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 » Rotisserie

    Rotisserie Turkey with Basic Dry Brine

    Published: Nov 25, 2015 · Modified: Nov 19, 2024 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 7 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    Rotisserie Turkey With Basic Dry Brine
    Rotisserie Turkey With Basic Dry Brine

    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
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

    Rotisserie Turkey with Basic Dry Brine


    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    5 from 2 reviews

    • Author: Mike Vrobel
    • Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
    • Yield: 8-12 1x
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    Rotisserie turkey with a straightforward dry brine. This is my go-to turkey recipe every Thanksgiving.


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 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

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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

    Would you like to save this recipe?

    We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @DadCooksDinner on Instagram and hashtag it #DadCooksDinner

     

    RotisserieTurkeyWithBasicDryBrine-1-2
    Sprinkling on the dry brine

     

    RotisserieTurkeyWithBasicDryBrine-1
    On the spit and ready to go

     

    RotisserieTurkeyWithBasicDryBrine-0907
    The U of fire

    What do you think?

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

    Related Posts

    Rotisserie Turkey
    Rotisserie Turkey Dry Brined with Orange and Spices
    Rotisserie Turkey with Cajun Dry Brine

     

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

    Subscribe
    BirdSend Email Marketing Tool

    More Rotisserie

    • Rotisserie Turkey Breast browning on a grill
      Rotisserie Turkey Breast, Dry Brined with Italian Spices
    • Rotisserie Sirloin Roast | DadCooksDinner.com
      Rotisserie Sirloin Roast
    • A boneless ribeye roast cooking on a gas grill rotisserie
      Rotisserie Ribeye Roast with Herb Crust
    • Rotisserie Duck with Drip Pan Potatoes | DadCooksDinner.com
      Rotisserie Duck With Drip Pan Potatoes

    Sharing is caring!

    Comments

    1. Jim says

      January 01, 2018 at 9:01 am

      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.

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        January 01, 2018 at 9:05 am

        Unlit. The coals in the fire will light them.

        Reply
    2. Gladstone Payton says

      November 20, 2017 at 11:34 pm

      How about making gravy with this method, Mike? Love your recipes and have your book!

      Reply
      • Mike Vrobel says

        November 21, 2017 at 7:36 am

        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.

        Reply
    3. Jeff M says

      November 05, 2017 at 8:21 pm

      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!

      Reply
    4. Dave Warner says

      November 28, 2015 at 7:14 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Mike V says

        November 28, 2015 at 7:32 pm

        Great! The night before is my "last minute" dry brine time - I'd prefer longer, but I'm not that organizes.

        Reply

    Questions? Made the Recipe? Leave a Comment Cancel reply

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

    Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    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

    45 shares
    • 14