A perfectly cooked Thanksgiving turkey is so simple to make in a rotisserie oven. The constant rotating of the rotisserie means that your turkey is continually basting as it cooks, while the high intensity heat means that you get the delicious, crispy skin you’re looking for. Let this rotisserie turkey recipe take the center of your table this holiday season!
For this recipe, we used simple dry brine and cooked it in a Ronco 5500 Rotisserie for about 2 ½ hours. The result was a deliciously seasoned, moist, yet crispy Thanksgiving masterpiece. Any rotisserie will work for here. Dry brining works by opening the pores of the meat, allowing the natural juices to make the meat very moist, while crisping up the skin. I personally prefer a dry brine to wet because of the results and simplicity. A dry brine is basically 1 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat and any other seasonings you may want to add, however salt alone does the trick as well.
The following recipe is what I used. Feel free to mix it up with your favorite seasonings. On a side note, do not use a dry brine on a Kosher Turkey. It has already been pre-salted and will result in an overly salted bird.
Brine Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt per pound (make sure you use Kosher salt, sea salt and table salt will make your bird too salty)
- 1-2 tablespoons of cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
Instructions
Mix together brine. Remove neck and giblets from defrosted turkey. Using a paper towel, completely dry the inside and outside of your turkey. Generously rub brine all over the outside and cavity of your turkey. Allow turkey to brine in the refrigerator, uncovered, in a large pan for at least 12 hours and up to 2 days. When ready to cook, pat down skin with a paper towel to remove excess moisture, but not the salt brine. Place on to Rotisserie spit and cook for 12 minutes per pound. If using a meat thermometer, allow turkey to reach 165 degrees F. Allow your turkey to rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Image and recipe courtesy of CookingwithRonco.com
