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Domestic Rotisserie


maxmillan

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David, I'm curious if you check the temperature when you take it out after 1.5 hours?  Also, what size bird are you using?  I did two 4.75 lb. chickens last night, and after 60 minutes, the meat was 160 F in the breast (and higher in the legs/thighs).  I wanted to let it go a little longer because the skin was not as dark as I had hoped, but I was afraid that the meat would be overdone.  (I did remove, tent and let rest for 20 minutes, at which time the breast meat was nearly 170 F -- I didn't bother re-checking the temp of the legs/thighs). 

Also, I made a quick stock with the giblets and necks using a pressure cooker, and used that as the base for gravy.  Perhaps I am overseasoning the birds, but I find that the stuff in the drip tray sometimes is too salty to use for gravy.  I suppose that I could use less seasoning if I brined ahead of time, but that would require forethought!      :wink:

Sorry, the only 'thermometer' I use is my finger and the value of having roasted a lot of chickens on my rotisserie so I sense somehow when it is done-yet still juicy. I know the food safety folks want our chicken to be around 165. I don't know if my rotisserie chickens are 165 or not, but they are always done yet still juicy in both the dark and white meat.

I don't let the chicken sit for very long before carving, maybe 5-10 minutes but not 20. I like the chicken to still be pretty hot when I carve it, and if I let it rest 20 minutes or more it cools down too far for my tastes. I'll sacrifice a bit of juice running out by carving it at 5 minutes after it comes off the rotisserie spit if I can have hot chicken meat.

The roaster chickens I buy are usually in the 4-5 1/2 lb. range. I do try to buy Foster Farms chickens from Washington where I live. Not the organic, free-range, but not a mass-produced Tyson chicken. The Tyson chickens often have small cuts in the breast skin from over-processing. And those small slits in the skin will dry out the breast meat during roasting.

I don't think you need to brine the chicken ahead of time for added flavor. The mere art of rotisserie cooking with its self-basting should be enough to produce a flavorful bird.

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I'm confused. I could be reading this incorrectly. David, did you say that you try to buy Foster Farms chickens, not the free range or the organic, and then say that "The Tyson chickens often have small cuts in the breast skin from over-processing. And those small slits in the skin will dry out the breast meat during roasting." (I tried to add the quote from your post but couldn't remember what I did just yesterday, so I just did "copy" and "paste".)

"My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne."

John Maynard Keynes

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The Tyson chickens often have small cuts in the breast skin from over-processing.  And those small slits in the skin will dry out the breast meat during roasting.

I don't think you need to brine the chicken ahead of time for added flavor.  The mere art of rotisserie cooking with its self-basting should be enough to produce a flavorful bird.

David,

That Tyson chicken also spent a few weeks in storage at 26 degrees - drying out!

Dry breast meat.... ...don't think you need to brine for added flavor. The primary purse of brining a chicken is to add moisture to prevent the breast from drying out.

Just my $.02.

Tim

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Sorry, I should have been more clear on my earlier post-I buy the regular Foster Farms chickens and they work just fine in the rotisserie. I don't buy Tyson chickens-overprocessed and they don't give good results.

Foster Farms produces chickens here in Washington State. They sell a couple of types of chickens in my market-one is the basic chicken, the other is labeled as free-range/organic. The basic chicken is about a dollar per pound cheaper than the free-range/organic. Because the basic chicken gives me good results in the rotisserie, I don't spend the extra money to buy the free-range/organic bird.

As far as brining, I don't go to the trouble for a chicken that I'll be cooking on the rotisserie. I'm not a fan of the brining technique in general, whether it's to add moisture OR flavor. I just want basic roasted chicken flavor and the rotisserie gives that result by what you can call "a self-basting prophecy." Hope that answers the questions better.

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  • 5 months later...

Based on this thread, I picked up one of the Showtime rotisseries.

When I do brine, I've had great flavor, but the skin tends to try to burn early. Any tips for what to do to prevent that?

Obligatory Recipe: Fill the cavity with fresh rosemary, make a 5% brine with applewood smoked sea salt and Marsala (or a Marsala/Water blend), brine, then roast.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So this thing is *great*, but I noticed last night that the nonstick on the two central spikes of the rotisserie assembly is starting to abrade away.

Has anyone else seen this? It's so thin that it doesn't seem to flake, there are just two strips (which probably indicate that my "non-stick safe" scrubby wasn't quite so nonstick safe when scrubbing off the cooked on debris) where it has cleared away.

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