We get questions from followers and friends (the two are not mutually exclusive) about our blog and how we manage it in our busy lives.
So today we thought we’d share a little bit about how we make it work. You may or may not know this about Liz and I, but our blog is a hobby for us.
I develop recipes based on foods I grew up with or new foods I’m interested in trying. Liz works her photography magic to create some mouthwatering images, and then we share the story-writing to complement the recipe. Finally, I post the recipe on our food blog and share it with the world through our social channels.
How much time have we committed to our food blog?
We did lots of research before starting our blog. We visited many influencers and popular food blogs, joined food blogging communities, asked questions on blogging forums, and the list goes on. This world of food blogging is not one you ‘get good at’ by chance, nor grow without dedication and effort.
During our research, one of the more popular topics we read about, and perhaps one of the more important decisions we had to make, was how much time we were prepared to dedicate to our blog.
It takes a lot of time
Running a food blog is time-consuming. Our goal was to have fun with our new hobby and grow our blog without without taking away too much family time.
We started off aiming for 2 to 3 recipes per week but quickly realized we’d be burning out soon if we didn’t slow things down a bit.
Our goal now is to publish one recipe per week. We’re also okay with skipping a week now and again if we’re on vacation or have some other important family event to attend.
This is how we balance our hobby with our work and family life. We enjoy this hobby – but we’re keenly aware of how easily it can consume our lives if we don’t maintain some semblance of control.
Timing for recipe posts.
Most recipes we post are recipes of food we’re craving at any given time and new food I want to try. I enjoy stretching my culinary skills by testing new recipes and cooking techniques. It’s a good way to avoid flavour fatigue and general boredom in the kitchen.
Although we don’t follow a seasonal calendar of recipes and we don’t have themes; on occasion we try to post recipes that coincide with upcoming holidays, the seasons, or special events. Today’s rotisserie turkey recipe is a perfect example of that. Gobble gobble… did someone say Thanksgiving?
Canadian Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated in October (that’s in a couple of weeks) , and it’s celebrated a little over a month later by our neighbours to the south, so it’s turkey time. Also, I’ve been eager to cook turkey in a new way and this year I was finally able to give it a spin (pun intended) on our awesome Broil King Baron™ S590.
Rotisserie turkey on our Broil King is something special!
We’ve been busy testing all the features on our new Broil King Baron™ S590, sent to us by our partners at Broil King. I must admit, one of my favourite features has to be cooking with rotisserie, so it only made sense that we prepare today’s recipe this way.
Great results!
We were thrilled with the results of today’s recipe! Just look at that picture! The skin was crispy and perfectly golden brown, and the meat was flavourful and juicy–actually juicy (now, how often does anyone say that about their turkey?)!
If you’re planning a Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, or heck, if you want turkey just because, we recommend you give our recipe a try. You’ll be gobbledy-glad you did (sorry – Liz made me do that)… and you’ll be sure to eat well, friends!
Rotisserie Thanksgiving Turkey... or any Occasion!
A Thanksgiving and Christmas classic... we have 2 suggestions. Try it on the rotisserie, and make sure to eat it more than twice a year. Delicious any time!
Prep Time25mins
Cook Time2hrs30mins
Total Time2hrs55mins
Course: Main, Main Course
Cuisine: American, Canadian, North American
Keyword: rotisserie turkey, turkey
Servings: 8servings
Ingredients
12lbs or 5.4 kgturkey
Brine
2gallons or about 8 litresvery cold water
2cupscoarse sea salt
3/4cupsbrown sugar
1headgarlic, cut in half across the cloves
3bay leaves (fresh or dried)
15sprigsthyme
3sprigsrosemary
2tbswhole black peppercorns
Remaining ingredients
1lemon, cut in wedges
1mediumcooking onion, cut in 4 wedges
4clovesgarlic, smashed and peeled (not sliced)
15sprigsthyme
1/4cupunsalted butter, room temperature
Instructions
Brine the turkey 6 to 18 hours before cooking it.
To brine the turkey, pour the water, sugar and salt in a large container, large enough to hold the turkey submerged in the water. Make sure you have space in the fridge to store the container.
Whisk the salt and sugar until dissolved.
Place the turkey in the liquid and add the remaining brining ingredients.
Place a plate or other heavy item on the turkey to ensure the entire turkey stays submersed.
Cover the container and place it in the fridge for 6 to 18 hours.
Connect your rotisserie attachment to the barbecue.
Remove the centre cooking grids/grates from the barbecue.
Centre a drip or roasting pan on the heat covers under the rotisserie, positioning it so it's beneath the centre of where the turkey will be rotating.
Turn on all the barbecue burners and heat on high for about 10 minutes.
Turn off the centre burners, leaving the two end burners on high. Note: our barbecue has 5 burners. We turned off the three centre burners. This creates indirect heat and ensures there are no flareups.
Remove the turkey from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels, inside and out. Note: Do this in a clean sink to avoid contaminating your countertops with the liquid from the turkey brine.
Place the remaining garlic, thyme, onion and lemon wedges inside the turkey cavity.
Using strong kitchen twine, truss (tie) the turkey very tightly. Here's a great video by Alton Brown that explains how to truss a turkey.
Make sure the first spit fork is tightly secured on the spit. Position it so that once the turkey is on the spit, it's centred on the spit.
Insert the turkey through the spit, wing side opening first, until it reaches the spit fork, and carefully (watch the sharp ends) press it until the turkey is secured to the spit fork.
Insert the second spit fork on the spit, sharp ends toward the turkey and push firmly into the skin until the turkey is secure. The turkey should sit on the spit tightly to avoid wobbling during cooking.
Open the barbecue lid and fit the spit into the rotisserie motor end, and then rest the other end of the spit on the opposite end of the barbecue. Follow your barbecue manufacturer's instructions for this step.
Turn on the rotisserie motor, close the lid and cook at 350 ºF for about 2 hours and 15 minutes. The time may very depending on the size of the turkey. See the notes section for details.
Turn on the back/rotisserie burner and raise the temperature to between 400 ºF and 425 ºF. Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. This step will colour the turkey to a beautiful golden colour. A thermometer inserted in the thigh should read 180 ºF. The thermometer should read 170 ºF when inserted in the breast. Do not touch the bone when reading the temperature.
Stop the rotisserie motor and remove the spit.
Loosen and remove the first spit fork.
Slide turkey onto a roasting pan to keep your food prep area clean.
Tent aluminum foil over the turkey and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
Carve the turkey and serve with your favourite sides. We love to serve our turkey with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing and steamed veggies. Enjoy!
Notes
Total cooking time will vary based on the size of the turkey.
Calculate roughly 12-13 minutes per pound when cooking at 350 ºF.
The last 15 minutes at a higher temperature still apply for larger turkeys.
Remember to always use a quick read thermometer to check the turkey's internal temperature for doneness.
[…] at least try to) get ahead of events so that we can share recipes in advance for you. Check out our Thanksgiving Rotisserie Turkey post to see the golden bird we feasted on… like… 2 weeks ago. It was seriously […]
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[…] at least try to) get ahead of events so that we can share recipes in advance for you. Check out our Thanksgiving Rotisserie Turkey post to see the golden bird we feasted on… like… 2 weeks ago. It was seriously […]