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 breast on a spit in a grill above a blue speckled drip pan

Rotisserie Turkey Breast with Basic Wet Brine


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

Description

Rotisserie Turkey breast, moist and juicy thanks to a wet brine.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 gallon cold water
  • 1/4 cup table salt or 1/2 cup kosher salt (3 ounces)
  • 2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
  • 6-to–8-pound bone-in turkey breast
  • 2 cups wood chips (Cherry wood or your favorite flavor smoking wood)

Instructions

  1. Brine the turkey breast: Cut the extra skin away from the neck. Check inside the neck cavity and discard any big pieces of fat. Pour the water into the container. Add the salt and sugar and stir until they dissolve. Submerge the turkey breast in the brine and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably 4 to 8 hours.
  2. Spit the turkey breast: One hour before cooking, remove the turkey breast from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine. Trim off any loose pieces of skin or meat near the wings. Skewer the breast on the rotisserie spit, securing it with the spit forks. Let it rest at room temperature until it is time to cook.
  3. Set up the grill for Indirect Medium heat (350°F): 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 on the sides. On my Weber Summit, I set the outer burners to high and leave the middle burners off. I also set the smoker burner to high, and the infrared rotisserie burner to medium. For charcoal, split a 3/4 full chimney of charcoal, about 75 coals, into two piles on the sides of the grill.
  4. Cook the turkey breast: Add the wood chips to the grill. Put the spit on the grill, 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 after an hour to keep the heat going. Cook until the turkey breast reaches 150°F in its thickest part, about 90 minutes.
  5. Carve and serve: Remove the turkey from the grill and remove the spit from the turkey. Let the turkey rest for 15 minutes before carving. Cut the breast halves from the keel bone and ribcage, then carve the breast into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the turkey slices on a platter and serve.

Notes

  • If you are grilling on a gas grill without a smoker box, wrap the wood chips in an aluminum foil envelope, and set them on the burner cover directly over one of the lit burners.
  • If you are using a grill with an infrared rotisserie burner, use it until the turkey breast is browning nicely, then turn it off. I check after a half an hour; if the turkey isn’t browned enough, I check every 15 minutes after that.
  • Try to find a “natural” turkey for this. If your turkey is “Enhanced with a X% solution”, that means it was pre-brined at the plant. We don’t want to over salt the turkey, so cut the salt back to 1.5 ounces - 2 tablespoons of table salt or ¼ cup of kosher salt.

Tools

  • Prep Time: 8 hours
  • Cook Time: 2 hours
  • Category: Sunday Dinner
  • Method: 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!