The holidays bring with them thoughts of carving and serving tasty turkey dinners to your loved ones. Convention has its fans, but perhaps this year you’d like to try a twist to your turkey recipe. 

If you’ve got a gas grill and enjoy the smoky flavor of grilled meats, why not try griddling your turkey this year? It is not only possible, it is rather simple. And it delivers a tasty tempered bird to your table. And , having the turkey on the griddle rather than the stove leaves you with all the room you need to prepare the rest of your dinner in less time. When you are ready to purchase your turkey, the first thing to consider is the size of your grill. You do not need a bird that is so enormous that it can’t fit on the griddle rack. 

Ideally, the turkey you select should sit on the griddle and the lid should close without touching the bird. If this isn’t likely, don’t worry, you can still grill your turkey. You’ll need some heavy duty aluminum foil and either a V shaped griddle stand or another metal cooking instrument that you can safely use to prop open the lid of the griddle. Prepare and stuff the turkey as you normally would. 

Place it on the griddle so that it is positioned over one burner that you can turn off. Turn that burner off and the other burner or burners on. Since you can’t really “flip” a turkey, you require the turkey to cook by indirect heat, not by a direct flame beneath it. You get the hazy flavour by employing wood chips. If you have not used wood chips before, they are simple to use. You soak them in water so that as they dry out from the heat of the griddle, they’ll release a flavored smoke that infuses the turkey. 

You can buy a tray that is designed for putting wood chips on the grill or you can make one yourself from heavy duty aluminum foil. Take the wood chips out of the water and put them into your tray. Place the tray on the griddle over the lit burner. Next, close the lid fully if feasible. If not possible, prop the lid up only enough to keep it from touching the turkey. 

Then cover the rest of the opening with foil. If heat gets out you will generally have to cook the turkey longer. However, the foil creates enough of a barrier so the smoke is kept circulating inside the grill and flavoring the turkey. The time required to cook the turkey will alter depending on if or not you were able to close your griddle fully. 

If you can, it will take less time. If you are unable to, you could need to increase the heat on the other burner or burners to try and up for the lost heat by having to prop open the grill. After 2 hours, revolve the turkey 180 degrees to help guarantee even cooking. As with any technique of cooking birds, it is important to make sure that the internal temperature of the beef reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Ideally you should use a beef thermometer to watch the temperature as you cook. If you do not have one, then you may have to check the readiness by poking the thigh with a fork or skewer. If the juices that run out are clear and the turkey has turned a pleasant golden-brown color, then you are ready to get rid of it from the grill. Consider glazing the turkey with a sauce you use on other meats, or possibly adding barbecue sauce to the traditional cranberry sauce as a condiment. Don’t be scared to experiment – enjoy the new twist you’re putting on an old family tradition.

If you enjoy cooking and making food, visit cooking101.org for more recipe and guides on how to cook quality meals. Along the way, you might want to check out stuffing for turkey.