Thanksgiving on the Grill with Tips and Ideas

Thanksgiving on the Grill with Grilling Tips and IdeasThere are few dinners on the North American calendar as iconic as the Thanksgiving dinner, with a golden turkey at the centre of the table with all of the bounty of the fall harvest for fixings.

A lot of effort goes into getting the dinner prepared, and with a house full of family and friends it can create a chaotic scene in your kitchen. But by taking your cooking to your backyard grill, you can ease the activity in your kitchen and leave the house for socializing and enjoying your company.

“Your backyard grill is, essentially, an outdoor oven with a versatility you simply can’t replicate in your kitchen,” says Stephen Schroeter, Senior Vice President of Napoleon. “You can add new flavors and bring a whole new experience to your traditional Thanksgiving dinner by cooking the entire meal on your barbecue.”

Thanksgiving on the Grill with Grilling Tips and Ideas

Stephen offers these pointers for cooking your Thanksgiving dinner on your grill.

* The Main Course. Thanksgiving and turkey are near synonymous. Start by preparing your grill for indirect cooking, and placing a drip pan with water above the unlit burners, but below the cooking grate (if possible, try to leave a space between the cooking grates where you can fit a baster). As the barbecue warms up — aim for a steady temperature of 350°F — get your bird ready. Even though you are cooking it on your grill, proceed as if you were doing it in your oven. Stuff it with your preferred mixture, season the skin (Napoleon suggests rubbing the outside of the turkey with butter and then liberally seasoning it with coarse salt, fresh ground black pepper and fresh thyme, sage and rosemary from your herb garden), truss the legs and, when the barbecue reaches the desired temperature, place it on the grill. Check and baste it every hour. Cook until it reaches the desired internal temperature — 165°F, or about 20 minutes of cooking time per pound. Let it rest after your remove it from the heat – but don’t turn your grill off yet.

* Be creative. If you want to bring new flavors to your turkey, fill a smoker tube with apple wood chips and place on one of the lit burners. The natural smokey flavor is something you simply can’t replicate in your oven. If you can’t access the drip tray with your baster, try making a basting liquid with melted butter and white wine.

* The Side Dish. Save the stress on your stove top by doing the potatoes on your barbecue. Wrap your chopped potatoes in tinfoil, with a liberal amount of butter or olive oil (or both!), fresh chopped chives and a minced clove or two of garlic. Place the foil packet on the top shelf and leave it for about an hour, maybe flipping it once. Once they are ready, you are free to serve as is or to mash them up with some butter, cream cheese and milk.

* The Vegetables. The barbecue brings a whole new flavor experience to seasonal harvest vegetables. Brushed with olive oil and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, the charred, smokey flavors are unlike anything you can do on your stove. Place them directly over low to medium heat, or use a grill top wok to cook up a medley of peppers, zucchini and carrots. Do you have a side burner? Use it to boil corn on the cob. Or grill the corn in its husks.

* The Gravy. The concoction of the turkey drippings (be careful when removing the drip tray from the grill, as it will be hot!) and the white wine-and-butter basting liquid is an excellent base for an incredible turkey gravy. Once the turkey is removed from the grill and is resting, turn on all the burners and place the drip tray on top. As it comes to a gentle boil, whisk together some flour and chicken stock until all the lumps are gone, then whisk that into the drippings. Keep stirring until it is smooth, skim off the fat and pour into your gravy boat.

Napoleon was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 50 Best Managed Companies in 2014, an annual distinction sponsored by CIBC World Markets, Deloitte, The National Post, Queen’s School of Business and CEO Forum. For more information, please visit NapoleonProducts. Follow Napoleon on Facebook.

Comments

  1. Jo-Ann Brightman says

    I have never tried to make my turkey on a grill. My son would be the grill master so I have to ask him if he would want to try this this year or some other time.

  2. Last year for the first time, we prepared our Thanksgiving turkey on the grill. It came out fabulous and gave us more room in the oven for side dishes.

  3. We’ve already put the grill away for the season, but I like some of these ideas. I especially like the idea of adding a smoked flavor to the turkey–that would be so tasty!

  4. Susan Hartman says

    One year my husband cooked our turkey on the grill. I think he did add some wood chips. It was good but we went back to our old stove since.

  5. This would make a great meal. I don’t think my sister would go for it. She loves cooking the turkey but the rest of the meal sounds great on the grill.

  6. Cathy Jarolin says

    Actually everything that was cooked on the grill seemed awesome. I can just smell the aromas of the Garlic ,butter ,Herbs and oils. I have never had any of it on the grill before~ it sure would be a Great alternative to cooking it in the kitchen. Thank You for sharing..

  7. I have never had turkey on the grill before and it sure sounds good. We will have to consider trying this one of these days thank you for the great tips.

  8. Dana Rodriguez says

    These are great tips. We grill and smoke year round and am thinking we may smoke a turkey breast this year.