Just in time for Thanksgiving, here are a few ways to enjoy a turkey fresh-cooked at your favorite dune camp spot. We hear prime rib works just as well for you high-dollar folks. (All methods are suggestions only and we take no responsibility for any health risks).

METHOD #1 by Steve Drake

This recipe comes from a fellow sand enthusiast with 10 years experience:

"I stuff my bird with quartered onions and butter. Then cover the whole bird in butter, drop it into a paper grocery bag, mash it tight and wrap it with about 5 layers of foil. Wrap some wire around it for a handle.

Dig hole
Burn a lot of wood, when the coals are almost ready drop on a 20lb bag of charcoal and stir it up. By the time you walk over to get your bird the coals will now be ready.
Move some coals around and place the bird in the middle. Use the rest of the coals to cover the bird. Bury the whole thing with about 2ft of sand.
Cook time is between 5 to 6 hours.

I have NEVER ruined a bird and I have cooked as many as 5 birds in one hole at the same time.

This procedure does make a GREAT tasting turkey but after deep-frying my turkey last Thanksgiving (the wind was too strong to build the fire so I borrowed a deep-fryer) I will probably never bury a bird again. A buried bird still tastes better in my opinion but the ease and convenience of deep-frying is hard to beat. It takes a long time to dig the hole, prep the bird and get the fire just right.

1 hour in the deep-fryer, from now on, is the way I'm doing it. "

METHOD #2 by Brian Trapp

Stuff the bird, place in roasting bag, then wrap with 3 layers aluminum foil.

Hole is dug and there is at least 50 lb. of really white hot charcoal.
Layer bottom of hole about 4" deep in charcoal, lay bird directly on that. Then completely cover the bird with the rest of the charcoal (sometimes I use short pieces of boards to sorta make a "frame" so I don't waste the charcoal).
When completely covered in charcoal, completely cover that in sand.
Come back in 6 hours and carefully dig it out.
Turkey will be soooo tender and juicy that you won't even need a knife to carve it!

One advantage to this; you'll never burn one or dry it out by overcooking it.

METHOD #3 by Terry Tomlinson

Wrap the turkey in cheese clothe(I have never stuffed it)
wrap it in 3 layers of aluminum foil
soak a burlap sack in water
dig a hole 4' deep x3' dia.
Put 1 layer of med. sized rocks in the bottom
start the fire @ sunset
@ 11:30 place wrapped turkey in burlap sack and tie safety wire to it (3')
let the fire burn down to coals and place turkey in @ midnight
cover turkey with some coals and sand leaving the safety wire above the ground
dig the turkey up between noon and 1:00pm
last year we did 2 turkeys

Variation by Bob Tenwick: use clean white sheets instead of cheese cloth, don't use aluminum foil, and soak the burlap in cheap red wine. I don't know if any of these things make a difference though. Last year we used too many rocks in the pit and too much fuel. Turkey was good just a hair on the dry side, still better than an oven turkey though.

We also used a remote thermometer. Just plug the probe in the breast and mark the other end of the wire in the sand with a flag or something. To check the bird just plug in the unit to the wire end.

METHOD #4 by Jason Gutzmer
The way I have done it in the past was to stuff your turkey as usual. Dig a pit and get a nice fire going. Once it has burned to embers wrap the turkey in a liberal amount of foil and set it on the embers then bury it (make sure you mark the spot ) You could also use a board to cover the pit instead of dirt and some sort of rack over the embers (but where is the fun in that) If you want to get fancy you could use some mesquite wood chips or something similar. Let that baby roast and enjoy.