Who doesn’t a love a good rotisserie chicken? Who hear loves it when you burn it to bits?Anyone? Bueller? Yeah, didn’t think so. Today I am posting a screw-up and the second attempt at a rotisserie chicken over the gas grill.
First one went up in flames. Outwardly, I blame my wife as she was supposed to watch the grill but deep inside, I now know it was my fault for doing something stupid. But, that is what this is all about! So, let’s discuss.
Fast Facts
Category: Poultry - Chicken
Cut: Whole chicken, gizzards removed
Weight: 5.16 Pounds
Grill: Dyna-Glo Grill
Heat Source: Gas
Estimated Cook Time: 1 hour and 30 Minutes
Actual Cook Time: 1 hour and 40 Minutes
Estimated Cooking Temperature: 450-500 degrees
Actual Cooking Temperature: 500 degrees
Location of Purchase: local grocery store
Cook Date: June 29, 2020
Ingredient List
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
3-4 rosemary sprigs
3 garlic cloves
2 lemons
Olive oil
Supply List
Thermometer - These are critical tools to have there are two main types. First, instant read thermometer like this one or this one. The Thermapen is worth it's weight in gold and one I use almost every day. I know the price tag seems excessive but it's the best in the business for a reason. If you're looking for a dual temperature thermometer for both grill temperature and meat, this is the way to go. I use my Smoke for longer more specific cooks.
Instructions
Step 1: Make sure you chicken has all the innards removed.
Step 2: Cut a lemon into wedges and stuff the chicken with the lemon wedges, rosemary and garlic. Truss the chicken and skewer it on the rotisserie.
Step 3: Once the chicken is on the rotisserie skewer, rub it with the honey. In a small bowl combine the salt, granulated garlic, pepper and paprika. Mix well and season all sides of the chicken.
Step 4: Fire up your grill and prepare for indirect cooking. This is where I screwed up the first time. You want half your grill on high producing the heat and you want the other half completely off. Not on medium or low, not even a little simmer off! The juices from the chicken can easily catch fire and your chicken will be engulfed in flames. Say bye-bye to the skin once that happens. However, should this happen, keep going with the cook! It’ll still turn out good, you just won’t enjoy the skin. You can also just a pan underneath to catch the juices if you can’t setup your grill for indirect heat.
Step 5: Cook until an internal temperature in the meaty part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees. As always, a cooking thermometer is highly recommended.
Once temperature is reached, remove from grill, let sit for 10 minutes to rest, then dig it!.
Lessons Learned (Note: I will update this section to include your lessons learned from the comment section)
Oh man, what a doozy for my first go at this. As you can see in the photos, my first run caught fire and burned the outside. To this day, I blame my wife but she’ll never know unless she actually reads this post. Let’s see if she actually reads these as she says she does ;) The reason I blame her is because I asked her to watch the grill while I ran a quick errand which she obliged. When I came back and checked, the grill had flames coming out the back, she said she was watching. She was very apologetic but little did she know that it was because I left the burner under the chicken on low thinking that would help. Well, I was wrong, don’t do that. Leave them off completely and you should be good!