Rotisserie Turkey

Cooking poultry on a rotisserie on your Big Green Egg is another great way to cook. A turkey will self-baste as it spins.

Cooking surfaces

BBQ Temperature

Ingredients

1 turkey

Turkey Injection Liquid

300ml chicken stock or broth
250g unsalted butter (melted)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Salt & Pepper

Equipment

Method

Bring the turkey to room temperature.
Add the butter, chicken stock, lemon juice and garlic powder to a small pan. Warm until melted and combined.
Use a meat injector to inject the turkey with the stock and butter mixture to about a depth of approx. 1 inch. The best way to do this is to squeeze the liquid into the turkey as you withdraw the injector. I recommend you wear an apron as there is a tendency for some of the liquid to squirt out of the turkey. Inject the meat with a spacing of about 2 inches, you’ll see the meat plump right up.
Place your turkey onto your spit and try and position it so it is weighted as evenly as possible.
Use butchers string to secure the wings and legs to the spit.
Make sure the thumb screws are securely tightened on the spit forks, you don’t want your spit spinning and your turkey hanging, trust me, I’ve done it.
Cook your turkey at 150°C, don’t go too hot, you’ll dry it out. I know this seems low but your turkey is going to be close to the coals as it spins.
The official temp you’re aiming at is 74°C internal temp. I’d go several degrees lower than this. Big Green Egg recommend taking it off at 63°C as the intenal temp will continue to rise. Paul Kelley, the owner of the Kelley Bronze turkey farm, also recommends cooking to a much lower temp. I would do this but officially you should reach 74°C.

The key to a great turkey is to take the breasts off the bird when you carve and cut across the grain of the meat. If you do the slices as Jamie Oliver would do, you’ll end up with the meat fibres running along the slices, and this will taste much more firm and less moist.

Cooking a 6kg turkey like this will take less than 2 hours.

Make sure you rest your turkey for at least 30 minutes before carving. We often take our turkey, and wrap it in foil and towels and place it in a cool box, it will stay hot for 2-3 hours.