This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see the disclosure for more information.
Note: This recipe was developed using the Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Fryer. If you are cooking using the Char-Broil Smoker-Roaster Grill you should cook with the lid open and the temperature set to High. You might also need to adjust the cooking time.
I’ve roasted a ton of turkeys in my Char-Broil Big Easy. It’s why I originally bought the oil-less fryer. I loved it so much the first time that I bought two more, keeping one at my parents house for a fantastic holiday turkey. This time I set out to keep the process as absolutely simple as possible. No brines. No fancy rubs. Just a 16 pound turkey, a little oil, and some seasoning and 10 minutes per pound.
Easy Every Single Time
There’s really nothing easier than cooking poultry on the Big Easy. It really is as easy as fire it up, put it in, walk away and come back later. Unless the weather conditions are really adverse, you can count on 10 minutes per pound for a turkey.
One Big Bird
I cooked a nice big 16 pound turkey in exactly 160 minutes. That’s in 30 degree weather with a very light breeze. I kept the lid off the Big Easy until the last 30 minutes to then add a little color.
I started with a pre-brined turkey. You can certainly get a natural, un-brined turkey and go thru that process, and I have. But for this cook it was about easy, and easy means getting a turkey that’s already in a solution that brined the bird for me. You can also inject your turkey for even more flavor, like my Cajun-injected bird on the Big Easy. Or try my buttermilk-marinated turkey.
You can use the basket that comes with your Big Easy, but I admit it’s a bit challenging getting a big bird in/out of it. If you’re going to do any amount of cooking on the Big Easy (and you should) I recommend that you at least get the hinged basket like you see in the picture above. It really makes getting the turkey in or out very simple indeed. See my thoughts on the accessories for the Big Easy here.
Love your Big Easy as much I love mine? Check out my Big Easy Add-Ons page and my free Big Easy eCookbook!
It’s always a good idea to keep a few spare grease trays on hand for your Char-Broil Big Easy.
Easy Large Turkey on the Char-Broil Big Easy
Ingredients
- 1 large turkey up to 16 pounds (completely thawed if frozen)
- Vegetable oil
- Your favorite seasoning salt and pepper are just fine too! DO NOT use a seasoning mix that contains sugar as it might burn under high temperatures.
Instructions
- Fire up your Big Easy.
- Remove the turkey from the packaging along with any turkey neck and giblets that might be there.
- Rinse the turkey in cold water and dab dry with paper towels.
- Very lightly coat the turkey (inside and out) with the oil. You only want enough to help the seasoning adhere and to help crisp the skin.
- Season the turkey liberally inside and out.
- Place the turkey into the Big Easy basket and lower into the cooker.
- Cook for 10 minutes per pound. Check for doneness, 180°F in the thighs and legs, and 170°F in the breast. Always check in multiple locations.
- Remove the basket from the Big Easy and let the turkey rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
why is it that all the recipes’ from life’s a tomato NEVER tell you high ,low or medium heat or lid down or up . Made your shake and bake pork chops. Used the direction s for heat from the box . Since a oven has a door that is shut during cooking i did the same for the chops on the big easy. Lid down on low. If i had not taken a look i would have burnt them.
Hi Harry. The answer to your question is simple. My Big Easy has neither a lid or temperature control. I use a Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-less Fryer. Unfortunately, Char-Broil decided to also name their Smoker-Roaster and Grill as ‘Big Easy’, and the confusion ensued. I know, it was a bad idea. And when I wrote all of the original recipes for the Big Easy mine was the only model. In the recipe you reference, I actually state that I was using the oil-less fryer, but I still understand the confusion. Your comments make me think it would be worth the effort to put some sort of note on each saying that the recipe has only been tried on my model. My understanding is that cooking on my model on High (the only option) is the same as yours on High without the lid closed (since mine does not have a lid). I don’t have your model so I cannot say for 100% that that approach would apply in all cases.
Sorry for the confusion. I’ll ponder some way to make it clearer going forward.
Mike
I am working on updating all of the Big Easy-related posts with this text. It’ll take me a while to do this but hopefully it’ll reduce confusion going forward.
Note: This recipe was developed using the Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Fryer. If you are cooking using the Char-Broil Smoker-Roaster Grill you should cook with the lid open and the temperature set to High. You might also need to adjust the cooking time.
Thanks
Mike
I was looking for my instructions on the Big easy and could not find them. I will go by your recipe for my 15 Lb turkey this Thanksgiving.
Thanks Mike
Mike,
Can you use the grease drippings in the grease pan to make gravy? I noticed last time there was blood in the first pan but I removed it and put another.
Hi Daniel.
You can use the drippings but to be honest, I don’t. If I did, I’d use a grease pan liner and I’d first bring the drippings to a boil in a saucepan before using to make a gravy. That should get read of any ‘unpleasantries’ in the drippings. But, as I’ve always said, when in doubt, toss it out and make your gravy in another way. For me that’s usually my roasted turkey wing gravy: https://www.lifesatomato.com/2012/12/25/holiday-make-ahead-gravy/ or my easier chicken gravy: https://www.lifesatomato.com/2013/03/31/easy-chicken-gravy/
You can find the disposable grease pans here: https://amzn.to/4i2fVtX
Hope that helps!
Mike
Hi Mike
Have you done it with a beer inside using a beer can holder? Just curious if you had if you had any recommendations or preferences for beer type and if you used a whole can/half can etc and if it affected the cooking time at all?
Hi! I have done a lot of beer can chicken, but never a beer can turkey. I’d never even thought of it actually! I think it’d work, I don’t see why not. The additional moisture didn’t seem to affect my chicken cook times. But of course the turkey is bigger, so I guess it might need to go a bit longer.
These beer can chicken on the Big Easy recipes might give you some ideas:
https://www.lifesatomato.com/?s=beer+can+chicken+big+easy
I used a Char-Broil beer can holder, but I’ve also used other brands. Not sure that which one you use really matters. Be careful removing the bird from the Big Easy, the beer is super hot and gets to sloshing around as the basket gets jostled. Trust me on this.
https://amzn.to/4eIvRP6
Oh, and one thing I like to do now is to add a bit of seasoning to the beer if it’s a ‘normal’ beer that doesn’t have a lot of extra flavors added. Something worth playing with.
Good luck!
Mike