DadCooksDinner

  • Home
  • Rotisserie
  • Recipes
  • Tools
  • Books
  • Merch
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Recipes
  • Books
  • Tools
  • Merch
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Recipes
    • Books
    • Tools
    • Merch
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Grilling

    Rotisserie Leg of Pork Roast with Injection Brine and Herb Rub

    Published: Mar 13, 2014 · Modified: Feb 10, 2015 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

    Leg of Pork is a common cut in England. Here in the states, we don’t see leg of pork roasts that often; they are usually cured and sold as ham. I have a good butcher, so I can get fresh pork legs whenever I want.
    The English also call a roast a “joint of meat”, and their Sunday roast is often called a “Sunday joint.” Here in the states, that name is a little too close to a marijuana joke. Like, you can only eat it in Colorado or Washington…thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.

    Pork leg is a lean cut of meat, similar to pork loin. So, why cook pork leg, instead of the ubiquitous boneless pork loin roast? Because you can get pork leg with the skin on, and a thick layer of fat between the skin and the meat. Pork skin and a rotisserie give you cracklings - crunchy crisped pork skin - which I eat like pig candy. Also, the thick layer of fat bastes the lean meat as it spins in the rotisserie, resulting in a juicier roast.

    Also, just like when I cooked a bone-in fresh ham, this is the perfect time for an injection brine. I prefer wet brined pork, but I don’t want to waterlog the skin. Wet skin makes it hard to crisp up the cracklings. Solution? Get out the big needle.

    Crackling skin, lean meat? The perfect Sunday joint.


    Shout out to my local butcher, Sherman Provision, for stocking fresh ham legs an trimming this one to order. Thanks, Mike and Mauri!


    Recipe: Rotisserie Leg of Pork Roast with Injection Brine and Herb Rub


    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

    Equipment

    • Grill with Rotisserie Attachment (Here's the current version of my Weber Summit)
    • 9 by 13 aluminum foil drip pan
    • Butcher's twine

    Ingredients

    • 1 (5 pound, 4 inch thick) boneless leg of pork roast, skin and fat cap still attached
    • 1 cup wood chips (or 1 fist sized chunk of smoking wood) - oak, hickory, or apple are my favorites with pork

    Injection Brine

    • 1 cup water
    • 1 tablespoon kosher salt (1 ½ teaspoons table salt)
    • 2 teaspoons brown sugar

    Herb Paste

    • 1 tablespoon minced thyme
    • 1 ½ teaspoons minced rosemary
    • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
    • ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
    • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

    Directions

    1. Score and injection brine the pork

    Stir the brine ingredients in a measuring cup until the salt and sugar dissolve. Score the skin on the leg of pork in a 1 inch diamond pattern. Inject the brine into the pork, poking through the scores in the skin every couple of inches. Push the needle all the way in, then depress the plunger while slowly pulling the needle out, spreading the brine along the puncture. Let the leg of pork rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour to absorb the brine; four to eight hours would be better. Soak the smoking wood, starting an hour before cooking time.

    2. Truss and spit the pork

    Before preheating the grill, remove the pork from the refrigerator. Mix the herb paste ingredients in a small bowl, then spread the herb paste over the pork leg, working it into the natural seams of the meat. Truss the pork roast every 1 ½ inches. Run the spit through the roast, aiming for center mass, and secure the roast to the spit with the spit forks. Let the roast rest at room temperature while the grill pre-heats.

    3. Set up the grill for indirect medium-low heat

    Set your grill up for indirect medium-low heat (300°F), with a drip pan in the center of the grill grate, and preheat for ten minutes. For my Weber Summit, I remove the grates, turn burner #1 and #6 to medium, turn the smoking burner to high, and put my drip pan in the middle of the grill, over the unlit burners. (If I didn’t have the smoker burner, I’d go with #1 and #6 at medium.) For a charcoal grill, light a chimney ½ full with charcoal. When it is covered with gray ash, spread it in two piles on the grill grate, with a drip pan in the middle.

    4. Rotisserie the leg of pork

    Put the smoking wood on the fire - chips wrapped in foil and on the burner cover directly over a lit burner in a gas grill, or chunk on the coals for a charcoal grill. Put the spit on the rotisserie, start it spinning, and center the drip pan under the pork roast. Cook with the lid closed until the pork reaches 120°F in its thickest part, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Increase the heat to indirect high to crisp up the pork skin. (If you have an infrared rotisserie burner, set it to high to help with the browning.) Cook the pork until the skin is crisped and bubbling in spots, and the pork reaches 140°F in its thickest part, about 15 minutes. For a charcoal grill, start another half a chimney of charcoal after the pork has been cooking for 50 minutes. When it is covered with gray ash (this should take about 20 minutes), add it to the coals on one side of the charcoal rate, and give the roast another 15 minutes to crisp up the skin.

    5. Rest, carve and serve

    Remove the spit from the rotisserie, remove the pork roast from the spit, and cut the trussing twine away from the roast. Let the pork rest for 15 minutes, then carve into ½ inch thick slices and serve.

    Notes

    • You have to make drip pan potatoes with this recipe. Yes, have to. Pork drippings make fantastic drip pan potatoes. Add them to the pan when you increase the heat to crisp up the skin.
    • You will not use all the brine - only a quarter to half cup of it. Why make extra brine? Because I don’t like trying to chase the last few drops of brine around the cup.

    What do you think?

    Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

    Related Posts

    Rotisserie Fresh Ham with Injection Brine
    Rotisserie Rack of Pork with Apple Cider Brine
    Rotisserie Boneless Pork Loin with Apricot Glaze

    Enjoyed this post? Want to help out DadCooksDinner? Subscribe to DadCooksDinner via eMail or RSS reader, recommend DadCooksDinner to your friends, buy something from Amazon.com through the links on this site, or donate through my tip jar. Thank you.

    Subscribe
    BirdSend Email Marketing Tool

    More Grilling

    • Grilled Delmonico Steaks
    • Jalapeno peppers stuffed with melted cheese in a rack on a grill
      Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos
    • Slices of pan grilled duck breast and potatoes on a plate
      Pan Grilled Duck Breast with Duck Fat Paprika Potatoes
    • Grilled Buffalo Chicken Wings on a platter
      Grilled Buffalo Chicken Wings

    Sharing is caring!

    Comments

    1. Mike from Austin says

      July 27, 2019 at 7:42 pm

      Mike,

      I am wondering why there are pressure cooker posts on this page? Technical issues?

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        July 29, 2019 at 5:16 pm

        Yes, a long-ago blog post migration scrambled comments between some old posts. I deleted the "wrong" comments.

        Reply
    2. Jim Taylor says

      March 14, 2014 at 2:48 am

      OMG! That looks so good. I will have to go on the hunt for a butcher that has "joint roasts",

      Reply

    Questions? Made the Recipe? Leave a Comment Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Welcome to Dad Cooks Dinner!

    I'm Mike Vrobel, a dad who cooks dinner every night. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, and I write about pressure cooking, rotisserie grilling, and other food topics that grab my attention.

    More About Me →

    Popular

    • Three bowls of cooked Pinto Beans on a wood table
      Instant Pot Pinto Beans (No Soaking)
    • Pressure Cooker Beef Shank (Osso Bucco)
    • Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
      Pressure Cooker 7 Hour Leg of Lamb (in 90 minutes)
    • Pressure Cooker Brown Jasmine Rice
    • Grilled Tomahawk Steak (Long Bone Ribeye, Reverse Seared)
      Grilled Tomahawk Steak (Long Bone Ribeye, Reverse Seared)
    • A green bowl full of chicken noodle soup
      Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

    Seasonal

    • A bowl of asparagus risotto
      Instant Pot Asparagus Risotto (Pressure Cooker Recipe)
    • Grilled Butterflied Chicken with Garlic Butter
    • Sous Vide Rack of Lamb with Dijon Bread Crumb Crust
    • A bowl of beef stew with asparagus, carrots, and radishes.
      Instant Pot Spring Vegetable Beef Stew
    • A Rotisserie Chicken (Pollo Asado)on a platter of shredded cabbage
      Rotisserie Chicken Pollo Asado
    • Rotisserie Pork Shoulder Roast with Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce
      Rotisserie Pork Shoulder with South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2025 Dad Cooks Dinner

    174 shares
    • 1