Instructions: * Note: If your turkey is frozen, plan on spending 3 days thawing it in the refrigerator.

Combine dry rub ingredients; mix well. Rub the fresh or thawed bird inside and out with olive oil and coat with the dry rub mixture.

Place 3 bay leaves in the cavity, and start cooking. Cooking the bird without stuffing, allows the bird to cook faster and should result in a more juicy and succulent bird.

With a two-burner gas grill: Use only one side and place the turkey over a drip pan.

If you want to add wood chips, presoak them for at least an hour, and place them in a small metal container (I use an old 6-inch saute pan) over the active burner.

Preheat on high, put the turkey in and check every 10 minutes during the first half hour of cooking to see if the skin is getting burned. If you see some signs of this, lower the heat level or place some heavy-duty foil under the bird and/or over the area that is affected. The bird is finished when a meat thermometer inserted in the deepest part of the breast reads 160 degrees.

With a three-burner gas grill: Follow the same procedure as the two-burner, but place the bird and the drip pan in the middle.

With a charcoal grill: Ignite 40 or 50 briquettes. When they begin to show a lot of gray, spread them to each side of the grill and put the turkey and the drip pan in the middle. (Obviously you wont need wood chips.) Follow the same procedure as above, and add 5 briquettes to either pile when needed, usually every half hour or so until the bird is finished.

Here are some approximate cooking times by size:

Size with giblets Grill Temp Internal Temp Approx. Cooking Time 10 to 13 lbs 325 degrees 160 degrees 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours 14 to 25 lbs 325 degrees 160 degrees 2 to 3 hours 26 to 27 lbs 325 degrees 160 degrees 4 to 4 1/2 hours Over 28 lbs 325 degrees 160 degrees 4 1/2 hours to ??*

* Always use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.

Comments: Turkeys are always on sale during the holidays and its a good time to buy 5 or 6 to use later. Doing a turkey on your backyard grill is a whole lot easier than you think and it can produce wonderful results: a juicy, smoky, bird with that open fire flavor. Here is a foolproof way of doing it.

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