This year we hosted Thanksgiving for the first time. We used the Weber grill to make the turkey, and it came out really well. The evening before I prepared an “injection” based on a recipe from RecipeZaar; since we didn’t want to go overboard on the flavoring, I skipped the Cajun Rub part and improvised something based mostly on Lawry’s seasoned salt but with a few other add-ins as well. I mixed some of the seasoning in with the injection, and rubbed the rest in the cavity, under the skin, and on top of the skin. I doubled the volume of the injection to about one ounce per pound of turkey.

The turkey went on the grill, and except for adding some coals after an hour, it was hands-off. Total cook time for an 8½ pound turkey was about two hours. It came out extremely moist and flavorful. The menu was rounded out with homemade cranberry sauce, greens, stuffing, roasted green beans, and Paula Deen’s ‘Ol No. 7 Yams (although we used Maker’s Mark instead of Jack Daniels, and I think that was a good substitution — Maker’s Mark’s sweetness is a great compliment to the other ingredients in the syrup.)