Trash Can Turkey

Our family cooks our turkey "Trash Can" style.  We use a stainless steel beer keg to get away from the galvanized trash cans.  We have cooked up to a 31 lb turkey with amazing results.  This is the juiciest turkey and it frees up our oven to cook other things and did I mention it takes less time to cook?

Step One: Light charcoal briquettes away from the turkey so you won't get the lighter fluid taste in your turkey.  We use 1 lb of charcoal per lb of turkey.

Step Two: Place turkey on tinfoil.  We custom        fabricated an upright aluminum stake with base plate to keep our turkey upright. You can season or brine your turkey if you like beforehand.  You could place inside a tinfoil pan to catch drippings if            you wish.  Tie legs & wings together and cover with tinfoil to keep them from drying out.

Step Three: Cover turkey with beer keg.  Carefully place hot briquettes on top of keg and all around the base.

Step Four: We cover our briquettes with tinfoil to     keep the heat in. Cook for 5-8 minutes per lb.  Our 31 lb turkey took just under three hours to cook and the outside temp was 20 degrees.

Step Five: Stick turkey with temp pobe.  Should be  165°F in breast or 180°F in thigh.  Let turkey rest for 20-30 minutes BEFORE cutting to allow turkey to absorb all its juices.