“The turkey was so characteristically American that the country could have done worse than to accept Benjamin Franklin s suggestion that it he chosen as the national bird.” —“Eating in America,” Waverly Root and Richard de Rochemont
The bald eagle may be the emblem of the United States, but I think Franklin got his wish even though it has not been proclaimed by any official source: Turkey is the national bird. One could be cute and write about hamburgers or spaghetti carbonara just before Thanksgiving, but reality demands that every person in charge of a food column devote themselves to the annual national obsession.
Turkey, how big and how to cook it, has been on my mind at least a week as I am always reading up on how other people tackle the bird. I’ve tried dozens of methods over the years, boned and stuffed, unboned and unstuffed, high temperature, long low temperature, and varying combinations of these techniques. One of the best turkeys I ever roasted was cooked in my combination microwave-convection oven, which is a large 700-watt appliance nobody but me seems ever to have bought.
Therefore my findings are of little use to anyone but other owners of this rare Hispano-Suiza of an oven. The noble bird has also turned out crisp-skinned and lusciously browned when barbecued in a covered kettletype charcoal grill.
Charcoal Turkey Tangerine
Waverly Root writes that in 1820 wild turkeys were so common and so cheap as to be disdained — if you couldn’t shoot your own, you could buy one for a shilling. This treatment approximates wild turkey to some degree — it’s both smoky and juicy. Serves 10 to 12.
1 fresh-killed 10-12 lb. turkey
1/2 cup bourbon or cognac
Salt and fresh pepper
2 tangerines, quartered
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
2 Tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
Peanut or walnut oil
Remove the neck and giblets and make a stock of them as described above. Rinse and dry the turkey, then rub it well with the bourbon, especially under the breast skin. If possible, do this the day before and refrigerate the bird overnight.
Salt and pepper the turkey, inside and out. Put the tangerines, onions, and sage in the cavity and skewer or sew it up. Fasten down the neck skin and snap the wings behind the bird but do not tie its legs together — you want maximum penetration of smoke and heat. Oil the bird well.
Using the indirect method of grilling in a Weber-type charcoal grill, fill the side rails with hot coals and place a drip pan on the bottom beneath the rails. Sprinkle the coals with dampened hickory chips and quickly put the grid over the coals and the turkey on top of this. Close the top vents on the cover and roast for 15 minutes (the bottom vents should, of course, be open or the fire will go out). Open the vents halfway and continue cooking for about 15 minutes per pound, about two and a half hours for a 10-pound turkey or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 170 degrees.
Depending on the wind and the outside temperature, you may or may not have to reinforce the heat with about 10 freshly ignited coals per side after about one and a half hours. Brush the turkey with oil halfway through the cooking time and let it rest in a warm, turned off oven for 30 minutes before carving. Discard the stuffing and make a gravy with the reserved broth. Pour off any fat in the dripping pan and deglaze it with a little boiling water. Whisk this into the gravy and season to taste with salt and pepper.
