Thanksgiving Turkey
This is the year to clear out of the kitchen and make your holiday meal an outdoor, wood-fired one on the Big Green Egg whether you want to bake, roast, smoke or sear. From cooking appetizers to smoking a turkey to baking desserts, the Big Green Egg is the ultimate cooker for your Thanksgiving feast. Our recipes are festive, yet simple, and with an EGG, outdoor cooking requires so little effort that you’ll be free to relax with family and friends.
With its expansive cooking capacity, you’ll find that you can easily cook your entire Thanksgiving meal on the EGG. Add an EGGspander, and you can cook at different temperatures with different techniques – multi-zone (direct and indirect) and multi-level – all at the same time!
Roasted Turkey on the Big Green Egg
As for that turkey, you can cook a whole bird or just a breast. You can brine it or inject it, and then smoke or roast it. Check out all of these festive, yet simple, turkey recipe options… and free up room in your oven for other foods.
Delicious Appetizers and Sides
These recipes will make you think differently about Thanksgiving sides and desserts – they make for a very modern feast of thanks.
Desserts
The Leftovers
You know you want pizza. You know you also want to use your leftovers. And those turkey leftovers don’t have to be just a turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich. Compromise: let the kids bake their favorite pizza on the EGG and serve the adults turkey shepherd’s pie cooked on the EGG.
Your Turkey Cheat Sheet
BIG GREEN EGG COOKING TEMP
FINAL TURKEY INTERNAL TEMP
TURKEY TIMELINE
*COOKING TIME BASED ON A 15LB TURKEY
COOKING DAY
NOON
- Start dreaming about the best turkey ever!
1 PM
- Light the Big Green Egg! Bring the temperature up to 325°F/163°C.
2 PM
- Open the dome and add the pecan smoking chips to coals. (Leave time to debate with friends whether to soak or not to soak!) Add the convEGGtor to the EGG, legs up, then add the cooking grid.
- Spread the seasoning generously over the outside of the turkey. Load the turkey onto a Vertical Turkey Roaster or into a Roasting Rack, then place into a drip pan.
- Add the onion and celery to the drip pan.
- Fill the pan with chicken broth, wine, or water.
- Place the drip pan, with the turkey, on the cooking grid.
- Close the EGG and start practicing your “Best Chef Ever” acceptance speech.
3 PM
- Your neighbor smells what you’re cooking and asks to come over for dinner.
4 PM
- Check the internal temperature of the turkey for doneness. (USDA guidelines recommend an internal temp of 165°F/74°C. Remember that the turkey’s internal temp will continue to rise a few degrees after it’s removed from the EGG.)
5 PM
- When your turkey has reached the ideal internal temperature, remove the bird from the EGG, tent with aluminum foil and let it rest a few minutes so that the juices settle.
5:30 PM
- Take photos to post to Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram before carving and serving the turkey. Remember to tag @BigGeenEgg and #BigGreenEgg on social media so we can see your turkey pics!
THE PERFECT TURKEY
INGREDIENTS
- One turkey, cleaned thoroughly
- Big Green Egg Savory Pecan Seasoning
- 1 Whole onion cut in half
- 1 stalk celery
- 2 cups chicken broth, wine, or water
PREP
If you plan to soak your wood chips, start the night before.
Load the charcoal into the EGG the night before, so everything is ready on Thanksgiving.
EGGCESSORIES
- convEGGtor
- Savory Pecan Seasoning
- Pecan Smoking Chips
- Vertical Turkey Roaster or Roasting Rack
- Drip Pan
COOKING TIME ESTIMATES
Approximately 12 minutes per pound
10 lbs
2 hrs
12 lbs
2 hrs 30 min
14 lbs
2 hrs 45 min
16 lbs
3 hrs 15 min
18 lbs
3 hrs 30 min
Top Accessories
To make your Thanksgiving feast easy, be sure to take a look at our Rib & Roasting Rack or a Vertical Poultry Roaster. Sides cooked on our Grilling Planks have a subtle, smoky flavor. View our Plank Cooking online publication for more recipes and tips. To get a jump on your holiday gift list, check out Ray Lampe’s Big Green Egg Cookbook from “Dr. BBQ”.
