A few years ago I smoked my Thanksgiving Turkey. It was excellent, but this year we decided to roast it.
We had plenty of experience roasting chicken and goose, but had not done a turkey yet. As it is quite a large bird, we brined it for 24 hours; water, salt, crushed pepper, and a few herbs was all it took.
We put the turkey in the oven, breast down at 275F with a gentle fire burning for 2 hours. Then we turned it breast up, put some soaked wood chips over the embers, and closed the insulated door for 2 hours.
Next we opened the door, got a gentle fire going, and let it finish cooking for another hour and a half.
We let it rest for 20 minutes to allow enough time for the juices to seep back into the meat.
The skin tore a little when we turned it up, but it was excellent.
It turned out to be the juiciest turkey with a delicate smoke flavor and meat falling off the bones.
Also below is a picture of a roasted goose we did last Christmas.
