Zagarella Italian Restaurant

The holidays bring with them thoughts of carving and preparing mouth watering turkey dishes for your best friends and family. Tradition has its devotees, but perhaps this season you would like to consider a twist to your turkey recipe.

If you have a gas grill and like the great smoky flavoring of barbecued meats, why don't you try grilling your turkey this coming year? It isn't just entirely possible, it is relatively simple. And it also delivers a sumptuous distinctive flavored fowl to your dinner table. In addition, cooking the turkey on the bbq as opposed to the oven leaves you with the room you require to pull together the rest of the dinner in less time.

When you're ready to purchase your turkey, one thing to give consideration to is the dimensions of your barbecue grill. You don't want a turkey that's so big that it cannot fit within the grill slab. Ideally, the turkey you select should sit on the barbecue grill and the cover should shut without coming in contact with the turkey. In the event that it's not possible, don't get worried, you can certainly continue to barbecue grill your turkey. You will need some strong aluminum foil and either a V shaped barbecue grill stand or another metal cooking instrument which you are able to safely use to prop open the cover of the barbecue grill.

Prepare and stuff the turkey as you normally would. Put it over the grill so that it's located over one burner that you're able to switch off. Turn that burner off and the other burner or burners on. Given that you cannot really "flip" a turkey, you want the turkey to cook by indirect heat, not by a direct flame beneath it.

You can get the great smoky flavors with the aid of wood chips. In case you haven't used wood chips before, they're easy to use. You absorb them in water so that as they dry out from the actual heat of the barbecue grill, they will release a flavored smoke that infuses the turkey. You can get a tray that is designed for placing wood chips on the grill or you can make one yourself from strong aluminum foil. Take the wood chips out of the water and place them into your tray. Place the tray on the grill above the lit burner.

Next, close up the lid completely if possible. If not possible, brace the cover up just enough to help keep it from coming in contact with the turkey. Then cover the rest of the opening with aluminum foil. If heat gets out you will probably have to grill the turkey longer. Even so, the foil provides enough of a barrier so the smoke is maintained circulating inside of the grill and flavoring the turkey.

The amount of time required to cook the turkey will vary determined by whether or not you had been able to close up your barbecue grill fully. If you can, it will require less time. If you can't, you might want to raise the heat on the other burner or burners to try to make up for the lost heat by having to prop open the barbecue grill. After a couple of hrs, rotate the turkey 180 degrees to help ensure even cooking.

As with any procedure for cooking poultry, it is important to ensure that the inner temperature within the meat gets to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. If at all possible you should utilize a meat thermometer to monitor the temperature as you cook. If you do not have one, you'll be required to check the readiness by poking the upper leg with a fork or skewer. If the juices that run out are clear and the actual turkey has turned a nice golden-brown color, then you are ready to take it out of the grill. Consider glazing the turkey with a gravy you use on other meats, or possibly adding barbecue sauce to the traditional cranberry sauce as a condiment. Don't be afraid to experiment - have fun with the new twist you're putting on an old family tradition.