I’ve been cooking turkey on the BBQ for many years now, and it’s the only way I really like to cook my festive turkey. I find the end results are a world away from cooking turkey in the oven, which can often be bland and uninspiring. As with most food, the gentle lick of smoke and fire makes any food really special.

Often I find the most simple way to cook BBQ turkey is the best. I’ve tried brines and they are great, but sometimes a bit of faff. For me my favourite way is to simply inject the breasts with a huge amount of butter. 

Ingredients

Medium size turkey crown

BBQ Rub

125g unsalted butter

2 cloves of garlic (optional)

Method

PREPARATION

1. Melt the butter and then inject it into the breasts of the turkey crown. Make sure to inject from underneath or the side so you don’t pierce the skin and let all the juices escape. You can melt in crushed garlic to the butter as well if you want a garlicky flavour. 

2. Once all the butter is injected, it’s time to dry rub your bird. I use CountryWoodSmoke House Rub, which works wonderfully, but feel free to use your favourite rub here. Sprinkle and cover the turkey evenly with the dry rub.

TIME TO SMOKE

1. I put the turkey crown into the Traeger Timberline 850 with cherry pellets at 100°C and set to super smoke for an hour to bump up the smokiness, then bump the temperature up to 180°C to roast and crisp up the skin.

2. If you’re cooking on the BBQ, cook indirectly at 160-180°C until the deepest part of the turkey breast reaches 70°C; the carry over of temperature will increase this as the turkey rests to the required 74°C. Using an instant read digital thermometer such as a Thermapen is crucial here to make sure the turkey is cooked to a safe temperature but not overcooked and dry.

3. Allow to rest for around 20 minutes covered in foil, then slice and serve. Hopefully your BBQ turkey will be as moist as mine.