Christmas Turkey

Nestled under the skin of this turkey is a delicious mix of butter, smoked bacon, onion, garlic and rosemary- an extra special turkey for Christmas day.

 Ingredients

• 1 x 4.5 to 5.5kg whole turkey
• 2 brown onions
• 6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 100 grams butter, cubed
• 4 rashers smoked bacon, rindless, roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1½ teaspoon sea salt, plus extra to season
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra to season
• Olive oil
• Special Equipment
• butcher's twine

 Method

Step 1
Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the turkey (if desired, save to make gravy). Dry the skin of the turkey with paper towels. Fold the wings under the turkey.
Step 2
Roughly chop one-half of one of the onions. Remove the leaves from four sprigs of rosemary. Put the chopped onion and rosemary leaves into a food processor along with the butter, bacon, garlic cloves, 1½ teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Blitz into a paste.
Step 3
Stuff the paste under the skin of the turkey’s thighs and breast. Lightly coat the turkey all over with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Prepare the barbecue for indirect cooking over medium heat (190°C to 230°C). If using a Weber Family Q barbecue, set up your barbecue with a convection tray and a trivet.
Step 5
Chop the remaining onion into quarters. Place the onion quarters and the two remaining sprigs of rosemary into the cavity of the turkey. Using kitchen string, tie the legs together.
Step 6
To calculate the cooking time for whole turkey, allow for 20 minutes, plus an additional 20 minutes per kilo.
For example, for a 5kg turkey allow 20 minutes plus 5 x 20 minutes for a total of 120 minutes.
Step 7
Roast the turkey over indirect medium heat, with the lid closed, for the required cooking time or until the internal temperature has reached 71°C. The internal temperature will continue to rise 3° to 6°C while resting (final doneness temperature for turkey is 74°C).
Step 8
Once the turkey has cooked, cover with aluminium foil and leave to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

Turkey Size Guide:
The maximum sizes for the Weber Q Range:

• Weber Baby Q 1000: turkey roll only
• Weber Baby Q1200: 3kg
• Weber Q2000: 3kg
• Weber Q2200: 4kg
• Weber Family Q3100: 4.5kg
• Weber Family Q3200: 6kg.