If you have a BBQ with a lid and, ideally, a temperature gauge then why not utilise it at Christmas to reduce the pressure, and stress, on cooking the dinner in the kitchen oven. If you don’t feel confident doing such an important meal on your grill enrol on one of our hands-on Christmas BBQ classes held here in store. Check out the Events page for details of our next classes, we promise you definitely won’t be going home hungry.
- Start by placing the BBQ next to the kitchen door to make it easier to check on the cook.
- Invest in a temperature probe so you can be certain of a juicy fully cooked delicious turkey; the probes can be a cheap as just a few pounds to a lot more for a probe, such as Meater, which will alert your phone when the bird is done. If you’re looking for a new grill you can’t do much better than the Traeger range which has built in probes; all you need do is put the turkey on the grill, insert probes, set the programme and wait for it to send an alert to your phone telling you it’s nearly cooked.
- Once the temperature of the centre of the turkey has reached 75C take the bird off and let it rest for at least 45 minutes. Place it on a plate on a wooden board then cover with a couple of layers of tinfoil and a couple of towels.
- If you’ve never cooked a whole bird on the BBQ before have a trial run with the Sunday chicken, I promise it’s much easier than you think. If you have a grill which will take a rotisserie it could be a worthwhile investment as they ensure a consistent cook and a beautiful juicy bird.
- Cook the bird directly on the grill bars and place a roasting tin underneath the bars to catch any juices. Also place the giblets with some water and red wine in this tray and you will have the most spectacular gravy with not a gravy granule in sight. Remove the giblets and thicken the gravy with a little cornflour mixed to a paste with some water then add a good knob of butter to give it a lively shine, season to taste and pass through a sieve.
- Make sure the charcoal or briquettes are kept topped up to maintain the heat; you don’t want to have leaping flames but just a consistent glow.
- As the turkey will be cooking for several hours make sure you have enough fuel for the whole cooking process.
- Brussels sprouts have a bad rap at Christmas as they are often as hard as rocks or soggy bitter mushes. Nowadays sprouts varieties have been bred to be a lot sweeter than we remember from the past. The old varieties used to have to be subjected to a hard frost to turn the cellulose to sugars but modern varieties are bred not to need this process. Click here to watch our video on how to cook the sprouts with a twist which makes them a lot tastier and much more palatable.
- Pre boil the roast potatoes before the big day and store in a vac pack in the fridge. On the day these can be cooked on the BBQ in a tray with duck fat for about an hour, add some garlic and sprigs of rosemary for that extra taste sensation. If you want a super crunchy exterior coat them in semolina before roasting, but not if anyone is allergic to gluten.
- If you’re having a rich duck or goose this Christmas consider doing some roasted fruits to accompany them. Watch our video showing how easy it is to cook these on the BBQ, just put on the grill and remove when cooked. They can be done at the same time as the turkey, roasted potatoes and root vegetables.
Here are some links to videos of cooking Christmas on the BBQ we have made here in store with top BBQ chef Richard Holden:
Cooking the Christmas turkey on the Traeger
Cooking the Christmas turkey on the Weber Genesis
Cook spiced buttered carrots on the BBQ
Cook roast parsnips on the Traeger
Cook Christmas sage and onion stuffing meatballs on the Traeger
Cook Christmas pigs in blankets on the Traeger
Cook roast potatoes on the Weber Genesis
