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Turkey in a Garbage Can
 
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Prep Time: 60 Minutes
Cook Time: 120 Minutes
Ready In: 180 Minutes
Servings: 4
This recipe is courtesy of Chef #308515 in response to Veggie Chicken Cheese Poppers With Berry Sauce and both are simply a modified dutch oven method of primitive cooking. John states you will also need 2 Layers of clean tinfoil, about three feet square, on the ground for this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 whole turkey, cleaned with neck and giblets removed (12-20 lbs)
1/4 cup seasoning (your preference)
Directions:
1. Select some sort of stake (hammered into the ground) or more robust steel/cast iron/ whatever stand that can hold the turkey sort of like standing on its butt (would be interesting to do this with the beer-butt cooking method) .
2. Place a (new) stainless steel garbage can over the bird (you could use cast iron, but if using galvanized metal, burn it out first).
3. Around the sides of the can, bank with 10-12 lbs of charcoal briquettes, (fully grayed up) and cover the top of the can over with a layer or two of burning briquettes.
4. Allow to cook for 1.5 hours (for a smaller bird) to 2 hours for a larger one, periodically dusting the briquettes and re-banking them. (No peeking obviously!) .
5. On conclusion of the cooking period, sweep away the remaining embers and ash, and very carefully (anticipating a pretty vicious blast of hot air and steam) and test your bird that the required parameters of 160 in the breast, 180 in the thighs (okay, you can do it 10* less, as it will convect up that much, no point in it being too dry).
6. If you want, there can be all sorts of tweaks - you can in fact beer butt it, with a large soup can 3/4 full of onion soup/beer/cranberry juice/herbs/spices, pick you own poisons! You can do a rub, you can brine the bird, you can place cake tins of water for a moister cook , you can toss in some wood chips (willow, alder, maple, hickory) that you cause the trash can to be a smoker , you can inject it, you can stuff oils and herbs under the skin, fill it up with garlic cloves, stand it up a bit higher and stick in 6 of corn silks or even hay (using a bit of water with the latter) and get all sorts of different, but wonderful results.
7. Of course, if, (incredibly!) your bird is seriously underdone you have only to cover it over with the can and stoke up the coals again - .
By RecipeOfHealth.com