jeffsipes
TVWBB Member
I got a rotisserie ring and all the fixings recently from Cajun Bandit and gave it a go tonight on the Weber Performer.
I marinaded a 4 1/2# bird for approximately 8 hours in a garlic, paprika, cumin, lemon juice marinade meant to replicate some of the pollo a la brasa I have eaten while travelling and living in South America. My wife and I really like that flavor.
First, I set up the fire. I filled each of the baskets with Kingsford. I then took half the briquets from each basket and put them in the chimney to start.
The chimney fired up. You can see the baskets with the rest of the briquets in the background. I pushed the briquets in the baskets to each end so I could dump the hot coals in the middle - kind of a mini-minion.
Once I got the coals fired up, I dumped half each back in the baskets. I did not use a drip pan. I'll burn the residue out of the bottom of the kettle tomorrow when I cook some burgers.
While the coals were firing, I got the bird set up on the spit.
To secure the bird, I turned the wings around and slit a pocket in each side of the breast to hold the drumsticks so nothing would flop around while on the slow roll. The bird:
The drumstick slot:
The lid temp ran up to 350 pretty quickly and I closed the vents down to about 1/4 open so it would stay in that neighborhood for the rest of the cook. After 30m, I opened the lid and marinaded with a mixture of melted butter and pineapple habanero jelly (Texas Pepper Jelly).
Got to 350 on the lid quickly:
I set the rotisserie counterweight in line with the birds back to counter balance the weight of the breast. It rotated flawlessly throughout the cook. A photo of the counterbalance:
I didn't keep a close eye on the time but when the drumsticks started wiggling right, I pulled it off, let it rest and carved it up. Total cook time was between 1h 15m and 1h 30m. Here's a couple of shots of the last rotation. If you scroll through fast, you can see it move!
I took all these pictures of my setup as I had planned to put together a primer on rotisserie cooking. I did a lot of thread reading getting ready for this cook and didn't see many posts that covered the real basics (fire setup, bird binding, etc.). Maybe once I've conquered this method, I'll follow through with that post but this cook left me with a couple of questions.
Though the bird was eaten readily and everybody was happy, I can't say I was thrilled with the outcome. Much of the flavor from the rub and the marinade gets imparted on the skin. Once the bird rested and I carved it, the skin slid right off and got left on the platter. Next time, I may try leaving several coals directly below the bird to get some crisp on the skin, or maybe I'll try to spread the coals out toward the end of the cook to get a more direct heat cook. Does that sound plausible?
The meat was very moist but I wasn't overwhelmed by the flavor. I punctured the bird with a meat fork before putting it in the zip loc and then the refrigerator. I was happy with the moisture so that part went well. I let the bird rest 15m before I carved it. It turned out a lot of juice when I started cutting, makes me think I should have let it sit a bit more.
I could use a primer on carving a chicken. I get the drums and wings off in a presentation quality cut but when I carve the breast, it starts to looks like Nightmare on Elm Street, don't even ask about the thighs and the back - shred o lator.
The Weber was still running at 350 an hour after I took the bird off so the coals, set up and firing method worked out fine. I could have run it up around 400 for the entire cook with the same setup (I ran the vents wide open at the end to see how how it would get, it got to 400 and stayed there).
I'll keep working on this. I would appreciate any insights from the more experienced among us.
I marinaded a 4 1/2# bird for approximately 8 hours in a garlic, paprika, cumin, lemon juice marinade meant to replicate some of the pollo a la brasa I have eaten while travelling and living in South America. My wife and I really like that flavor.
First, I set up the fire. I filled each of the baskets with Kingsford. I then took half the briquets from each basket and put them in the chimney to start.
The chimney fired up. You can see the baskets with the rest of the briquets in the background. I pushed the briquets in the baskets to each end so I could dump the hot coals in the middle - kind of a mini-minion.
Once I got the coals fired up, I dumped half each back in the baskets. I did not use a drip pan. I'll burn the residue out of the bottom of the kettle tomorrow when I cook some burgers.
While the coals were firing, I got the bird set up on the spit.
To secure the bird, I turned the wings around and slit a pocket in each side of the breast to hold the drumsticks so nothing would flop around while on the slow roll. The bird:
The drumstick slot:
The lid temp ran up to 350 pretty quickly and I closed the vents down to about 1/4 open so it would stay in that neighborhood for the rest of the cook. After 30m, I opened the lid and marinaded with a mixture of melted butter and pineapple habanero jelly (Texas Pepper Jelly).
Got to 350 on the lid quickly:
I set the rotisserie counterweight in line with the birds back to counter balance the weight of the breast. It rotated flawlessly throughout the cook. A photo of the counterbalance:
I didn't keep a close eye on the time but when the drumsticks started wiggling right, I pulled it off, let it rest and carved it up. Total cook time was between 1h 15m and 1h 30m. Here's a couple of shots of the last rotation. If you scroll through fast, you can see it move!
I took all these pictures of my setup as I had planned to put together a primer on rotisserie cooking. I did a lot of thread reading getting ready for this cook and didn't see many posts that covered the real basics (fire setup, bird binding, etc.). Maybe once I've conquered this method, I'll follow through with that post but this cook left me with a couple of questions.
Though the bird was eaten readily and everybody was happy, I can't say I was thrilled with the outcome. Much of the flavor from the rub and the marinade gets imparted on the skin. Once the bird rested and I carved it, the skin slid right off and got left on the platter. Next time, I may try leaving several coals directly below the bird to get some crisp on the skin, or maybe I'll try to spread the coals out toward the end of the cook to get a more direct heat cook. Does that sound plausible?
The meat was very moist but I wasn't overwhelmed by the flavor. I punctured the bird with a meat fork before putting it in the zip loc and then the refrigerator. I was happy with the moisture so that part went well. I let the bird rest 15m before I carved it. It turned out a lot of juice when I started cutting, makes me think I should have let it sit a bit more.
I could use a primer on carving a chicken. I get the drums and wings off in a presentation quality cut but when I carve the breast, it starts to looks like Nightmare on Elm Street, don't even ask about the thighs and the back - shred o lator.
The Weber was still running at 350 an hour after I took the bird off so the coals, set up and firing method worked out fine. I could have run it up around 400 for the entire cook with the same setup (I ran the vents wide open at the end to see how how it would get, it got to 400 and stayed there).
I'll keep working on this. I would appreciate any insights from the more experienced among us.
