1 How to Grill Your Entire Thanksgiving Dinner

Even if you're in charge, a substantial part of cooking Thanksgiving dinner is waiting for the turkey to happen. Sitting in the dining room, peering through that little oven window at it like it's some kind of zoo animal. There is a better way. Cook your feast on the grill and you control the elements. You add the smoke and the flavors. You change the temperature. You're actually cooking your food, the same way you're actually driving a car with a manual transmission. Ben Ford, chef at Ford's Filling Station in Los Angeles, is a guy who believes in this kind of elemental sorcery. He'll roast anything. His backyard looks like it was cast in a medieval iron forge. So he created a menu for us: a turkey smoked over sweet applewood and corncobs; ember-cooked potato packets he came up with for a camping trip; a grilled fig and dried fruit chutney; and grilled green beans with shallots and hazelnuts. If you're going to cook Thanksgiving dinner with your bare hands, you want to end up with an impressive meal.

Here's the Plan:

A few days before your feast, cut the kernels off four corncobs and leave the shorn cobs in your pantry to dry out. Then, the day before, brine the turkey. The recipe's on page 54. On Thanksgiving morning, remove your grill's grate and light half a chimney starter's worth of charcoal. When the embers are red-hot with white ash, divide them into two piles on either side of the grill. Break a corncob in half and place one half on each pile along with a handful of fresh coals and a handful of applewood chunks. Put an aluminum pan between the piles to catch drippings.

Open all the top vents to allow air circulation. Open half of the bottom vents. Close the lid for about 5 minutes; you'll start to see white smoke escaping through the vents. Place the turkey on the grate between the two piles of coals, over the drip pan. Every half-hour, baste the bird with melted butter, break a corncob and add half, as well as a handful of applewood chunks and a handful of charcoal, to each pile of embers. You may have to lift a corner of your grate with tongs to do this.

After about 6 hours, or 30 to 35 minutes per pound, insert an instant-read thermometer between the thigh and breast. When it registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit, you're done. Remove the turkey from the grill, place it breast down in a roasting pan, and tent a piece of foil over it. Let it rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

Isn't It Too Cold for This?

Unless it's 44 below, the point at which propane is liquid, probably not. But it might be too windy. "Wind can blow away the bubble of warm air that insulates your cooker, and then you have to keep putting in fuel," says Greg Blonder, physicist and expert at amazingribs.com. If you're stuck in a squall, you can build a three-sided, roofless shed to divert the worst of the gusts. Just don't block the vents.

If You're Using a Gas Grill

Instead of using corncobs, fill a packet of aluminum foil with 3 cups cornmeal and 3 cups of wood chips. Poke holes in the foil. Preheat the grill to 250 F, then turn off the heat on one side. Place an aluminum pan on the side of the grill that is turned off and put a roasting rack in it. Fill the pan with 2 inches of water. Place the foil packet of cornmeal and wood chips on the hot side of the grill. Set the cooking grates in place and cover the grill with the lid until the packet starts smoking. Open the lid and put the turkey on the roasting rack. Close the lid to begin smoking the bird. Baste the bird with melted butter every half-hour.