British BBQ Society Forums

Hello everybody. Ive just been informed by HWMBO that i'm cooking the Christmas Turkey on the Weber rotisserie again this year as last year was a huge success, the turkey tasted awsome, freed up the oven and was almost stress free and led to less washing up . The weather last year was extremely mild so i didnt have to worry about the rain which leads me to my first question - Do you think it would be safe to do it in my garage if i left the side door open? I dont have the car in it and there is nothing flamable in it. What do you think?

Also, does anyboby have any tips about trussing a turkey? I tied it up like I would a chicken but as the legs where so tender, I only just managed to catch them as they fell off which wasnt a massive problem apart from the visual presentation at the table.

Looking forward to hearing any advice, Ian

I would keep it outside personally, rain is not really an issue, but you can try and put an umbrella on or something.

I'd keep it outside. Last thing you want to do on Christmas Day is make yourself ill, or burn down the shed.

With regard to the Turkey, a suggestion. Rather than truss the legs up, I'd remove them completely and cook them as a separate item (perhaps in the oven). This gets over the problem of making sure that both the legs and the breast are cooked properly.

In fact, if you can be bothered, I would bone the legs and stuff the legs. This then gives you a variety of different tastes, from the same bird. I quite like a sweet stuffing of pork sausagemeat and apricots.

Don't cook it in the garage, that the smoke itself contains minute particles of fat within it and these will adhere and linger well after you've finished.
As to the turkey, if you keep it whole, push a metal skewer through the legs pinning them to the body but I'd avoid traditional trussing as you want the smoke to permeate the bird. THEN towards the end of the cooking time, place the bird on several large sheets of foil which should enable easier transfer, or place it into a roasting tin after the smoking period is over. Or lift the grid off and place the whole thing on a tray for transport

Do you have anything other than a Rotisserie ? Maybe if its raining use a sealed bbq and cook as you would in he oven (pretty much) I have done the Thanksgiving and Christmas Turkey this way and worked perfectly.

Hi everybody, thanks for the replies, I agree with you all about the garage so I'll give that idea a miss.What I am trying to find out is, is there a different way to tie the turkey up so the legs dont fall off when its almost cooked but still turning on the rotisserie? I love the idea of taking the legs off and de-boning them then stuffing them but I think I'll leave that for another occasion. Think I'll go with Keiths idea of pinning the legs to the bird, sounds like a plan to me.

Cheers everybody
Ian

Chris you got a recipe for the turkey legs? Sounds great. Smoke them like a fatty?

If you are going to bone the legs, don't forget to remove all the sinews. A good butcher will have already pulled them but the mechanically prepared turkeys often have lots left in.

My next lesson involves your grandmother and the art of sucking eggs