This cooking method requires a spike, which you will have to make, a new 10 gallon trash can, 10 lbs. of charcoal and a good supply of aluminum foil.
The spike I use was made for me by my son in law Jim, from whom I learned this cooking technique. It was made from 5/16" or 1/2" round stock and is about 3 ft. long. It just has to be sturdy enough to not flex. A piece of ReBar would work just fine. (The bottom is sharpened to make driving it into the ground easy.) Jim made the tines from an old supermarket TV guide rack. They are about 4 inches long and and about 4 to 5 inches from the tip of one to the tip of any of the other tines. This is not critical.
The spike is driven into the ground through enough foil to make a square 1 ft. larger than the footprint of the trashcan. The foil contains the charcoal, protects the ground and makes cleanup easy. The bottoms of the tines are typicaly about 5" from the ground.
The turkey (suggested), or other meat which you are cooking, is impaled on the four tines. A turkey will be oriented verticaly with the legs aimed down. The 10 gallon trash can (remember, a NEW can!) is inverted and placed over the spike and the meat. Push the trashcan down tightly against the ground to make sure there is a good airtight seal. If you can, put the foil and the can on soft soil or sand to help create the seal. Adjust the spike, if necessary. to center the turkey verticaly in the can.
A 10 lb. bag of charcoal is needed for a 10 lb. turkey. A turkey much larger than 10 lbs is not recommended.
(Jim's motto regarding trashcan cooking is 10/10/10. A 10 gallon can, 10 lbs of charcoal and a 10 lb turkey.) Matchlight brand charcoal is suggested to avoid any infusion of starter fluid into the meat. As this is essentialy a closed system, but not entirely, any starter fluid fumes which might seep inside the can will not burn off as they do on a conventional charcoal grill. If you use a charcoal starting device which doesn't require starter fluid, most any type of charcoal may be used.
A bed of charcoal, 2 or 3 briquets high is laid on top (actually the bottom) of the inverted trashcan. The remainder of the charcoal is laid around the outside perimeter of the trashcan. Light all the coals and in about 90 minutes, your turkey will be done! If you desire, mesquite or other smoking wood may be soaked in water and put around the INSIDE perimeter of the can do this before you light the charcoal! After you have seated the can, just lift it off the ground for a minute. You'll be able to see the mark where the can sat. Put your soaked wood inside the circular mark, re-seat the trashcan and light the charcoal. At the end of the 90 minutes, carefully lift the can from the ground using pliers or oven mitts as it's going to be HOT! Remove the turkey from the spike, take it in the house and serve it, to the delight of your family and friends.
NOTE: This method worked very well in FLorida when it was warm. In colder areas, you might want to use more charcoal and cook a little longer. I really haven't had the time to experiment much, so you'll have to use The Force.
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