Thanks for the tip Jared! Sounds like your Thanksgiving feast is going to be pretty yummy!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Europe but on Boxing day we'll put a 16 kg turkey in the oven. Goes in at 7 am and goes out at 6 pm. All day long at a temperature between 176 F and 194 F .
We fill it up with cellery, walnuts, apple and herbs. We serve it with Brussels sprouts, cranberries, red cabbage and some other ancient, forgotten vegetables.
And of course a good glass of wine.
A great day with family and friends.

Our turkey will be fried.

What a memory....in the 80's maybe, I thought turkey on the BBQ would be fun! Unstuffed, rubbed in butter, well seasoned, temp just right, until I checked on it after abt an hour. Whoops, propane is out, turkey just warm, definitely not cooked. It's November and we had BBQ infrequently in sept/Oct.
So I packed up turkey for a trip into house where my 4 kidlets (ages 8-11ish) had been teasing abt such a silly idea! "What will you do now?" Smiling, I plunked the bird into a preheated oven in the house and saved the day. Since then, we have deep fried the turkey 3-4 times, installed natural gas to the grill, and used the oven at 450 degrees x 60 minutes then, 375 degrees in 3 or 4 intervals of 15 minutes until proper temp, usually stuffed, and used commercially brined over last 4 years. Yummy, yummy. This year, one of those kidlets is having 16 of us to her home.

Monique...your Euro-turkey sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing your traditions!

MS Colours...fried turkey? Sounds good! Thanks!

whirlwyn...I imagine a lot of turkeys have been escorted from grill to oven, but your ultimate turkey cooking instructions sound yummy indeed! Thanks for the recipe!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

We have grilled our turkey for the last 20 years. Love it and is easy.

Not entirely sure what a "snowbird" turkey is. But our turkey will be oven-roasted all the way. However my brother does have a turkey fryer and I can vouch for the fact that deep-fried turkey is absolutely delicious.

We've grilled our turkey for quite a few years...use some Mesquite chips for added flavor. Absolutely delicious! Only problem is that, as we're getting older, it's harder to be out in the cold to check on it, add briquetts, etc. so on colder Thanksgivings, we oven-roast it inside.

scubapam1951...I'd say you're experts after 20 years of grillin'!

almostjane...a "snowbird" turkey is a turkey [bird] that's cooked outside even when it's snowing!

organizedsarah...love the idea of mesquite chips for that extra flavor!

Thanks for sharing!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

One year my sister hosted Thanksgiving and decided to b-b-q the turkey outside. The briquettes were placed on the sides the Webber grill and an aluminum pan was put in the center. Cheesecloth was soaked in some marinade and wrapped around the turkey. It was a very large turkey. We all took turns running outside to brush on marinade; but my Dad did it most of the time. It was really cold outside. Anyway, by the end of the day we're all wondering when this turkey is going to be ready to eat. What we had forgotten was the cheesecloth was weighing down the little plastic thermometer that was suppose to pop up when it was done. Needless to say, the turkey was chewy. But, the best part? It's one of our familys' most memorable holiday stories. Someone invariably tells the story, we laugh, and think of our Dad.

sonny62...proof that even if the turkey isn't perfect, the memory is! Thanks for sharing!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

Snowbird, smoked they all sound delicious

A grilled turkey has become a Thanksgiving tradition at our house. My husband is always in charge of the main event. He brines the turkey the day prior and then throws it on the charcoal grill. Not only it is beautifully flavored but gorgeous to behold! A couple of additional perks to grilling is cooking time is quick and the leftovers make the most amazing, smokey turkey soup. It is a Thanksgiving Day miracle!

My boyfriend bbqs the turkey every year. We brine it first in an apple cider brine and he uses either mesquite or hickory chips. He has a rotisserie attachment for the Weber. He also uses hard wood charcoal. This turkey is legend in our neighborhood, everybody loves it!

Mine is in the oven and very happy there - but I made many snowbird turkeys in Vermont because our "temporary" kitchen (2 burners, no oven) lasted five years. Anything baked had to be done in the BBQ on the porch. Oh. And when the stove in my current house died the night before Christmas last year, it was back to the BBQ again. My kids grew up thinking turkeys and lasagnas in the BBQ were perfectly normal!

BBQ rocks. Frees up the oven for lots of other things. And the bird cooks fast and brown beautifully.

Thanks everyone for sharing your turkey grillin', smokin' and spinnin' experiences and recipes! Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

I did a turkey breast in the crock pot ,then put in oven about 15 minutes to brown. It was tender ,moist and delicious.
One year we did Cornish hens outside on the grill, delicious.

Have done our turkeys on a Weber charcoal grill for well over 30 years now. Comes out fabulous each & every time & leaves my ovens open for other dishes. Butter pats under the skin, cavity stuffed with orange wedges, chunks of onion & fresh herbs. The real key is to baste frequently with mixture of peanut oil & garlic. Always moist & flavorful with a gorgeous golden skin.

Ours too is grilled every year now, since we first tried it almost 15 years ago. We brine it overnight, then spatchcock it for even cooking, rub it with my DH's own rub recipe, and in only 1-1/2 hours for a 14 lb bird we are set. Delicious!

We're Canadian so our Thanksgiving is long past. We always do our turkey in the oven. I stuff it with 2 different stuffings. One a bread based, the other sausage meat. Tried the BBQ once, nearly had a mutiny from hubby and kids, the house didn't smell right, there was no gravy from the drippings for the mashed potatoes.

Oooohhh Turkey! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! - Janis, GKB

Ohhh looks like a couple of our designers at Gilman's are on Houzz today! I have never had a turkey on the barbie but it looks great! -Angeline, GKB

troysmommy I couldn't agree more, it's just not Thanksgiving without the roast turkey smell and the mashed potatoes and gravy :)

Every year, anytime we have turkey it's grilled.

I get hungry reading all these amazing ways to do a turkey!

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker

Troysmommy, even though we do our turkey on the grill, we still have that lovely roasting smell in the house and gravy on our dressing and potatoes! When my DH spatchcocks the turkey, he gives me the backbone with lovely bits of fat attached and the neck from the giblet pack, which are then roasted. I make the gravy from the pan drippings of those, and we have the best of both worlds.

Didn't intend to grill the turkey but since we lost power here in NH, we had no choice. It was terrific. We lost power the day before when our apple pie was in the oven and about halfway done. After the turkey was done, we put the half baked pie on the grill & our daughter is still talking about how good it was & how she wants to cook the Christmas pie on the grill!!

As always, grilled mine on my Weber Kettle (charcoal). Maintained the 20# bird at about 300-325 degrees F for about 5 hours. Used a couple handfuls of hickory chips at the beginning. As always, the turkey came out crisp on the outside; moist, tender and juicy on the inside; with a subtle smokey flavor. Amazing!!!

Hi Everyone,

The beautiful main photo of the turkey above is from Fine Cooking.com! Here's the link to the recipe!


http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/bacon-wrapped-smoked-turkey.aspx

Christi, on behalf of Thos. Baker