A couple quick questions

1. What is the consensus on putting a pan under a rotisserie chicken or is the preferred way no pan and let flavorizer bars do their work
2. I put in a pic of my Dave rcplanebuyer grates and although they r clean there is burn in on them. What do you guys do? Easy off every once in a while to get rid of all the burn in color?
Thanks. George

Forgot pictture

I don't worry about the color. And yes a pan under the chicken is a good idea but put water in it

That color is commonly referred to as "Seasoning". Just clean off the gunk and don't worry about the silver shine.

A little water in the pan under the chicken keeps the chicken moist while cooking. You could take it out the last 15-30 minutes to get the skin to crisp up a bit though. Also, those drippings in the pan when you are done will make for some great gravy if there isn't a lot of water left and if you haven't burned the drippings to the pan.

Ah come on Larry there isn't anything better than the smell of burning chicken fat in a dry drip pan.

Rich Dahl said:

Ah come on Larry there isn't anything better than the smell of burning chicken fat in a dry drip pan.

Click to expand...

Making my nostrils burn just thinking about it LOL

Thanks. Also I only possess the Silver B as of today. Sold the E330 and was picked up today.

Shiny stainless is just for show, although I admit it sure looks stunning when your grates are new! I have been slaving over a couple sets of used stainless rod grates getting ready for my stainless grate showdown. If you expect to get all those burnt-on black stains off, you better be armed with strong cleaners and lots of patience.


If you are going to actually USE your grill, than a seasoning of dark color is actually a good thing. My recommendation is to use a Chargon regularly and occasionally supplement with soap and water washing. Your grates won’t look new, but they will cook well for years to come.

I just got one of those char gon’s last week. Really works nicely. Thanks for the tips. I made writing chicken the other day. Experimented with front and back burners on low, about 345 degrees, then only front burner. Tray and no tray. Any particular temp that you like for crispness?? George

George,
In my only real barbecue competition my team came in dead last in bbq chicken. I really like it but not very good at making it. My best mediocre successes have come cooking in the 350 to 400 degree range. I like it darker and at least a little crisp.

George, I use this simple recipe for my chicken, but I use a rotisserie. You could do one on the grates as well.

HOW TO DRY BRINE A CHICKEN
If wet brines aren’t your things, dry brines are just as good, maybe even better. They’re easier, faster, and result in richly flavored meat due to only retaining its own natural juices. Here are the basics to a dry brine.
Step 1: Use 1/2 cup of kosher salt, two tablespoons of baking powder, and any herbs or spices you want and mix together in a bowl.
Step 2: Use paper towels to pat dry your chicken.
Step 3: Generously sprinkle the brine mixture over the entire bird, rubbing it into the skin, until the outside of the bird is completely covered. Depending on the size of your bird, you may not need to use all of the mix; too much and it may end up over salted, so don’t cake it on.
Step 4: Loosely cover chicken with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days.
Step 5: Rinse off the brine, pat the chicken dry, and cook. (Make sure the skin is very dry before cooking so that it will get nice and crispy.)
Add a rub or any spices to the chicken you desire. (I didn’t add any spices). Cook at 350 with smoke if you desire. Expect cooking time to be about 1.5 hours – 2 hours depending on size of chicken. Check with a meat thermometer for 165 internal temp.

Tips & Tricks for Brining Chicken
Once you’ve got the brining down, there a few extra tips and tricks to remember when brining chicken:
Do not reuse brines. For food safety assurance, dispose of used brines.
With dry brines you may not need to use all of the mixture.
For extra crispy skin, add a little baking soda to dry brines. The baking soda breaks down proteins and mixes with the natural juices to form tiny bubbles, which are key to the crispy skin texture.
Adding some sugar will help brown the skin through caramelization.

https://www.tablespoon.com/posts/how-to-brine-chicken

Very interesting. Will try next time. Do you have any input organic vs regular. Roaster vs Fryer? for rotisserie. Thanks. George

I buy my chickens at Aldi's. They are always around 6lbs and unfrozen. Not sure if they are organic/roaster/fryer or whatever...but they are good IMO.

Hi
Yeah that’s where I get my chickens. They opened one up in the winter. They have at least in my area the .89$. The $1.49, and the $2.49 organic ones. I have tried organic and the 1.49$ per pound. Not had enough to have opinion

The organic are mostly near 5lb. The others can be near 6 lbs

My rotisserie chicken routine is to brine it for 30 minutes in water, truss it, sprinkle it with Adobo and then cook it. Just FYI.