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Not sure if you have heard about this cooking method or not. Last night we went out to the country (Bellbrook) for a dinner party with some friends. After some nimble navigation with the Blackberry and Google Maps we arrived to the smell of charcoal and roasting turkey. Next to the driveway a metal trashcan was inverted with charcoal blazing white on top. Very strange. The smell of turkey was seeping from under the edges of the upside down trashcan.

Mike, our host and trashcan cooker for the evening, explained how it worked. Under the trashcan was aluminum foil and stake drove into the ground. A cross was made with another piece of wood attached to the stake. The turkey would rest on this stake with the cross piece holding the turkey about 12-15 inches off the ground.

Using a large back of charcoal bricks, the turkey was placed on the stake. The trashcan was placed over the turkey and rested upside down on the foil. The now white hot charcoal was placed about 4-6 inches thick around the base of the trashcan on the foil. The remaining half of the charcoal was placed on the “top” of the inverted trash can.

Our 16 pound turkey cooked in about 95 minutes and it was perfect. Cooked exactly right, moist, tender and juicy with a hint of smokiness, but not overpowered like a smoked bird. This really poor photo, which I posted on Facebook, shows the glow of the charcoal at the base and top of the trashcan cooker.

For a much better understanding..click here.