Rotisserie Chicken - First Time


 
Lew Newby

Lew Newby

R.I.P. 1/26/2024
I keep learning new things and making discoveries in the process. Chicken has been my nemesis on the grill for 50 years so I decided to try a rotisserie. My rotisserie is for my Char Griller so I know this is sort of blasphemy.

Anyway, I brined a 5 lb. roaster for 4 hours, rinsed it good, and put it in the fridge for a few hours to dry the skin. Before putting it on the spit I trussed it and rubbed herb butter under and on the skin. I've never trussed a Chicken before. I stuck a medium sized yellow onion on the spit and that held the bird steady along with the forks. I added 2 smashed garlic cloves to the cavity once the bird was on the spit. No balance weight was needed. By that time the lump was ready and I put the bird on the grill. After I put the bird on and took a picture I realized I had forgotten the drip pan so I put one in. Every picture I took after that was too blurred to use.

The Chicken cooked at 350°, or thereabouts, for 1 hr and 10 minutes. It wasn't dark brown but had nice color and the skin was good. It was moist, tender, and tasty. I guess the quality was blind luck but I like what the rotisserie can do.

Now, was the lighter color I saw on the finished product (not the photo) because of the short cook time, the temp being too low, or what? If you look at the picture should I have had the fire closer to the meat?
 
Lew not sure about the cause of the light color but a light coat of evoo may have helped that color be darker. Just a thought and from my experience with my bird on Thanksgiving day.
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The cause is exactly as george notes. With the heat at the ends (and a bit blocked) there's no wayor the skin to color well at those temps.

One can put coals on both sides or either side. With that grill I would put coals on one side - the back - and would not block them.

Try that first.
 
OK, Olive Oil and coals along the back. Assign the fire bricks to the kettle. That will be my next setup. Thanks for the useful info.

George, do you also use a drip pan under the bird?
 
All good advice. I rotiss fairly often, all types roasts, fowl, etc.

I typically keep the fire split on both sides in a horizontal fashion. There are occasions when I load just one side, but always parallel with the rod/food.

That would solve your browning problem. Also use the lid up/down to control if things are getting dark too fast before done. Can also loop some HD foil if the browning is still happening too fast.
 
Yeah, I often go with two coal piles, especially when cooking things more quickly. This I do with chicken and duck. For more gentle cooking (lamb leg, fresh ham, etc.) I pile on one side.

My suggestion to try one side first in this case is due to the elongated nature of this cooker. A good pile of lit stretched out along the back, the length of the bird, will provide the intense yet indirect heat that makes a rotiss work so well. (This, coupled with the motion: the surface is exposed to the more intense heat relatively briefly, then it rotates and cools before its next exposure.)

If, after, say, 30 min the cooking seems a bit slow it would be easy to add another stretched pile of lit along the front.
 
I have a rotisserie, actually bought to use with my CharBroil Commercial Series gasser that I no longer use, but I've never used it.
I grill chicken pieces more often than whole chicken, learned at an early age how to do them right, and have always have good success. When I buy whole chicken, it is usually for beer can chicken. My wife says I make the best chicken she's ever eaten.
I'll buy rotisserie chicken from time to time from my local fresh market for a quick meal or for chicken salad if I'm not planning to do my own chicken.
My nephew has a Summit with rotisserie and infa-red. He did pork tenderloins for Christmas that were really good.
 
Lew, I've found that I tend to get a paler bird when using the rotisserie and briquettes only. Since cherry adds nice color you could try adding a small amount the the charcoal next time, and rubbing the skin with butter seems to help, too.

Brad
 
Brad, I had a small piece of Cherry on from the start and I rubbed with butter and basted with butter. On the CharGriller the charcoal is a good distance from the Chicken. I went indirect and it sounds like direct (on the side of the chicken) is the way to go.

Thanks to everyone for the comments.
 
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