuffing/dressing
recipe. With any remaining turkey stuffing, stuff a little
of it between the skin and the breast meat. Using the remaining
butter, rub some over the skin of the turkey.
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3. Salt and pepper the turkey and place the slices of uncooked
bacon on top of the prepared turkey.
4. Place the turkey crosswise on the gas or charcoal grill
so that the pan is evenly distributed over the two sets of
jets. Set the flame so that a temperature of 300 - 325 degrees
F. is maintained. Cover with heavy duty foil for the majority
of the turkey's cooking time. Estimated cooking time is approximately
20 minutes per pound at 300¼ F.
5. For the last hour of cooking the turkey, remove the foil.
Every once in while, baste the turkey with the juices. If
you have "hot spots" in the jets of the grill, twice
during the cooking turn the turkey around (and the pan, of
course) so that one side is not more cooked than another.
6. Toward the end of the cooking time, open the grill and
insert the meat thermometer into the fleshy part of the thigh
and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165° F
(remember that the turkey will continue to cook after it is
removed from the heat of the fire). |
Fried
Turkey Recipe
11
to 12 pound turkey, room temperature
1/2 cup vinegar
1 1/2 cups white wine
Juice of 1 lemon
Red pepper to taste
Black pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Garlic powder
5 gallons peanut oil
Always
do the deep frying outdoors only.
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If your large pot does not have oil-level indicator lines,
use this method to determine the correct amount of oil:
Place the turkey in the fryer basket and place in the pot.
Add water until it reaches 1 to 2 inches above the turkey.
Remove the turkey and note the water level, using a ruler
to measure the distance from the top of the pot to the surface
of the water. Pour out the water and dry the pot thoroughly.
Be sure to measure for oil before dry rubbing the turkey.
Preheat
peanut oil in your outdoor deep fryer to 350 - 365 degrees
F. (It usually takes between 45 minutes and 1 hour to preheat
the peanut oil). Use a deep-fat frying thermometer clipped
onto the side of the pot. Be careful not to exceed this temperature,
as the oil can begin to smoke and catch fire.
Rub
the outside of the turkey vigorously with a mixture of additional
garlic powder, salt, and red pepper. Make sure your turkey
is completely dry before using - hot oil and water don't mix.
When oil is hot, carefully and slowly submerge the prepared
dry turkey into the hot oil. Leave turkey submerged in the
hot oil for 4 minutes per pound (turkey weighing under 11
pounds should cook only 3 minutes per pound). Never completely
cover the deep-fryer pot when frying with oil. Remove your
cooked turkey from the oil carefully and check internal temperature
of the turkey with a meat thermometer. The temperature should
reach 170 degrees F. in the breast. When the Turkey has reached
the desired temperature, turn the burner OFF and use Oven
Gloves or Mitts to remove it from the pot. Immediately wrap
the turkey with aluminum foil. Let the turkey sit approximately
30 minutes before carving.
Traditional
Roasted Turkey
1.Preheat
oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Remove turkey from its wrapping and remove neck and
giblets from inside the cavity. Set aside to make gravy
later.
3. Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water. Pat dry
with paper towels.
4.Put oven rack on lowest level of oven.
5. Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack in
a roasting pan.
6. Stuff turkey with your favorite stuffing recipe.
6. Rub the outside of the turkey with olive oil and seasonings.
7. Salt and pepper the turkey's body and cavity. Use the
salt and pepper to taste. Remember, if you add too much
you can ruin the taste, but you can always add extra later.
8. Roast turkey about 3 to 3.5 hours, or until a meat
thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh
registers 175 - 180 degrees F. |
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