Cooking Tips: Cooking a Turkey on a Gas Grill

Oven on the fritz or filled with your favorite holiday side dishes? Look to that gas grill sitting on your deck to pull some turkey-cooking duty. While it may seem like something off an episode of an extreme cooking TV show, with a few simple cooking tips, you can easily cook your bird on a gas grill.

Before you set your turkey out on the open blue flame, check out how your grill actually works. You'll want indirect heat to cook your turkey on the grill. If your gas grill has only one large burner, place a pan of water under the grate to create indirect heat. Place the turkey in a roasting pan and place on top of the grill. If the grill has two or three burners, try turning off one burner and then placing the turkey away from the flame. Preheat the grill just like you would an oven. Try this tasty cooking tip: If you want a smoked taste, set a few moistened wood chips (like hickory or mesquite) on the grill in an aluminum tray, away from direct heat.

When using a gas grill, always follow manufacturer's directions for cooking times. But if your grill has its own thermometer or you place an oven thermometer on the grate, you can monitor the cook temp just as you would in an oven. Baste the turkey every half hour or so, and check the temp while you're at it, remembering that rain or wind could be a challenge to maintaining 350 degrees F.

And of course, make sure your gas tank is actually full. Half-cooked turkey just doesn't fly.

For additional information on cooking turkey, read Turkey: Alternative Routes to the Table on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's site.