• 5 Things You Need to Know
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• Every November millions of Americans tighten up with stress at the thought of how to cook a golden, succulent turkey for Thanksgiving. Let me tell you; it’s not that difficult. Focus on a handful of critical elements.
• 1. Brining a day ahead
• Because turkey meat is so lean and bland, some kind of brining is important. In the following recipe I call for a dry brine, which just means coating the turkey with kosher salt the day before cooking. Overnight, in the refrigerator, the salt will draw out some moisture, which will mix with the salt, and then the meat will reabsorb much of that flavorful moisture.
• 2. Maintaining an even temperature
• An even grilling temperature in the range of 350º to 400ºF is also key here. That’s easy enough to achieve on a gas grill, assuming there is plenty of gas in the tank. It’s a bit more challenging with a charcoal grill. Before cooking your first turkey with charcoal, make sure you have had some good experiences maintaining a live fire over the course of several hours.
• 3. Shielding the breast meat
• Because the breast meat cooks faster than the leg meat, you should protect the breast and slow down its rate of cooking. I do that by facing the breast down inside a broth-andvegetable-filled pan for the first hour of cooking.
• 4. Catching the perfect doneness
• In a very short period of time, a turkey can turn from moist and fabulous to dry and stringy, so it’s imperative that you use an instant-read thermometer and remove the turkey from the grill when the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 170ºF.
• 5. Getting enough rest
• Finally, don’t skip the resting step after your turkey comes off the grill. During that period, the turkey will finish cooking and the juices will redistribute nicely.
• Techniques