I still remember my first turkey success, the one where my guests sat up and said “Wow, this is really good!”. It was a wet brined turkey, cooked on my trusty kettle grill. That was a good turkey, one I’d be happy to serve today…but I can do better, with the help of my rotisserie and a dry brine.
What’s a dry brine? Instead of soaking the bird in a salt water solution for a few hours, we salt the bird early, and let it rest in the refrigerator for a few days. I get the same deep-seasoned bird, with crisp, crackling skin, and don’t have to deal with a huge pot of turkey-contaminated water when I’m done.
Why rotisserie? The spinning bird bastes in its own juices, resulting in crisper skin and even cooking.
Here is a simple rotisserie turkey with a straightforward, basic dry brine: salt, brown sugar, and black pepper.
Now, simple doesn’t mean plain, because dry brining adds a lot of flavor to the bird. Next, I add all the tricks I know—icing the breast, making the U of fire or lighting only the burners near the legs, adding a hint of wood smoke, and cooking to 160°F. This should balance the juiciness of the white meat with thoroughly cooking the dark meat. The end result? A great, simple turkey.
If you don’t have the time to dry brine, rub the turkey with the dry brine right before you put it on the grill. It won’t be as thoroughly seasoned, but it will be a great bird.
Recipe: Rotisserie Turkey with Basic Dry Brine
Equipment
- Grill with Rotisserie attachment (I love both my Weber Summit and my Weber Kettle with Rotisserie Attachment)
- Gallon-size zip-top plastic bag full of ice
- Instant Read Thermometer
- 2 fist-size chunks of smoking wood or 2 cups wood chips (hickory, oak, pecan, or a fruit wood; I prefer oak wine barrel staves or cherry wood chips)
Adapted from my cookbook: How to Rotisserie Grill: Rotisserie Turkey by Mike Vrobel.
Print
Rotisserie Turkey with Basic Dry Brine
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 8-12 1x
Description
Rotisserie turkey with a straightforward dry brine. This is my go-to turkey recipe every Thanksgiving.
Ingredients
- 12-to–14-pound turkey
Basic Dry Brine
- 11/2 ounces kosher salt - ¼ cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 3 tablespoons Morton’s kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon light or dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Dry-brine the turkey: One to 3 days before it is time to cook, mix the salt, sugar, and pepper in a small bowl. Gently work your fingers between the skin and the breast, then rub some of the brine directly onto the breast meat. Sprinkle and rub the rest of the dry brine evenly over the turkey. Make sure to season the neck and back cavity of the turkey, too. Put the turkey on a rack over a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. If you are dry brining for only 24 hours, skip the plastic wrap. Refrigerate. Remove the plastic wrap the night before cooking to allow the skin to dry.
- Truss and spit the turkey: One hour before cooking, remove the turkey from the refrigerator. Fold the wingtips underneath the bird, then truss the turkey. Skewer the turkey on the rotisserie spit, securing it with the spit forks. To keep the breast meat cool, set the bag of ice on the turkey’s breast, arranging it so the ice does not touch the thighs or drumsticks. Let the turkey rest at room temperature until it is time to cook.
- Set up the grill: Set up the grill for indirect medium heat (325° to 350°F), with the drip pan in the middle of the grill and the heat concentrated on the drumstick side of the grill. If you are cooking with charcoal, pour the charcoal in a “U” shape on one side of the grill, and put the drip pan in the center of the “U”. If you are cooking with gas, shift the indirect heat to one side of the grill by lighting more burners on the drumstick side. (If possible - if you have a three burner grill, that may not be possible, so just go with indirect heat. On my 6 burner Weber Summit I turn on burner 6 and the smoker burner to shift the heat to one side.) Add the smoking wood to the fire. If you have an infrared rotisserie burner, use it for the first 30 minutes to an hour to start the turkey browning, then turn it off and let the burners in the body of the grill finish cooking.
- Rotisserie the turkey: Discard the bag of ice. Put the spit on the grill with the drumsticks pointed toward the heat. Start the rotisserie spinning, and make sure the drip pan is centered under the turkey. Close the lid. If you are using a charcoal grill, add 16 unlit briquettes every hour to keep the heat going. Cook until the turkey reaches 160°F in the thickest part of the breast, about 2 ½ hours.
- Carve and serve: Remove the turkey from the grill, remove the spit from the turkey, and cut the trussing string loose. Let the turkey rest for 15 to 30 minutes before carving. Arrange the carved turkey on a platter and serve.
Notes
(For trussing details, see my video: How to Truss and Spit a Turkey for the Rotisserie.)
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Category: Rotisserie
- Cuisine: American
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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Jim
Hi Mike. Just picked up your Rotisserie Grilling book on Amazon. Really enjoyed the book and I'm now dreaming of warmer weather! I did have a question: when you mention adding coals to a charcoal fire every hour, should the added coals be lit or un-lit? Thanks again for all the info.
Mike Vrobel
Unlit. The coals in the fire will light them.
Gladstone Payton
How about making gravy with this method, Mike? Love your recipes and have your book!
Mike Vrobel
I use the giblets to make gravy:
https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/pressure-cooker-giblet-gravy/
...and if there are drippings in the drip pan, and they are not burned, and you're not using a charcoal grill (where you get ashes in the pan), scrape them out and add them to the gravy.
Jeff M
Great stuff! Did this for my Birthday dinner and everyone was delighted. Turkey was one of the best we’ve had. Been wanting to do it since I got my Weber Summit gas grill. Next up is a rib roast.
Thanks Mike!
Dave Warner
Mike,
I used this recipe for our Thanksgiving dinner with a 13.5lb bird. I was short on time and only "brined" it for about 18 hours. It came out great. I cooked it for 2.5 hours on a Weber S-470. I've also made quite a few other smoker and rotisserie recipes of yours and they always turn out awesome.
Mike V
Great! The night before is my "last minute" dry brine time - I'd prefer longer, but I'm not that organizes.