The Best Grilled Turkey Recipe

Step 1

The night before grilling your turkey, remove any giblets and the neck and pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Place the turkey in a large baking dish. At this point, I stick it in the fridge overnight, uncovered – away from anything that it could touch. I’ve been doing this for a few years and it makes for amazing crispy turkey skin!

Step 2

Remove the turkey from the fridge one hour or so before grilling. Before grilling, make sure your propane tank is full and that you have a backup!

Step 3

Preheat your grill to medium-high heat, about 450 degrees F. I preheat all burners. Prepare a stack of disposable foil roasting pans (about 2 or 3 pans) stacked together.

Step 4

Place the turkey in a roasting pan, breast-side up. Fill the cavity with 1 halved onion, 1 lemon, the garlic bulb and a bunch of fresh herbs. Tie the legs loosely together with kitchen twine. Tuck the wings under the turkey.

Step 5

Rub the turkey all over with the softened butter. Sprinkle it with the salt and the pepper. I also like to add a sprinkling of dried herbs, like thyme, sage and rosemary.

Step 6

Pour 1 to 2 cups chicken stock in the bottom of the roasted pan. Add the other lemon wedges and onions.

Step 7

Place the roasting pan on the grill and turn the center burner to medium-low. Close the grill. Ideally, you want the temperature to be about 425 to 450 degrees F during cook time, so adjust accordinging with your grill.

Step 8

Grill the turkey for 2.5 to 3 hours, checking the bird every 30 minutes or so. You want to be sure you don't run out of propane and that the grill is holding it's temperature. You can baste it with the juices in the bottom of the pan, but only keep the grill open for a minute or so at a time.

Step 9

Halfway through cook time, rotate the roasting pan and add more stock to the bottom of the pan if needed.

Step 10

After 2.5 hours, check the turkey - you want to cook it until the the temperature taken in the thigh reaches 180 degrees F.

Step 11

Once the turkey is finished, let it rest for 30 to 60 minutes before slicing.