BBQ Turkey -- The Cookout That Made Three Feel Like Enough

Labor Day weekend and Mama, who had been working at a sustainable pace for the first time since March, had three days off consecutively. We celebrated by doing very little, which was the right celebration. She slept late. She read on the back porch. She let me cook every meal and said thank you each time without elaborating, which I understood to mean that having food appear without requiring her effort was itself the gift.

I made Labor Day food for the three of us — ribs on the grill that I had marinated overnight in my dry rub, potato salad with extra mustard the way Daddy likes it, baked beans from scratch. Small-scale version of the cookouts we had been having all our lives, just us, the backyard, the late-summer evening. Daddy said it felt like a real holiday. I said it was a real holiday. He said he meant that we were making it feel real with just three people. I said three is enough. He agreed.

Jamal called from Southern and we talked for an hour. His football season had been delayed and modified by COVID protocols and he was frustrated — the practices were happening but the games were uncertain and the uncertainty was its own kind of cost for someone who had been working toward playing for years. He said, "I've worked my whole life for this and I can't even play." I said, "You'll play. This is one year." He said he knew. He also said it was hard to know something and feel it at the same time. I said that was the whole thing, wasn't it. He said yeah. Yeah it was.

The SAT was four weeks away. I had two more full practice tests scheduled before then. I was ready. I was going to be ready.

That evening in the backyard — just the three of us, the late-summer air, and food that had been tended to with patience — is exactly what this BBQ Turkey is built for. When there’s no crowd to impress and no performance to put on, you can give the food your full attention, and that care comes through in every bite. I’ve started turning to this recipe when I want something that feels ceremonial without requiring a whole production, something that says this day mattered in the quiet way Daddy meant when he said we were making it real.

BBQ Turkey

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 3 lbs bone-in turkey thighs and drumsticks
• 1 cup BBQ sauce (store-bought or homemade), plus more for serving
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Make the dry rub. In a small bowl, combine smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, black pepper, salt, and cayenne. Stir until evenly mixed.
2. Prep the turkey. Pat turkey pieces dry with paper towels. Rub olive oil all over each piece, then coat generously with the dry rub. For best results, cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
3. Preheat the grill. Heat your grill to medium (about 350—375°F). Set up for indirect heat by leaving one burner off or banking coals to one side.
4. Grill low and slow. Place turkey pieces on the indirect heat side of the grill. Cover and cook for 60—75 minutes, turning once halfway through, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
5. Sauce and finish. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, brush turkey generously with BBQ sauce and move to the direct heat side. Grill uncovered, turning once, until the sauce is caramelized and slightly charred at the edges.
6. Rest and serve. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before serving. Pass extra BBQ sauce at the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 340 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 12g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 520mg