Year after year, people sit down to the same old (albeit usually delicious) baked or fried turkey at Thanksgiving. For a more outdoorsy option, here’s how to cook a turkey in an earthen oven.
Cooking a turkey in the ground may seem unusual, but it’s actually an age-old technique that results in incredibly moist, flavorful meat. Ground-cooked turkeys have been roasted by various cultures worldwide for generations.
Cooking a turkey underground allows the bird to be infused with smoky, earthy flavors while steam-roasting it gently and evenly. The surrounding soil works as a natural oven, slowly cooking the turkey while keeping its juices sealed in.
If you want to try this unique and historical cooking method for your next holiday feast or anytime you’re roasting a turkey, follow this complete guide on how to cook a turkey in the ground.
Benefits of Cooking a Turkey Underground
There are several excellent reasons to cook your turkey in a pit in the ground rather than roasting it in the oven:
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Enhanced flavor – The smoky and mildly earthy taste imparted from being buried while cooking is unmatched. It gives the turkey a subtle, delicious savoriness.
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Juicy meat – Ground cooking locks in moisture and results in very succulent, tender turkey meat.
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Even cooking – The surrounding earth distributes heat gently and evenly around the entire bird. No worries about dried-out breast meat or underdone thighs.
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Temperature control – It’s easy to maintain a steady, ideal cooking temperature when using the ground as your oven.
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Fun, novel method – Ground-roasted turkey is sure to be a hit at your next gathering. Guests will be fascinated and impressed with this historical cooking technique.
How to Build an Underground Cooking Pit
Constructing a pit to cook your turkey in is part of the experience. Here are the steps involved:
Choose a Spot
- Pick a level area in your yard away from trees and shrubs to dig your pit. Make sure there are no pipes or wires underground where you’ll be digging.
Size the Pit
- For a 10-15 lb turkey, dig a pit about 2 feet deep by 3 feet wide. Scale up for larger birds. Make sure to make the pit a little longer than your roasting pan.
Line the Pit
- Line the bottom and sides with large rocks or bricks to retain and distribute heat. Avoid using river rocks which can explode.
Build a Fire
- Build a big bonfire down in the pit using hardwood logs. Keep it going for several hours to get the rocks very hot.
Rake Out Coals
- Once there are nice hot embers, rake out most of the coals from the pit, leaving a 1-2 inch layer across the bottom.
Add Wood Chips
- Sprinkle some moist hickory, apple, cherry or other aromatic wood chips over the coals for smoky flavor.
Your underground oven is now ready for the turkey!
How to Prepare the Turkey
Prepping the turkey is much the same as for oven roasting:
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Thaw the turkey completely if frozen. Remove giblets and neck.
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Rinse turkey inside and out. Pat very dry with paper towels.
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Rub the skin all over with olive oil or butter. Season the cavity and under the skin with salt and pepper.
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Stuff the cavity with onions, apples, garlic, herbs or your favorite stuffing. Truss the legs.
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Place turkey in a heavy roasting pan and add 1-2 cups chicken or turkey stock to the bottom.
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Tent foil loosely over the pan, leaving space for air circulation. This helps trap heat and steam.
The turkey is now ready for its underground adventure!
How to Cook a Turkey Underground
Once your pit is heated and prepared, it’s time to put the turkey in to cook:
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Using sturdy gloves or several layers of towels, carefully lower the roasting pan with the turkey into the pit.
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Cover the pit completely with a lid or square of heavy foil.
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Shovel dirt around and over the edges to seal in heat.
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Let the turkey cook undisturbed for about 1 hour per 5 pounds. Check internal temperature periodically with a long-stemmed thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh.
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It’s done when the thigh reaches 175°F and the breast 165°F. If using stuffing, it must reach 165°F also.
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Carefully remove the pan from the pit using gloves. Allow the turkey to rest tented with foil for 15-20 minutes before carving.
The wait is worth it for amazingly moist, tender and flavorful turkey with a hint of mesquite smoke!
Tips and Variations
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Add aromatic herbs, citrus slices, onions or other vegetables to the cavity or bottom of the pan.
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Use wood chips, logs or pellets for different smoke flavor – experiment with flavors like hickory, apple, mesquite, etc.
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Rub spices like cumin, chili powder, curry, jerk or garam masala under the skin for more flavor.
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Brine the turkey before cooking for extra moisture and seasoning.
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For whole spiced cider or wine, add a cheesecloth bag with whole cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves and citrus to the pan.
Ensuring Food Safety
It’s important to take precautions when cooking turkey in the ground:
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Cook immediately once the pit is ready – don’t let turkey sit out.
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Use a food thermometer to ensure safe internal temperature is reached.
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Don’t let the temp fall below 140°F for over 2 hours total cooking time.
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Discard any stuffing or pan juices that don’t reach 165°F.
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Refrigerate all leftovers within 1-2 hours of cooking.
Origin of Cooking Turkey in the Ground
There are many fascinating historical accounts of cultures worldwide using underground ovens and pits to cook meat and vegetables:
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Native Americans traditionally cooked wild game in pits lined with hot rocks buried in the ground.
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Polynesian cultures cooked pigs and other large meats in underground imu pits made of layered hot rocks and banana leaves.
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In the Caribbean, jerk pork and chicken are pit-barbecued wrapped in banana leaves over smoking pimento wood.
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Greek and Mediterranean cultures have long buried lamb and other meats in jars in pits to slow roast them with aromatic herbs and vegetables.
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Early American settlers adopted the Native American technique of pit cooking turkeys, briskets, beans and vegetable stews.
So next Thanksgiving or anytime you roast a turkey, consider carrying on these time-honored traditions and go ahead – just dig a pit and bury that bird! Your family and friends will love this delicious walk down cooking history.
How to Cook a Turkey in the Ground
It may sound odd or unsanitary, but humans have done this throughout the arc of history. Built correctly, an “earthen oven” will give you a juicy, tender, and flavorful bird. Here’s my eight-step guide.
Gather the Rocks: Find or buy some rocks. The rocks are put into a fire and serve as the heat source for the oven. Use granite or quartz and avoid limestone and sandstone (they can explode when heated). Note: Don’t get them from a river; your rocks need to be completely dry, as any moisture can cause them to break apart when heated.
Get Your Bird: A grocery store turkey will do. Somewhere in the 12- to 15-pound range is best. You can also cook a wild turkey or goose underground.
Dig the Oven: The cooking hole needs to be at least 3 feet deep. Width and length largely depend on the size of your bird, but a 3×3-foot square should do the trick. Try to make the walls of your oven as square as possible.
Cook Your Rocks: A “log cabin” style fire is the most useful for heating your rocks. That kind of campfire gives you a convenient place to drop the rocks directly into the fire. After you’ve got the flames going and you’ve got a good base of hot coals at the bottom, drop the rocks into the middle of the fire.
It may take an hour or more, but the rocks will begin to glow and spark a bit when they’re ready to go. Hint: You never have to admit to relying on lighter fluid to keep the fire hot, but it’s a good thing to have on hand.
Prepare the Bird: Just like with the traditional method of cooking a turkey, it first must be defrosted if it is frozen. Remove any of the innards, gizzard bags, gravy bags, or whatever else might be inside the turkey. Stuffing is yet another personal preference, but a mix of onions, garlic, and celery will do just fine.
Spice the outside of the turkey and then wrap it in several (5-6 is recommended) layers of aluminum foil. The traditional method is to wrap it in edible leaves. For beginners, the foil is the smart way to go.
Cook the Turkey! Once your rocks are hot, your hole is dug, and your turkey is prepared and wrapped, use a shovel to line the bottom of your hole with the hot rocks. Put the foil-wrapped bird on top of the bottom layer of rocks, and then completely cover and surround it with the rest of your piping hot rocks.
Use as many rocks as you can fit on top of and around the bird. Then simply bury everything using the soil that you dug out to create the hole.
The size of your bird will dictate cooking time, but if you’ve picked a bird that’s within the 12 to 15-pound range as prescribed above, it’ll take around 3.5 hours to cook, in my experience.
When you think it’s close, use a meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature is at least 165 degrees F. Then just dig it up, bring it in, unwrap and enjoy! —Rocky Brown is a park ranger in Indiana.
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How To Cook Ground Turkey
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