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TIMING

Prep: 5 minutes (plus 5 minutes for rub)

Rest before grilling: 2 hours or overnight

Grill: 1½ to 2 hours

GRILL TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

• Clean 20-gallon steel trash can, 2½ to 3 feet tall

• 1 metal stake, 1 to 2 inches in diameter and 18 to 24 inches long (see Tips)

• Insulated grill mitts, preferably heat-resistant silicone

TIPS

• Leave plenty of time to thaw the turkey if it’s frozen. A 10- to 12-pound turkey takes 1 to 2 days to thaw in the refrigerator or about 6 hours to thaw in continually replenished cold water in the sink.

• If you don’t have a sturdy stake or you’re on pavement or impervious ground, prop the bird up on a vertical roasting rack set on an inverted cast-iron or other heatproof Dutch oven.

• A 20-pound bag of charcoal should be plenty to cook the turkey. But if the weather is cold, the coals may burn out before the turkey is done. In that case, just add more hot coals until the turkey is finished cooking.

• We did some research into the safety of trash-can turkey because the FDA recommends against cooking any food on galvanized steel. The question is, can you safely cook near galvanized steel, as could happen with trash-can turkey? The answer, from Richard Tavoletti, executive director of the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI), is yes. Some trash cans are made with galvanized steel and others aren’t, so the easiest way to sidestep the issue is to use a can that’s not galvanized. But even if you use a galvanized steel trash can, the zinc coating on the steel (the galvanizing material) will not get hot enough to become airborne and migrate from the can to the food. In the trash-can turkey method, the can never touches the food, so it is safe. Even if the trash can grazes the turkey slightly (which is unlikely), the food will not have been in contact with the hot steel long enough to impart any significant zinc residue to the food. We figured trash-can turkey was safe because Scoutmasters have been roasting birds this way for decades. But researching the issue gave us the reassurance we needed to pass the recipe along to you.

THE GRILL

Charcoal:

Indirect heat, medium ash

20 pounds charcoal No grill grate

Wood:

Indirect heat, medium ash

8 to 10 quarts burning embers (from 6 to 10 split logs)

No grill grate

INGREDIENTS (MAKES 12 TO 14 SERVINGS)

1 turkey, 10 to 12 pounds, thawed if frozen, giblets removed

½ cup Sage and Savory Rub (page 375)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash the turkey inside and out with cold water and remove any visible pockets of fat. Pat dry.

2. Rub a few tablespoons of the rub onto the walls of the bird’s interior cavities. Rub the oil all over the skin of the turkey, then sprinkle with the remaining rub, patting it in with your fingers. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight for the best flavor. Or cook the bird right away if you’re in a hurry.

3. Choose an area of level ground and clear a spot that’s about 4 feet in diameter. Cover the area with aluminum foil. Drive the stake a few inches into the ground in the center of the foil so that about 15 to 20 inches are still visible above the ground.

4. Burn a wood fire as directed above or light all of the charcoal in a pyramid or in several chimney starters. If lighting batches of coals, they should be ready within 15 minutes of each other.

5. Lower the body cavity of the turkey over the top of the stake as you would lower it over a vertical roasting rack. Position the turkey so that it rests securely on the stake (the top of the stake should be resting on bone rather than meat and skin alone).

6. Invert the trash can over the turkey, positioning it so that the turkey is in the center of the can. Put a few shovelfuls of hot coals on top of the inverted can. Shovel the rest of the coals around the bottom of the can, raking them as high up the sides of the can as possible (4 to 6 inches is fine).

7. Cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the turkey breast registers about 170°F, 1½ to 2