I am going to do an 18 lb turkey on the Weber Rotisserie. Will have a drip pan below with some broth in it and the Weber charcoal pans on each side filled with charcoal as necessary. Will drop a temp probe from the upper vent to monitor the temp to about 325-330. This site recommends around 3 hours of an 18 lb bird at 325. My question is will there be any difference in cook time using a rotisserie at 325 vs just smoking a bird at 325. Doesn't seem to me that there would be since the overall temp of the Weber in both cases would be 325. But don't know if the rotation of the rotisserie throws some other dynamic into play that I am not aware of. Am I just overthinking?
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Probably not too different. But you are over-thinking it. By the time the bird is ready, nothing else will be (in my experience). So it'll sit there tented in foil for a while! -
I recommend building the fire off to 1 side instead of using the baskets on both sides (although I have done it that way too and it worked just fine).Comment
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Probably over thinking. Using a kettle with a rotisserie is the only way I have cooked a turkey over the last 10 -15 years. I do have a suggestion though. Try to balance the bird on the rotisserie as well as possible, and lock it down tight. By that, I mean don't let it shift while cooking. Not doing that cost me a motor and a bird years ago when the gears were not heavy enough to rotate a severely out of balance bird.. The gears in the motor stripped and the bird set in one position and burned on the side facing the fire while the other side did not cook. All this while I listened to the motor hum thinking all was well...
Another thought - I don't truss the bird because that makes the thigh cook slower where it touches the breast. You can wrap the ends of the legs and the tips of the wings once they are properly browned if you care about that.
I don't check the temp because it doesn't get too hot using the charcoal baskets. I keep the baskets close to the bird and only move it away if it gets too brown - and that seldom happens.
I guess I lied 'cause there's more than one suggestion.
Last edited by RonB; November 14, 2018, 02:25 PM.Comment
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Since you don't need the upper grate, where will your temp probe go? And if you are using the upper grate with the drip pan up there, I take it that it will be in a bracket ~ 1" above the grate? Don't 'shield ' it with the drip pan - keep it a couple inches away from that... I've not had good luck with a drip pan on the lower grate between two charcoal baskets - too hot. When I have tried again I've used cookie sheets as deflectors.
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jlazar you can count on a 25F diff from dome to grate - maybe as much as 10F more with the Rotisserie height. That's why you're turning the bird. It all evens out though - you could use a dome temp of 350F to indicate your bird is seeing ~ 320F on the bottom 40% as it turns.
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No matter how tightly I've secured a turkey it always ends up unbalanced as the meat loosens during the cook. I've never lost a motor or anything, but I must be doing something wrong because it happens every single time I do a rotisserie bird.Comment
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