20 lb Turkey on a Weber Genesis?


 
BruceB_AlbanyNY

BruceB_AlbanyNY

TVWBB Member
We have a 20 lb frozen turkey my wife is thawing and we plan to have it this Sunday, but she doesn't want to turn on the oven in the summer. I plan to cook it on my Weber Genesis. But I'm not sure exactly how. I've never grilled a big 'ol turkey.
  • I can put it on the side and only turn on 1 of my 3 burners on the far side - cooking it indirect and slowly. Cook it covered until done.
  • I can cut it in half and cook both sides (inside down) in the middle, and use both side burners. Cook it covered until done.
I think the second method is better, but only if I can fit two halves in the middle (and I am not sure I can). I'm also not sure how long it will take to cook. Anyone have advice?
 
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Hi Bruce. I'm not going to be of much help because I've never done one on a Genesis nor similarly-sized gas grill but splitting it (or spatchcocking or even breaking it down into individual pieces) certainly seems like a good approach.

Mostly, I came to say this: a few years ago I did not have the strength or utensil that would cut through the bones of a large turkey that I was fighting with. So you might think about that. I since purchased these and have had success with them: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PGG7ZQ/?tag=tvwb-20


Good luck!
 
I've cooked large 18 to 22 lb turkeys on a Silver B. I used a roasting pan, on a rack tented it with foil for most of the cook and it was great.

My brother in law has cooked them on his side control E320 the same way.

it looks like your sig has two different Genesis grills, but your profile pic looks like a front control E335 or E325

If I were using my E330 ( front control) , I'm not sure how I'd set it up.

One idea I have is to use a cast iron griddle below the grates on the flavorizer bars as a heat shield under the turkey. Run three burners on low and you should get a grill temp around 350F or higher. If temp is too high you could turn off the center burner for a while, and then maybe the left, or the the right off for a while. Go out every 30 mins and fiddle with it.

One thing I always do when cooking a whole turkey is start the turkey HOT, like 450F for at least 15 mins to sear things in, then I reduce temp to 325 or 350

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Yeah, depends on the type of Genesis. A "true" one or a newer front control type. Honestly IDK if a Genesis of either type is capable of handing a bird that big. Likely breaking it down or at the least spatchcocking it
 
This was done on a WSK. I'd bet you can adapt it to your gasser. Same process, just get a drip pan underneath the bird to collect the grease as it drips off the bird and helps diffuse your heat more evenly due to the smaller cooking chamber and sq inches.

Brett-EDH

Thread '27# of Turkey parts'

Bought two 18# birds and cooking 1.5 birds for Thanksgiving which is our contribution to dinner for 25+ people. Others are making sides and a ham and more.

For my remaining half bird, I deboned the breast and wrapped and froze that and wrapped and froze the leg, thigh, wing and the part that goes over the fence last, all for future dinner cooks.

So, into a 5% brine, 1825 ml apple cider and 800 ml water, fresh crushed garlic, bay leaves, black pepper and two sliced oranges, one in each 2-gallon ziplock bag. The bags are mostly even with turkey pieces.

This will all marry until tomorrow...
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I cook turkeys all the time on my two Genesis grills -- one n/s and the other e/w burners. I do the same thing regardless. Doesn't make any difference.

Spatchcock the turkey and then separate the legs/thighs. Makes it easy to cook the dark meat longer and to the required higher temp if the bird is in pieces.

Put the flattened breast in the middle, leg/thighs on the side. You can orient the breast to run parallel to the direction of the burners.

Crank it up to a high roasting temp using all the burners on med to high. Then you can turn the middle burner(s) down under the breast after a while and continue to roast at an overall lower temp while still blasting the dark meat.

I don't bother with drip pans unless I want to catch drippings for gravy.

It is pretty simple. You are just using the gasser like an oven set to a roasting temp.
 
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How on earth do you keep the grill going up in an inferno cranked up like that? Poultry is notoriously flammable
 
It looks an like there are two choices - either fo cook it whole with a roasting pan (we;ll have to buy an aluminum pan) or cut it into quarters with our poultry shears.

Thanks! Crossing my fingers.
 
LMichaels said:
How on earth do you keep the grill going up in an inferno cranked up like that? Poultry is notoriously flammable
Click to expand...
If you must know. Those GGs really help with that!! Great for minimizing flare ups.

But even with regular grates, I don’t find it that hard to slow roast a turkey at a moderate temp.
 
ITurkey.jpg

Success grilling a 20 pound Turkey on a Weber E330 GG! This is what I did. I placed the whole turkey on the left-most side of the grill. I had the rightmost burner on high, and the middle burner on the lowest. The middle one is adjusted to reach 350 degrees. I started with the breast-side down. After 1 1/2 hours, the rightmost side was browner that the left. So I rolled the turkey over - beast side up, and again moved it to the left-most side of the grill. Total time was about 3 hours. I was using a bad thermocouple probe and overcooked it (according to my Thermapen) to 175-185 - where my target was 160. I was concerned that it would be too dry but the whole turkey was moist and tender, and the wings were perfect. When you can buy a 20 lb turkey for $10 - this was a winner - and my wife loved that the oven wasn't used. If only we could use the grill during the cold upstate NY November weather.
 
No reason you can’t use the grill in November. Really helps to free up the kitchen.

I do that for TG and also Christmas turkeys at our mountain ski house. Always freezing with snow on the ground. Grill works fine.

It does help, however, that my grill spot is right next to the kitchen door and also has a roof over it.
 
In an cold exposed environment, with the wind blowing, my 2000-era grill was unable to reach a temperature above 300 degrees. I tried. And unless I put it in the garage (which would require lifting it off the ground and carrying it from the back yard over 60 feet of possible snow), it won't have a roof or windbreak.
 
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