Sam The Cooking Guy Wife

One Great Grilled Turkey

Once you get your head around the fact that your grill is really just an oven that's outside – anything is possible, including cooking a turkey out there. But the key is to brine it first.

Brine

Ingredients

1/2 gallon apple juice
1 gallon water
2 tablespoons each dried sage & rosemary
5 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 cups Kosher salt
1.5 cups brown sugar
2 yellow onions, peeled & cut in quarters
1 fresh turkey, 10-12 pounds

Directions

Combine all brine ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 15-20 minutes partly covered
Allow brine to cool completely
Put rinsed turkey (without the bag of giblets etc) into a brining bag or non-reactive pot and add the cooled brine
Seal bag or cover pot and refrigerate up to 24 hours
The goal is to cover the turkey with the liquid during brining. So simply adjust the juice and or water to add extra liquid for a larger bird
Remove turkey, rinse, pat dry well and cook:

Turkey

Ingredients

½ cup butter, room softened
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped fine
3 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped fine
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 large onions, peeled and quartered
1 lemon, quartered
2 sprigs each rosemary & thyme
2 tablespoons kosher salt
½ teaspoons black pepper
½ stick butter

Directions

Combine softened butter, rosemary, thyme and salt – mix well
Rub the outside of the turkey well with the herb butter
Season cavity and outside of turkey with more Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
Tie turkey together with cooking twine
Set up a gas or charcoal grill for indirect cooking at 350 degrees
Place the turkey on the indirect side, cover and cook (turning halfway 180 degrees) until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the breast registers 165 degrees
Let the turkey rest 30 minutes before carving.