How to Barbecue a Turkey on an Outdoor Kettle Grill

This barbecued turkey has delicious smoky flavor and the gravy made from the drippings tastes so good.  Here you’ll find step-by-step instructions and images on how to cook a turkey on a kettle grill.

Have you ever tasted turkey cooked on a kettle BBQ charcoal grill?

First of all, the smell when it’s cooking is just heavenly.

And the flavor of the turkey tastes as good as it smells.

It’s also so juicy and tender.

About this Recipe

We’ve made our holiday turkeys on a kettle BBQ grill for years and the outcome is consistently delicious.

It’s actually pretty easy to make this turkey because the cook time is based on a calculation related to the weight of the turkey.

And the number of coals used is set at a certain amounts during the cooking process.

For the Turkey

For this recipe, the turkey needs to be either fresh or completely defrosted.

Before it’s placed on the grill, the turkey is lightly coated in butter and seasoned with granulated garlic, salt and pepper.

As the it cooks, the juices go into a dripping pan that’s placed below the grill.

These drippings make the best smoky flavored gravy (a link to this gravy recipe is at the end of this post).

And the leftovers make a wonderful smoky-flavored turkey sandwich.

Cooking Time

The suggested cooking time for a fresh or completely defrosted turkey WITHOUT stuffing is 11 minutes of cooking per pound.

And the suggested cooking time for a fresh or completely defrosted turkey WITH stuffing is 13 minutes of cooking per pound.

ITEMS NEEDED

Ingredients:

A whole fresh or completely defrosted turkey, butter, salt, pepper and granulated garlic.

Grill Equipment:

• 22.5″ Charcoal kettle standing barbecue*
• Charcoal Rails – accessory that fits onto the bottom grate that’s in the kettle barbecue. The rails keep the coals off to the sides for indirect cooking
• Hinged Cooking Grate – accessory used as the top rack where the turkey is placed when cooking
• Multi-Purpose Utility Lighter with a Long Durable Wand for Lighting Barbecue Grills – this is used to light the coals

*Some of the newer kettle barbecue grills may come with some of these accessories.

Cooking Equipment:

• Metal Pan (9″ x 12.5″) – placed on the “Charcoal Rack with Rails” in between the 2 sides where the charcoal is placed. It’s used to catch the drippings from the turkey
• Long Handled 2-Pronged Cooking Fork – used to lift and close each of the 2 sides of the “Hinged Cooking Grate” when adding the “Mesquite Charcoal Briquets” during the cooking process.
• Sturdy Extra Long Barbecue Hot Mitts – these may be used to assist with lifting the fully cooked turkey from the grill

Two Types of Charcoal Briquettes:

• 1 Bag (7.9 pounds) Mesquite Charcoal Briquettes – used multiple times for cooking
• 1 Bag (6.3 pounds) Match Light with Mesquite Charcoal Briquettes – USED ONLY ONE TIME when initially prepping the BBQ with charcoal)

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE

Detailed instructions are located at the bottom of this post.

Determine the Timing of When to Start the Cooking Process:

• Figure out when you want to carve and serve your turkey
• Calculate how long it will take to cook based on how much it weighs
• Add the prep and resting time to determine when to start the process so the turkey will be ready to eat when you plan on serving dinner

Please see the example calculations (with and without stuffing) at the end of this post.

Prepare the Outdoor Grill:

• Place the charcoal rails in the BBQ
• Add the specified amount of charcoal to the BBQ – in this initial stage, only the Match Light Mesquite briquettes are added to the outdoor barbecue. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THAT MATCH LIGHT BRIQUETTES ARE USED.
• After adding the Match Light Mesquite briquettes to the grill, seal the bag that they’re in.
• Move them far away from the grill so they’re not used again in the cooking process
• There will be some black colored Match Light coals and some light brown Match light coals (these are the mesquite briquettes)

Please see the instructions at the end of this post for the number of charcoal briquettes to use.

About the Charcoal Rails

The charcoal rails are a handy grill accessory for this application so that the briquettes can be stacked in place.

Stacking the Charcoal Briquettes:

• Stack the coals evenly from side-to-side
• Make sure the coals are behind the charcoal rails
• Be careful not to stack the briquettes so high that they fall over the rail into the drippings pan that will be placed in the grill (the gravy is made with the turkey drippings)

The hardest part of adding the coals…

…is keeping the right count.

TIP – As soon as all of the Match Light briquets have been added, close the bag and store them away so not to mistakenly use them in the actual cooking process.

The coals added later in the cooking process will just be the regular mesquite charcoal briquettes (only the non-Match Light briquettes are used from here on out).

Lighting the Charcoal Briquettes

Follow the instructions on the bag of Match Light with Mesquite Briquettes to light the briquettes.

Step away as far as possible.

And carefully light up a few of the coals according to the package instructions using a multi-purpose utility lighter with a long wand that’s used for lighting barbecue grills.

Light a few of the coals…

…on one side to get them going.

Follow the instructions on the package of Match Light with Mesquite Briquettes to light the other side of coals.

Step away as far as possible.

And according to the package instructions carefully light a few of the unlit coals.

No need to put the lid on yet.

You may see some flames for just a short while.

But they should decrease fairly quickly.

Let the coals get hot (about 45 minutes).

Prepare the Turkey

While the coals are heating up, the turkey can be prepared.

Please see the instructions at the end of this post for how to prepare the turkey.

Add the Dripping Pan

Once the coals are hot (when they turn gray), using sturdy oven mitts, carefully (be careful not to touch the hot coals, rack, barbecue kettle or other hot surfaces) place the metal drippings pan on the lower rack in between the “Charcoal Rails”.

TIP – When putting the pan in the BBQ, be very careful not to get close to the hot charcoal or bump the rack that the briquets are on so that the dust from the charcoal won’t fly into the pan (since the pan will have drippings in it that the gravy is made out of).

Put the Hinged Cooking Grate in the BBQ

Using hot mitts, carefully (be careful not to touch the hot coals, rack, barbecue kettle or other hot surfaces) put the “hinged cooking grate” in the BBQ.

When putting the hinged cooking grate in the BBQ, try to do it very gently so not to bump, move or disturb the briquettes so the very light dust on them doesn’t get into the dripping pan.

Place the Turkey on the Cooking Grate

Transfer the turkey from the platter onto the cooking grate.

Place it in the middle of the cooking grate…

…right over the pan…

…that will collect the drippings.

Put the Lid on the BBQ

Put the lid on the BBQ with the vent on top of the lid open.

Adding More Briquettes (The Regular Mesquite Charcoal Only)

For the First Addition of Regular Mesquite Briquettes:

ABOUT 15 MINUTES AFTER PUTTING THE TURKEY ON THE GRILL take the lid off of the grill (this timing assumes that the turkey was put on the grill 45 minutes after lighting the briquets which would equal a total of 1 hour after the coals were initially lit).

Using the cooking fork, open the hinged cooking grates, and using long tongs, carefully add 10 regular mesquite coals to each side (be careful not to touch the hot coals, rack, barbecue kettle or other hot surfaces).

Then put the lid back on (with the vent open).

DO NOT USE the Match Light coals

Then for every hour thereafter,

…continue to use a cooking fork to open and close each side of the hinged cooking grates and use long tongs to carefully add 10 regular mesquite coals…

…to each side of the charcoal rails (be careful not to touch the hot coals, rack, barbecue kettle or other hot surfaces).

Here’s what the turkey looks like after about 1-1/2 hours of cooking.

Baste the Turkey

Every 1/2 hour or so, use a bulb-type baster to transfer the liquid from the cavity onto the top of the turkey.

This not only adds to the beautiful golden color of the turkey but will allow the delicious juice to drip into the gravy-drippings pan.

If the Top of the Turkey is Cooking Too Fast

If the top of the turkey is cooking faster than the rest of the bird, put a piece of foil (just large enough to cover the brown area) on top.

Add Citrus Leaves to the Grill for Flavor

This isn’t required but if you happen to have a citrus tree in your patio or yard…

…add some of the leaves to the coals…

…during the last hour of cooking for some added flavor.

Remove the Fully Cooked Turkey from the BBQ

When the turkey is thoroughly cooked, use sturdy oven mitts to carefully transfer it from the grill onto a large platter.

Be very careful because the turkey and the grill is hot.

Removing the turkey from the BBQ is a two-person task because one person needs to hold on to the platter while the other person transfers it from the BBQ to the platter (using sturdy hot mitts).

TIP – The turkey should be transferred to a large sturdy platter with edges (to catch the juice that runs off of the bird).

Don’t transfer the turkey from the BBQ directly onto a cutting board because the juice will run over the sides of the cutting board and make a mess.

Let the Meat Rest

Let the turkey rest for 30 minutes before carving.

Remove the Drippings Pan from the Grill

Using sturdy hot mitts, carefully (be careful not to touch the hot coals, rack, barbecue kettle or other hot surfaces) remove the drippings pan from the grill.

TIP – THE DRIPPINGS PAN WILL BE VERY HOT. MAKE SURE TO HAVE A HEAT PROOF SURFACE TO SET THIS PAN ON AFTER REMOVING IT FROM THE GRILL.

While the meat is resting, use these drippings to make your gravy.

Serve

Serve the carved turkey with delicious gravy made from the drippings, and then it’s time to eat!

Here’s a helpful link on how to carve a turkey from the Kitchn “How to Carve a Turkey: the Simplest, Easiest Method”.

HOW TO CALCULATE WHEN TO START THE COOKING PROCESS***

A) Determine When You Want to Serve Your Cooked Turkey:

1. Decide when you want to serve your carved turkey and hold that thought

B) Determine How Long to Cook Your Fresh or Completely Defrosted Turkey (based on weight):

1. Do the math to determine how long it will take to cook your turkey by using this calculation:

The suggested cooking time is 11 minutes per pound (without stuffing); (13 minutes per pound with stuffing)***

C) Consider “Non-Cooking Time” (BBQ prep and resting time for the turkey):

1. Add 45 minutes for putting the starter coals in the BBQ and for them to get hot.
2. Add 30 minutes for the turkey to rest after it’s thoroughly cooked.

D) Total Time (add “B” plus “C”):
1. Add the amount of time to cook the turkey (“B” calculation based on the weight of your turkey), to the grill prep and heat time plus resting time (“C” which equals a fixed total time of 75 minutes).

E) Determine When to Start the Cooking Process (“A” minus “D”):
1. Now go back to when you want to serve the turkey (“A”) and subtract the amount of total time determined in (“D”). The result should give you the cooking process start time.

Here’s an Example for a 19 Pound Completely Defrosted Turkey:***

1. I want to serve my turkey at 5pm.

2. My unstuffed 19-pound turkey (fresh or completely defrosted turkey) should take 3.5 hours to cook***; 19 multiplied by 11 minutes = 209 minutes; 209 minutes divided by 60 minutes per hour = 3.48 hours. Which rounds to 3.5 hours.***

3. Add 45 minutes for putting the coals in the BBQ and for them to get hot.

4. Add 30 minutes for the turkey to rest after it’s cooked.

5. The total time for the turkey should be 4 hours and 45 minutes (3.5 hours, plus 45 minutes, plus 30 minutes).***

6. Subtract 4 hours and 45 minutes (total time for the turkey) from 5 pm (when I want to serve my turkey).

Answer – I’ll need to start the cooking process for my 19-pound unstuffed turkey (fresh or completely defrosted) at 12:15 pm. So, it’s ready to serve for dinner at 5 pm.***

*** These are suggested cooking times.

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