How to Grill a Turkey

The ISFA work continues — another kitchen table this week, another young family with numbers that might work. I sat across from a couple in Story County and laid out the grants and watched their faces change from fear to possibility, and the change is the thing I live for now.

Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made grilled chicken with garden vegetables earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.

Canning approaches. August. The ritual that marks the turn from growing to preserving, from garden to pantry, from the sun to the jar. The pressure canner — Marlene's mother's, weight jiggly, gauge lying, handle replaced twice — waiting in the closet like a veteran reporting for duty. The heirloom equipment for the heirloom work.

After sitting across that kitchen table in Story County and watching fear turn into possibility, I came home needing to cook something that matched the size of that feeling — something that takes patience and confidence and rewards both. Grilling a whole turkey is that kind of cooking: it asks you to commit, to tend, to trust the process the way we ask those young families to trust that the numbers might just work. The kitchen doesn’t only look backward, and neither does this bird.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes | Total Time: 3 hours | Servings: 10–12

Ingredients

1 whole turkey (12–14 lbs), thawed and patted dry
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 lemon, halved
1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh thyme

Instructions

Prepare the turkey. Remove giblets and neck from the turkey cavity. Pat the turkey thoroughly dry with paper towels inside and out. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.
Make the herb butter. In a small bowl, combine softened butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, dried thyme, and onion powder. Mix until smooth.
Season the bird. Rub the herb butter generously under the skin over the breast meat and all over the outside of the turkey. Place the lemon halves, halved garlic head, and fresh herb sprigs inside the cavity.
Set up the grill for indirect heat. Preheat a gas grill to medium (about 325°F–350°F) by lighting the outer burners and leaving the center burners off, or arrange charcoal to the sides of the grill. Place a drip pan with 1 inch of water in the center.
Grill the turkey. Place the turkey breast-side up over the drip pan on the indirect heat zone. Close the lid. Grill for approximately 12–13 minutes per pound, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F.
Baste occasionally. Every 45 minutes, open the grill and baste the turkey with the drippings collected in the pan. If the skin is browning too quickly, tent loosely with foil.
Rest before carving. Remove the turkey from the grill and tent with foil. Let it rest for 20–30 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute.
Carve and serve. Carve the turkey and arrange on a platter. Serve with your favorite sides and the pan drippings as a simple jus.

Nutrition (per serving)

How to Grill a Turkey — When the Kitchen Grows Beyond What It Knows