Pit-Roasted Turkey You can cook the turkey in an underground pit. We do this with turkeys, whole hogs, deer, chickens, salmon, briskets, well, just about everything! First dig a pit deep and wide enough for the turkey and 6 to 8 inches of hot coals. We burn enough wood to make a hot coal bed, 6 to 8 inches deep. Cover the hot coals with a sheet of tin. Place your wrapped meat on the tin. Cover the hole with another sheet of tin. Bury the top sheet with dirt-this mainly keeps the heat in, make sure you cover the edges to keep the heat from escaping. Come back in 10 to 12 hours and you have perfectly roasted meat. This is a sort of underground oven. I wrap the meat with at least 3 layers of foil. Some people use wet burlap. Season the meat with your favorite seasonings before wrapping. We usually do ours at nite and the next morning we dig it up and keep it warm til the feast.