Hillsborough Hot Turkey | Chef Eric Recipe

Move over Nashville Hot Chicken it’s time for some Hillsborough Hot Turkey! In all seriousness we love Nashville Hot Chicken but the effort to sensational result ratio of this Joetisserie spun Turkey is hard to beat. An idea born from Chef Eric’s favorite Chicken wing, every bite of this simple recipe will leave you yearning for more. Please enjoy this perfect holiday treat and new way to try your Thanksgiving Turkey on the Joetisserie!

Happy Grilling

Hillsborough Hot Turkey

1 Each 12 -14 Pound Turkey

1 qt Franks Red Hot Sauce, Original
2 cup Dales Steak Seasoning (this is a liquid, try and get the reduced sodium version if you can

Herb Basing Brush
3 Sprigs Rosemary, Fresh
¼ Bunch Sage, Fresh
¼ Bunch Thyme, Fresh

Using a bit of butcher twine, tie the base of the herbs together to form a brush.

Method:

1. Remove anything inside the turkey (neck bone and giblets). Also remove the plastic pop up timer if applicable.
2. Combine the Franks and Dales sauces and marinate your turkey for 2 - 3 hours.
3. Using a small to medium amount of charcoal banked to the back of the grill, stabilize your kamado joe at 300 - 325F.
4. Remove the turkey from the flavor brine and truss the bird as seen in the video. (reserve the excess marinade for basting.
5. Insert the spit rod (go through the tail if possible, for extra stability) and secure the 2 forks into each side to hold the bird very tight as it spins.
6. Place the spit rod into the motor and the Joetisserie frame. Start the motor and close the lid.
7. After 1 hour begin to baste the reserved marinade. Continue to baste throughout the rest of the cook every 30 minutes or so.
8. At 2 1/2 hours into the cook, turn the motor off and take the temperature of the thickest part of the breast meat as well as the thickest portion of the leg and thigh. (don’t forget to restart the Joetisserie once you are done taking the temperature)
9. Aim for a temperature of 160 in the breast and 170 in the leg and thigh. (if for some reason the breast is close, but the leg and thighs need a bit more time, using your ash tool, bank the charcoal to the leg and thigh side of the grill.
10. Once you have reached the target temperatures, remove the bird and let it rest for 20 minutes. Remove the forks, rod and trussing rope then either serve whole and slice at the table or slice and serve as seen in the video.

[hoffmaw]

I just have to take a moment, chef, to tell you that I stayed up late binge watching YouTube videos on how to do a rotisserie turkey on my Kamado Joe, and by far your techniques were the most helpful. In particular your method of tying up the bird is by far more efficient than just about anything else I have seen or tried myself. I was just watching a video where a gentleman was basically in a battle with his turkey to see who would win, legs and wings flopping all over the place. Another technique that I am really glad I saw before I trimmed my bird was how you keep that oiler/tail piece on and actually pierced the rotisserie pole through it. I didn’t think that would actually serve a purpose when I first watched it, but I just thought I would give it a try, and it really did help not only tie up the bird and keep it secure, but just make everything a little bit more stable. Thanks again for taking the time to show us some really cool stuff!

[robertash]

Thanks for showing and explaining your trussing technique. I'm gonna need that on Thursday! 🦃

[jimhavoc]

I prepared this for Thanksgiving yesterday (2022.) This untraditional turkey is my new tradition. Thanks for the great recipe and step-by-step instructions.

[leoyde]

I'm 💯% joetisserie-ing my Turkey this Christmas... 😋

[robertv]

We cooked two 13 lb turkeys this year and the traditional oven baked was very good but this recipe was the hit of the day. Prep went perfect. Followed your instructions to the tee. We had issues with the Joetisserie. I'd recommend checking that the bird remains tight on the spit earlier. I waited 1.5 hrs before the first look and it had come loose. The cook had stalled so the bark suffered and it did not look like yours but the flavor was outstanding. I'll do this recipe again and I'm looking forward to other Chef Eric recipes!

[EstimatingTakeoff]

Excellent instructional technical demo. Really appreciate it. Not being rushed made it very helpful for me with both a Big Joe and the JoeTisserie which a truly awesome attachment. 😊👍👏

[jimfromri]

Would you make any adjustments (other shortening cooking time) to cook chicken instead? This looks delicious. Great video and thank you for sharing all the carving tips.

[mcdfepc]

Happy Thanksgiving chef Eric love your channel looking forward to attempting everything I see you do with the kamado. Got a classic three loving the learning curve.

[kappatvating]

So excited I ordered my KJ III Big Joe. I’ve watched you and @smokingdadbbq during my year long deployment. I’ll be back home hopefully before Christmas and it ships on 18

[warrendumanski]

Great video thank you! I will be trying this next Thursday.

[nml]

Don’t tempt Nathan with a good time! Love the moisture coming off that turkey. I’ve always associated turkey with dryness, but of course, Chef Eric won’t let that happen! Great video guys 👌🏻

[slipperino]

Great vid Eric. Wasn’t sure if getting the joeticerrie was worth it but with that demo, it sure sealed the deal

[brianbelliveau]

Looks good but did it come out with the heat or not

[davidparker]

I attempted this recipe on a 24 lb bird

I’ll say first, I may have been a little ambitious in this cook: the skin was blackened, the bird would slide down the spit rod, and the tines simply could not keep the tail/cavity together enough to maintain the balance (even with additional trussing).

After approximately 5 hours on the spit, the breast meat was perfect, with a delicate smokey flavor. The thigh and leg meat became a little dry (mostly because of all the modifications I had to impart during the cook and the tearing from the tines).

What’s a good way to avoid these pitfalls for larger birds?

What would you recommend I do to keep the skin from charring so much? I guess I could let the fuel burn down to embers more but I had to add fuel to keep this going? Would such strategies work for other types of rotisserie (like a prime rib)?

[siedzis]

Great video very informative i will use this for my COVID-19 Thanksgiving and for chicken in the future 👍

[mickeymaier]

Love to see you cook a goose on the joetisserie.

[mikeh]

Damn Chef...I’m starting to repeat myself...magnificent! I’m a Primo owner, but the Joe accessories are about to make me change.

[mattgochnour]

I’m curious as to if it would be worthwhile / add anything to butter stuff (ie the Ramsay videos has him stuffing the skin with a homemade compound butter before baking) the skin / inject / or stuff the cavity before doing this method?

[toddg]

Can’t wait to try this! Just got the Joetisserie last week and I’m going to give a turkey breast a spin using your recipe. Rather than agitating the bird in a pan, I’m assuming that I can just marinate in a zip lock baggie, right? I’m too lazy to agitate every 15 minutes for 3 hours and then baste throughout the cook.

Thanks for your videos. You are by far my favorite Kamado Joe chef!

[daasdf]

Is that on a Classic or a Big Joe? Wanted to know how big of a bird would go on a Classic Joetisserie