All the credit for this recipe goes to the wonderful folks at Traeger Grills. This Turkey recipe has been tested on my own family, and man does it deliver. (The herb butter is a game changer!)

Ingredients:

Brine:

• 1qt of Water

• ½ Cup of Salt

• ½ Cup of Brown Sugar

• Garlic Cloves (roughly 5)

• 3 Bay Leaves

• Black Peppercorns (Roughly ¼ of a cup)

• 3-4 Sprigs of Thyme

• 3-4 Sprigs of Rosemary

Optional ingredients to customize your brine’s flavour:

• Peel of 1 Orange

• Peel of 1 Lemon

• Bourbon

• Whiskey

• Soy Sauce

• Apple Cider Vinegar

• Beer

Herb Butter:

• 1½ cups of softened butter (unsalted)

• 3-4 sprigs of thyme (stripped from the sprig)

• 3-4 sprigs of rosemary (stripped from the sprig)

• 3 cloves of garlic

• Season with Salt and Pepper

Stock/Gravy:

• 3 celery stocks

• 3 carrots

• 3-4 garlic cloves

• 1 white onion

• 3-4 sprigs of thyme

• 3-4 sprigs of rosemary

• 1qt of chicken stock

Traeger’s Instructional Video

Instructions:

1. Make your brine: Over medium heat combine all the brine ingredients together in a medium sauce pan. Once all of the sugar and salt is dissolved, and the ingredients are well combined, remove the hot portion of your brine and add it to a large container with cold ice water. The container should be large enough for your bird to be completely submerged in the brine.

*Pro-tip: put your turkey in a scent free garbage bag, add the brine, and place the bag in a cooler and leave outside over night to save on fridge space!

2. Brine your bird: Leave your bird in the brine overnight (No longer than 12 hours) Let it take in all those delicious flavours!

3. Make your herb butter: Finely chop the thyme, rosemary and garlic and add them to the softened butter, making sure to incorporate the ingredients well. Season with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

4. Prep the roasting pan: chop the celery, carrots and onion into one inch chunks and add to them to the bottom of your roasting pan. Add the garlic cloves, rosemary and thyme whole.

5. Butter and season the bird: When your butter and roasting pan are ready, remove your turkey from the brine and remove any brine ingredients that are stuck to the bird. Pat the skin of the turkey dry with a paper towel.

Very generously season your turkey (including the cavity) with salt, adding rosemary, thyme, a whole garlic bulb, into the cavity of the bird.

Next, gently separate the skin of the turkey from the breast and thighs, trying not to break the skin. Take a little bit of butter at a time and cover the meat underneath the skin with the butter. Any leftover butter can be added to the cavity of the bird.

Lightly coat your turkey with some olive oil and generously season the whole exterior of the bird with salt and pepper.

6. Truss and roast: Truss your bird using butchers twine and add it to your pre-heated grill at 300F degrees. Check on your turkey periodically over 3-4 hours for a target internal temperature of 160F degrees.

7 Remove, Carve, Enjoy!: When the turkey has reached an internal temp of 160F, remove the bird from the grill, place it on a large cutting board to rest for roughly 30 minutes.

During that time you can use the stock in the bottom of the roasting pan to make your gravy!

Then, carve, dish up and prep yourself for the turkey tummy nap that follows! Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving gents!🍴🍁