Propane BBQ Mod - Applewood Roasted/Smoked Turkey

Step 3 Wood Chip Holders, Stand-Offs & Drip Pan

Next, I made some wood chip holders for each of the open sides. The chip holders are simply heavy-duty aluminum foil with holes poked through the bottom to allow the flames to hit the wood. I just poked a bunch of holes into the bottom and made sure that I could see the flames right under most of the holes but kept it sturdy enough to hold the wood chips while they smoked. IMPORTANT: Make sure that you soak the chips for at least an hour before placing in the baskets. This lets them smoke without bursting into flames often. I keep a pan of chips soaking on the side and refill it when the chips start running low.
Remember: Make sure that the entire bottom plate is covered by either a foil wrap or covered by your wood chip containers. They key is to block all flames from going straight up. You want to force the heat to the sides

The next step is to set up the muffin pans and the drip pan. I use the foil muffin pans as stand-off spacers for the drip pan. I set the muffin pans directly onto the foil of the bottom plate and then set the shallow drip pan on top of them. The reason I do this is to try and protect the drip pan somewhat from the direct heat of the bottom plate and the muffin pans are flexible enough to squash them a bit to get the drip pan to fit under the grill rack. With the drip pan above the bottom plate somewhat, the liquids in the drip pan won't boil away as fast as they would if the drip pan was sitting right on top of it. Note: Most of the liquid will boil away anyway and, at the end of cooking, you will have mostly turkey fat so it won't be useful for gravy made from drippings.
In the shot of the drip pan resting on the muffin pans, notice how the pan allows for space on all sides.
I put some celery, apples and pears along with some rosemary and sage into the drip pan and fill it about 3/4 full of water. This helps to keep things fairly moist inside while cooking and helps to flavor the bird.

Now, make sure that the drip pan is stable on the muffin pans and place one grill rack over the drip pan. Be sure that the grill rack sits stable and that the drip pan is not touching the bottom of the rack. Notice that I have allowed the drip pan to jut out a little more on the left of the rack. This makes it easier to add water during cooking. You can cook the turkey directly on the grill rack or, as I chose to do, place a roasting pan with drip holes on top of the grill rack. I think that it keeps the bottom a bit more moist and makes it easier to remove the turkey when it is finished.