Beer Can Turkey on the Grill

Beer can turkey

Grilling a turkey on Boxing Day is a tradition for me.

If you want to compare with another turkey variation, we have our rotisserie-grilled Thanksgiving turkey. For safe internal temperatures, there’s also our poultry temperature guide.

You start to get a little tired of all the Christmas food and need something else to eat.

It can also be nice to get outside a bit, since most people are stuck indoors this time of year.
This time I tried something I’d never done before.
Namely beer can turkey, or in Swedish, kalkon på ölburk.

I’ve made loads of beer can chickens, but never a turkey.
Usually I do it on the rotisserie, which turns out really good, but I felt like trying something different.

The challenge here is finding a can that fits the turkey, since a regular beer can is too small.
A turkey is usually quite a lot bigger than a chicken.

Mine weighs 10 ½ lb

To get the turkey as juicy as possible, I put it in a brine for at least 24 h, so it turns juicy and at the same time picks up some of the flavors I’ve put in the brine.
Here I use apple juice, which goes very well with poultry.
I also smoke with apple wood.
The reason I use apple is partly that it’s the wood I like best, and also that apple gives the skin a really beautiful color.

Below is a good video showing a good way to do it: