I am not a turkey pro. I've made perfectly acceptable turkeys in the past, but never one which was anything special. This year's turkey was special. I've already received requests to make this turkey again, and not wait for next year's Thanksgiving.
The method: Alice Water's Turkey Brining Recipe (you can find this many places on the web, including the NY Times). Instead of having the turkey soak for 72 hours, I only kept it in the brining solution for 24 hours. I've brined before and ended up with a bird which was too salty. Other friends have complained their brined birds were rubbery. The 24 hour brine resulted in a flavorful and moist bird with a great texture. It also made it easier for me to find a way of keeping the bird soaking at the correct temperature. My solution: I used a brining bag, which is just an oversized ziplock plastic bag. The solution didn't totally cover the bird in the bag, but by keeping the bird breast side down, the most important part of the turkey received the full benefit of the brining solution.
I placed the turkey/brining bag in a disposable roasting pan, surrounded the turkey with some ziplock bags filled with ice, and covered the turkey and the top of the pan with an inverted ice chest. I kept this on my screened-in porch, but a garage would have worked equally as well. It was easy to transfer the turkey to the roasting pan when it was ready to cook, and clean-up was a snap: the brining solution went down the drain, and the brining bag out to the garbage. The roasting pan and turkey went out to the grill.
This is the first time I've attempted to grill or smoke a turkey. My brother, who use to live in California, thinks the cold temperatures make it a difficult proposition, but he uses a charcoal grill. We have a large (six burner) Weber. I pre-heated the grill with all six burners set on high. Then, using only three burners set to low, the grill maintained a temperature of about 375 degrees, and cooked my twelve pound bird in record time, two hours. I think the Weber is a more efficient convection oven then the regular convection oven in my kitchen. It also allowed me to partially smoke the turkey, with the addition of a tin of soaked apple wood chips placed directly on top of one of the burners.
Next year I'll try my brother's suggestion. When the bird comes-off the grill, I'll put a pan of stuffing on so it will incorporate some of the smoke flavor while baking. Enjoy!
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