Beer Can Thanksgiving Turkey on the BBQ???

OK, we're finally going to post this because so many of our customers have requested it. Next Thursday, Ed will be getting the propane BBQ ready for his famous, and most requested, beer can turkey on the grill.  Depending on the amount of people we have coming over we may end up doing 2 turkeys. A 10-12 lb. turkey works the best. Set the grates on the lowest level and preheat the grill to 350 degrees.  In the meantime prepare the turkey as you normally would by cleaning the gizzards out.

Ingredients:

• 1 10-12 lb. turkey thawed (or fresh) 
• 1 Fosters Lager (large can) 
• 1/2 lb. butter
• seasoning of your choice (Slap 'ya Mamma cajun seasoning is our favorite, but you can do any dry rub you like or make your own with a little garlic powder or salt, pepper and favorite spices) 

That's it for the ingredients. Open the Fosters Lager and pour out (yeah, right) approx 1/3 of the can. There is nothing that says you can't start drinkin' here. Shove the beer can up the large orifice of the bird.  Melt butter with your favorite seasoning or rub and thoroughly baste or rub down the bird. Be sure to get under the skin and let it drizzle down the bird.  Once grill has consistent heat at 350 degrees, place your bird can up (which will serve as the holder too!) on the end of the grill turning off the burner directly under the bird.  (If doing 2 birds, you will need a 3 burner bbq lighting the middle burner only during cooking) This way it doesn't burn the outside before the inside is done. Basting generously through the cooking process let cook approx. 15 minutes per lb. We have found for a 10 to 12 lb. bird cooking times are 2-3 hours.  CAREFULLY remove bird from grill and let stand 20 minutes before trying to remove the beer can. Place bird on platter and carve. We typically do this with whole chickens and it is the moistest bird ever.  All the hops in the beer help to baste the bird from the inside and it doesn't taste like beer at all.  Leftovers are moist too! For those who prefer to use a soda can, Dr. Pepper works well too. You just need to find the large can for a turkey. For chickens, regular 12 oz. cans are fine. A lot of people don't like the idea of not stuffing the actual bird but we find it is just fine to do the stuffing on the side baked in the oven.  It doesn't get the stuffing greasy.  

So there you have it. On Thanksgiving day no matter what the weather brings, we'll be cooking the bird on the bar-be-que.  Wishing you all a warm and joyous Thanksgiving holiday with the people you love the most.