Turkey cooked on the Jackson Grills Rotisserie

Turkey cooked on the Jackson Grills Rotisserie

Large container
1 turkey 12 lb

Brine:
2.5 gallons of cold water
2 cups of natural coarse sea salt
1 cups of extra fine sugar
1/3 cup of celery salt
3 large quartered onions
1/8 cup of white pepper corns
Half large garlic bulb crushed
1/2 tablespoon poultry seasoning
5 sprigs of rosemary
5 sprigs of thyme
5 sprigs of sage

Dissolve the salt and sugar by continuously stirring in about 1 gallon of cold water .

Before adding liquid or turkeys , put all other ingredients in the container . Add the gallon of salt and sugar mixture stir this brine up. Place the turkey breast side down in the container. Add the additional 1.5 gallons of water . Weigh the turkey down into the brine by placing heavy plate on them. You want to make sure the turkeys remain submerged through the 12 hour brining process .

When you are ready to cook the turkey remove it from the brine let it drip over the container or the sink. Use paper towels to pat the turkeys dry including inside the cavity.

Heat and time management will be required to achieve the right doneness of the bird. The size of the bird and cooking method would need to be factored in as well. Your turkey should be done when the thickest section of the breast is probed with a meat thermometer and it reads 165 F. Test temperature by probing close to the bone but not touching it.

If you choose the rotisserie method you will need to center your bird on the spit rod so that the entire bird lines up with the infrared rear rotisserie burner. Make sure you tie or pin the legs and the wings together so there is minimal flopping. You will find a counter balance in your rotisserie kit package. Put this on the rod and let the turkey turn while all the burners are off , watching for heavy side flopping. The counter balance will need to be adjusted to counter the heavy side of the bird . Once your are reasonably content with the turning action of the rotisserie you are ready to apply heat from the burners .

The 12 lb turkey was cooked as follows. We used the infrared rotisserie burner in our grill assisted by the extreme left and right burners of our 4 burner grill on low for some added natural convection. We set the infrared rear rotisserie at its highest setting , this will generate 1000 F . With the rotisserie burner on high and the left and right burner on our 4 burner on low we closed the lid and let it cook for 20 minutes . At 20 minutes we turned the rear rotisserie burner on lowest setting and left the 2 burners on low . We shut the lid again and let it go for 25 minutes. At this point the bird has been cooking and turning on the rotisserie spit for 45 minutes. At 45 minutes we turned the rotisserie burner off , left the right and left burners going turned now up to medium setting. Close the lid and let cook for 1 hour . At the 1 hour and 45 minute point we turned the rear rotisserie burner back on high , turned the left and right burners on low closed the lid and cooked for 15 minutes . As you can see the sum total time was 2 hours. Turn your burners off , stop the rotisserie motor and take your meat thermometer and probe the thickest part of the breast without hitting the bone. If you have less than 165 F add additional cooking time accordingly. If you are 165 F leave burners off and close the lid. Let the bird rest on the spit for 20 minutes . With protective oven mitts on both hands remove the bird on the spit from the grill and put it on your cutting board . Remove all the rotisserie spit hardware and carve up your delicious turkey. Now , outdoor cooking is not an exact science however the bird will be done when it is done which may require a bit more or a bit less time . You definitely do not walk away and forget about it