Can you really grill a turkey?

Yes you can.

This whole week, whenever I mentioned to someone that I'd be grilling my turkey in a Weber, I'd get questioning looks. Follow up questions often are, "How does it work?" or "How does it turn out?" Elise told me that when she mentioned that to a coworker, she got the response that, "Well, it might work if the turkey is first boiled."

From my experience, grilling a turkey is much easier than roasting it in an indoor oven. All I do is take the thawed turkey, salt it, and then throw it on to the heated grill. I need to add extra charcoal during the process (the grill with the sides that open up for adding charcoal really helps). That's all there is. No basting, no oiling, nothing else. After the set time, double check internal temperature with a meat thermometer, take off the grill, let it rest, then carve. Take the pan drippings out for gravy (though I was too tired yesterday to do this step).

The outside of the turkey ends up resembling jerky -- dry and very flavorful, particularly if you used good, hardwood charcoal. (For this, skip the bargain charcoal and go for quality.) The inside remains tender and juicy. Even if you overcook the turkey some, because the outside cooks to a crisp, it seals in all of the juices and keeps the inside tender.

In my opinion, I prefer how the grilled turkey turns out over over roasted ones.