I've rotisseried trussed turkey quite successfully a couple of times on my Weber kettle - I am talking 20 pound birds, coming out perfect. That’s why I recommend cooking turkey untrussed. And because the thigh is pressed tightly against the side, it takes too long to warm and cook through, so by the time it hits ideal temp, about 170☏ (76.7☌), the breast is overcooked. If you truss your bird for use when preparing a grilled turkey recipe or smoked turkey recipe, the skin beneath the wings, thighs, and drums never darkens and stays rubbery. The problem is that you need to truss the bird up tight on a spit or else the wings and drums go flopping around and get burned. Rotisseries are a good way to cook meat because the process of rotating it between hot and cool zones retains juices and insures even cooking, but I don’t recommend them for turkey. Why truss when there is about a foot in all directions around those spinning birds?Ĭan anyone tell me a reason to truss a bird, aside from keeping the flopping legs and wings from hitting things as it spins? Is there another advantage to it?

These are the last birds I spun, which made it into the monthly newsletter. I think the legs get done better if you let it all hang out, and not having the wings up tight against the breast least more skin get crisped. I will likely still do it for a 2.5 to 3 hour cook of a turkey, but don't feel it is needed for the average 3-5 pound chicken. There is no need - there is so much space when spinning a bird on the kettle rotisserie ring that trussing is only needed if you think the bird might fall apart.

However, the last few I did on the Weber kettle rotisserie, I didn't even bother to truss. You know, if I spin a bird on my Genesis II I would definitely need something like this, as even a 5 pound chicken will flop about and hit the flavorizer bars when spinning unless tightly trussed with string.

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