I count my blessings, which are many and growing, everyday.
But really, WTF is going on these days?!
Trump wins (i.e., the electoral college, not the vote), R’s hold Senate, and now a judge, based on a totally misguided ruling, enjoins the new overtime rule days before it’s supposed to kick in (Dec 1).
And to top it off, my damn oven broke yesterday. I get of course that last bit is nothing relative to the others, but we are having T-giving here. So, if anyone has tips for grilling a turkey breast on a gas grill, please leave them in comments.
If I and my progressive colleagues pissed off some cosmic force, we sincerely apologize. But really, Ms. Force, you’re overdoing it. And that little bit with the oven is just really over the top.
Good grilling info:
http://amazingribs.com/recipes/chicken_turkey_duck/
I haven’t used a gas grill to do turkey, but I’ve been smoking them on a charcoal Weber for decades. Here’s what I’d do in your shoes.
1: Make sure the turkey breast will fit in your grill. No point in continuing if it won’t.
2. Use a roasting pan with half a cup or so of water in the bottom, just like you would in your (broken) kitchen oven. This should (hopefully) keep the bottom of the turkey from getting burnt. If it’s a big enough grill just use the outside burners for indirect heat.
3. Use your thermometers. Hopefully you have some way of monitoring the grill itself. If you can keep the interior of your grill at 350 degrees it won’t be any different than the oven in your kitchen, and cooking the turkey will take the usual amount of time. Use a meat thermometer to be sure, ’cause underdone turkey is both hazardous and disgusting.
My brother-in-law died unexpectedly just before the election. But he must be smiling up there somewhere; he mailed in his ballot with a vote for Hillary just before he left. Who says dead men can’t vote?
You should go out and get the gear to deep fry that turkey! It’ll be the best turkey you have ever tasted. And it’s done much quicker than baking. Just make sure you don’t burn down your house.
Regarding the Turkey, i recommend you cut it up before cooking, whether in an oven or a grill.
The nostalgic benefit of serving a whole Turkey is not worth the cost of overdone extremities and rare breasts. Its just the wrong way to cook the bird.
If you can use indirect heat, grilling the turkey breast is no problem. “Indirect” means turn on the burners on one end of the grill and place the meat on the other. With the lid down, the grill should work like a convection oven. If you have a thermometer in the cover, adjust the burner(s) to achieve your usual roasting temp, say 350 or 375. Have a meat thermometer handy to judge doneness. You can put the meat directly on the grill or you can use a pan or foil. Oil the turkey before place on the heat to help avoid sticking. Having the turkey breast close to room temperature before grilling is OK; about 20 to 30 minutes out of the fridge should do it. As the turkey approaches doneness, you can baste every so often, but lifting the grill lid will stretch add time. This approach may take a little more “hovering” than a dialed-in recipe and your late, lamented oven, but the result is tasty. Good luck and happy Thanksgiving!
At least you’re not Rosie O’Donnell (I’m watching A League of Their Own while surfing the blogosphere … multitasking). She must be wondering how she pissed off the powers that be for them to make her arch-nemesis President. Dean Baker’s snarky blog posts help cheer me up.
About Trump, what did the ancients say? Pride cometh before the fall.
Prov. 16:18: — “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Sorry about the turkey. My tip: find a good restaurant.
JB, the Cosmos demands balance. Our recent troubles are the cosmic price we had to pay for the Cubs winning the World Series.
Ahh–that explains it. And a fair tradeoff, I guess, for many fans of the Cubbies.
Use the rotissiere. I’m cooking a 13 pound bird tomorrow. I have a Weber Genesis. Take the grates off. Put a big aluminim pan to catch the dripping grease (about $4) directly on the burners. Put an inch of water or wine or cider in the pan. You may have to replenish. I usually use the outside two burners and leave the middle burner off.
Let the bird thaw completely so it is room temp when you put it on. I put an apple or onion or both in the cavity and tie it shut with string. It takes 2 to 3 hours for a 12-14 pound bird if there is no wind. Cook it so the temp is 180 in the notch of the leg. Make sure you do not dry out the breast. You can wrap foil around the breast end to shield it from heat if it gets to 165 before the legs are done..
If you are cooking the breast only, it will take about 1 to 1.5 hours on the rotis. Temperture guages should read 165 on the breast when you remove it and it will go up another 10 degrees
This is late. . . but you will need a Weber grill.
Around 1990’s I grilled a turkey on the charcoal ’cause we did not have enough oven space with all the family over. Years later, after moving to California I tried it on a gas grill and the family revolted. (worse than Nov 8th!)
The next year I bought a Weber and went back to charcoal. . out of the doghouse now!
So see the above site. andd good luck
Here: http://www.weber.com/weber-nation/grill-skills/mastering-turkey/turkey-cooking-methods/roasting-a-whole-turkey-on-the-grill
Thanks for all the grilling tips, OTE’ers! The bird is out there on the grill with a drip pan underneath, and is looking good. Will report on results, seasonally adjusted, of course, forthwith.
The cosmic force progressives pissed off was the voters. That would be people like me, who voted for Obama and were ABBC (Anyone But Bush and Clinton). Executive action on anything, even if I agree, is not a substitute for listening and persuasion. Obama went too far to the left, unilaterally. No, I do not support more costly business regulations, especially not unilateral action. What I do support is a tight labor market. That is the kind of leverage workers need.
There used to be fiscally conservative, socially moderate, pro second amendment Democrats who supported small businesses, and I used to support them. Now, every solution proffered by the party seems to involve more bigger government, taxes, and regulation which kill small businesses and jobs. Every solution seems to be the full employment act for government employee unions. Except for the police, of course.
This platform does not sell outside of coastal elite cocktail parties. Some of us run businesses. Yes, Democrats are now a hollowed out party of nanny-state limousine liberals. People grow tired of being told that they are not smart enough to handle 32 oz sodas or tools. Or that we need our cell phones turned off while driving.
And no, people are not going to vote for an increase in the labor supply (aka immigration) when wages are stagnant. I believe I said this several times on this very blog. The problem with the progressives these days is they are only having a conversation with the mirror. They are take comfort only in results that they agree with.
Nancy Pelosi will be re-elected, and that will be a great thing – for Republicans. Democrats will be a national party again in about 4 years. But not with the current leadership.