Rotisserie + brining advice

Hey Guys -

I have a bird in the deep freezer from earlier this year that we're planning on using just for a friendsgiving at our place a week from Saturday. I want to try it on the rotisserie. Any suggestions or advice on anything? I am planning on not using smoke wood as some people that are coming prefer it not smoked. I'm thinking of also brining it for 48 hours before go time.

Any of your favorite rubs/brines or other suggestions for this? What should I be aiming at keeping the temps at during the cook so that it is done, but also has crispy skin. With the smoker that I've done in the past the skin often turns out rubbery.

Thanks!
Daum

Hi Daum,

I've done several rotisserie chickens but have never tried a turkey. Here's an article from Weber on how to rotisserie a turkey: http://www.weber.com/weber-nation/blog/how-to-rotisserie-a-turkey

Last year I smoked my first turkey in the WSM and used the Apple Brine recipe available on this site. I'll be using it again this year as it turned out perfect. No rub needed.

Hopefully there are some members that have tried the rotisserie method and can chime in with their results and any tips.

Ah good find on that link, others seem to approve of it. Will have to give it a try!

Thanks,
Daum

Good luck! I'd love to try one as well on Thanksgiving so please let us know how it goes.

LarryR posted a Jack Daniels & Maple syrup brine several years ago that I think everyone should try many times

the recipe is in the middle of the first post
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?10090-My-Jack-Daniel-s-Maple-Syrup-Brined-Turkey-w-Pics

I've tried it with jack a couple of times and with Makers mark a couple times too. Both are good.

That Jack Daniels & Maple syrup looks perfect for starting with brines.

I think 48 hours in the brine will be too long and will result in less than stellar results. 24 hr will be enough. Tie the legs and wings up before you put it on the spinner. They will get really floppy if you don't
Be sure to use an "all natural" charcoal when cooking it. Turkey is a subtle flavor, and it sounds like you have some sensitive pallets (No smoke? Heathens be gone!) so don't risk a chemical taste.

Your no smoke friends have probably had over smoked with hickory foods before. A light apple wood smoke might amaze them about how good
smoked turkey can be if prepared the right way. Just a thought.

Brining is really helpful but 48 hours is longer than necessary.

Yes, they may be reacting to oversmoked bird they have tried in the past but it can be hard to get past that kind of prejudice. Cooking for others is all about giving them what they want, not what you want them to want.

Will do a 24 hour brine. For the smoke maybe i'll just throw a single small chunk of apple in at the beginning so it has a very faint smoke to it.

Daum

We've done a 20lb (+/_) turkey on the 22 inch kettle for over 30 yrs now, and since 2000 have used a brown sugar/kosher salt brine, 12 hrs worth.
Basically, 1 C. brown sugar, 1 C. kosher salt, 1 gallon H2O for the ratio, and usually 2 gallons of brine handles a 20 lb bird.
the bourbon/maple syrup brine sounds great, i will hope to try that this year, however, and may try going 24 hrs instead of 12, but i don't want the meat to be mushy.

Did a 19 lb turkey a few years ago on the kettle rotisserie, and it was great, just like the chickens we regularly do. But i have an extra heavy counterweight that a machinist friend made for me, and that helped.

Have had some pretty good crispy skin in the past by basting with a butter mixture, with garlic/green onions, if that helps at all. But again, that's in the kettle, not the WSM, and basically roasting at 350 or so temps.

Awesome thanks. My event has spun slightly out of control we're up to three turkeys now. Doing one in the bourbon brine, one in apple brine, one in basic brine. First two were brined for about 18 hours and are now air drying from this morning til tomorrow in the fridge. Third one I had to pick up today so it's brining/defrosting now, hopefully by tonight will be defrosted fully and will let it air dry to tomorrow.

Good call on the mixture, will give that a try!

Thanks,
Daum

Bill Klinke said:

Did a 19 lb turkey a few years ago on the kettle rotisserie, and it was great, just like the chickens we regularly do. But i have an extra heavy counterweight that a machinist friend made for me, and that helped.

Click to expand...

I bought the Weber 2290 Rotisserie kit earlier this year, and it no longer comes with the counter weight. How important is it for a turkey in the 15-20 lb range?

William -

I've used my rotisserie with and without the counter weight, once on a full fresh leg of ham (20+ pounds) and it didn't have any problem without it. I've read that some people swear by them, others say they never use them and their motor is fine. On bigger items I usually try to use one, however I don't think it is absolutely necessary.

Daum

One of the first things I did when I took to the art of Webering was turkey!
The last one I did was brined about eight hours (12lb. bird) I didn't spin it, but made a lattice blanket of back and Laos that over the breast with a light cherry smoke, hands down the best I think I have ever done. Trying a different brine for Thanksgiving this year.
Daum, it's always a "delicate" smoke, not faint, that sounds like a mistake.
I'll be watching for a full report!

William M said:

I bought the Weber 2290 Rotisserie kit earlier this year, and it no longer comes with the counter weight. How important is it for a turkey in the 15-20 lb range?

Click to expand...

I have used the counterweight when the food item is decidedly UNbalanced, (like a 20lb turkey) just because i figure trying to balance the load _should_ increase the life of the motor? So for all I know, you can do a 20lb turkey without a counterweight, but my uneducated guess is that over time, you will wear out the motor/gears sooner than you might have otherwise.
But i see onegrill.com has motors, spit forks, counterweights, etc. so there are apparently some options available.
(fixed it to read UNbalanced.......bill k)

Bill, I don't understand what you just posted, if the product IS balanced the counterweight is superfluous, isn't it? I think we are mostly in agreement but, it may be a "spellcheck" glitch.
My understanding is the counterweight is used to get things evenly balanced and not put undue stress on the motor. Balance is balance regardless of weight. If it's balanced, it should not have loads and crashes on the spit at all. It should be a gentle simple turning not, fast, bang slow, bang, fast.
A brace of 5lb. chickens can be out of balance and cause more trouble for the motor than a 20lb. turkey which is properly spitted.
Not picking at anyone but, trying to get this clear.
For what it's worth, I have well over 400 turkeys under my belt and have never felt the need to turn and burn them, straight indirect kettle work has made many many guests very happy? Just one mans opinion.

Daum said:

Awesome thanks. My event has spun slightly out of control we're up to three turkeys now. Doing one in the bourbon brine, one in apple brine, one in basic brine. First two were brined for about 18 hours and are now air drying from this morning til tomorrow in the fridge. Third one I had to pick up today so it's brining/defrosting now, hopefully by tonight will be defrosted fully and will let it air dry to tomorrow.

Good call on the mixture, will give that a try!

Thanks,
Daum

Click to expand...

Hey Daum, just wanted to see how the event went and how the rotisserie bird turned out. Let us know how it compared to the other two and any tips/tricks when you get a chance. Thanks!

So a follow up, everything ended up turning out really well. Friday after picking up the third turkey and brining/defrosting it while I went to work during the day, it decided to leak all over the fridge. When I got back after work on Friday ready to start making pies realized there was liquid coming from the fridge. After that spent 3 hours taking apart the fridge/cleaning it all out. Luckily there wasn't much food that we lost from it, only some random carrots and celery. After cleaning it up, Kate made 2 pumpkin pies and I made two pecan pies. Saturday we whipped up the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a pumpkin roll, and threw on the turkeys around 3. I was absolutely amazed when all three were done at about the same time, 6:30. It has to be the first time I even got close to serving when I estimate the meat will be done. Unfortunately I didn't have time to snap many pictures but below are what I do have.

Overall, the turkeys were really easy to cook, everything turned out amazingly. The favorite according to everyone was the rotisserie bird which I did in the apple brine. The bourbon brine was very good too. The skin across all the birds was nice and crispy, however, the rotisserie was the crispiest. The one on the rotisserie we must have no secured that well as at one point we heard a thumping, and it was flopping around. I resecured it, however just as we went to take it off the legs fell off, we didn't lose any of the meat it just fell into the dripping pan. I think letting the birds sit out over night was an absolute must. In the past I had not done this and the skin would be rubbery when taking it off. For my cooking temps on the smoker and gas grill I did 325, and the rotisserie closer to 350.

Here is the third turkey above the other two, prior to leaking all over the fridge:


Post cleaning out the fridge, all three air drying over night:



Pecan Pie:


Firing up all the grills, proving having three ones on a small deck is worth it:


Serving it at the table:


Finally just an action shot, this was the third bird I believe, a basic brine:



All in all was a great time and everyone had a blast. Next year I'll definitely be getting food grade buckets to cure them in. Trying to use the basting bags and a random pans/pots/buckets was a pain. I figure with the buckets I may also be able to fit two per bucket.

This coming weekend I'm off to Florida for another friendsgiving and we are doing a pig roast. Will try to snag some photos!
Daum

1. Basting bags suck. Pick up 5 gallons buckets ( with lids! ) form the HomeDepot/ Lowes type stores.
2. Yep, cookie sheets are not big enough to hold the off juicing of 2 turkeys. I pick up a couple of disposable foil roasting pans.
3. Great job!

I find the counter weight does a better job of keeping the meat from "resting" on one side as it flops over the top when spinning, providing what I have convinced myself is a more even cooking.