The night before Thanksgiving - cooking a turkey in an imu

This year we are roasting our 20 lb turkey in an imu at one of the schools here in Kihei. I've never done this before - I'm really quite excited about it! What is an imu? An imu is an underground oven (like they use to roast pigs at luaus) - a pit with hot stones. Here is an article that tells you how it's done.

So how do you roast a turkey in an imu? Great question!

Here are the instructions that came on the back of my ticket.

Here's my raw turkey, all seasoned and ready to go. I wrapped it in 6 layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil with an extra two layers on the bottom for added strength (and to catch juices).
My fully wrapped turkey bundle.
At the school the turkeys were checked in, and then had a metal numbered tag wired to them for identification. These are the bundles that arrived before we did. They have room for one hundred turkeys. Looks like I'm not the only one that got the largest turkey I could find :)
The imu pit. I'm not entirely sure how this will work. My friend tells me last year the pit was lined with stones... I guess we'll see more tomorrow.

Prepping the banana leaves that are laid on top for insulation.
To be continued....

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