Chicken Rotisseries

[Jim Dixon]

Buried in that article was this link to the Italian maker of the hand-cranked rotisserie. I want one of those!

Jim

[bleudauvergne]

I roast my chicken more than any other way of cooking it, in the oven, ont he rotisserie, which is suspended diagonally from one corner to the other. My oven has a special setting for rotisserie cooking, which differs from some that I have had before, keeping the door closed. When I open the door at the end of cooking, a cloud of steam escapes, although the skin is always perfectly crispy. I have found that a liberal application of sea salt applied well in advance of cooking it makes for a really nice and crispy skin at the end, with the meat never dry, although when I was rotissing in a large gas oven driectly below the flames, the bird would sometimes not be as juicy. I think that your oven can make a difference, if it's drafty and the heat source is not constant, the quality of the cooked meat can suffer. I was browsing the New York Times food and wine section today and came across this article, about salt.

Chefs Who Salt Early if Not Often

It's got me in the mood to do some experiementing.

[bushey]

My elderly Dad has been doing the cooking at home for the last few years. Though he lives alone now, for a few years he took care of my Mom, who has Alzheimer's, at home. Every Friday night he has this "special" chicken: he buys a rotisserie chicken from the local supermarket and then proceeds to bake it in a 350 oven for an hour because he likes the skin crispy. Believe it or not, the chicken actually tastes okay. Those chickens must have such a high fat content that even roasting them for another hour can't dry them out!

[sfmiller]

There was a piece in the Washington Post food section some weeks back in which several chefs were given the assignment of reconstructing and re-presenting a basic roast chicken take-out meal. As I recall, at least two of them used a propane torch to crisp up the skin.

I tried it on a roast chicken leg-thigh whose skin had gotten soggy, and it worked great. A broiler would work too, though with the torch there's less to clean up and you can get the heat into nooks and creases better.

Plus it satisfies the Manly Power Tool Urge....

[MGLloyd]

As I recall, at least two of them used a propane torch to crisp up the skin.

I tried it on a roast chicken leg-thigh whose skin had gotten soggy, and it worked great. A broiler would work too, though with the torch there's less to clean up and you can get the heat into nooks and creases better.

Plus it satisfies the Manly Power Tool Urge....

It occurs to me that a heatgun would work well for this, too. Perhaps after I next use the heatgun to roast a batch of coffee, I will try this.

[bleudauvergne]

It occurs to me that a heatgun would work well for this, too. Perhaps after I next use the heatgun to roast a batch of coffee, I will try this.

How about a hair dryer?

edited to add the context

Edited February 25, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[woodburner]

I don't think there is enough heat, to *crisp* the skin, from the dryer. I know for a fact that cooking a chicken at 275ºF does not crisp the skin at all. Probably 325º would be the minimum temperature.

woodburner

[MGLloyd]

I don't think a conventional hair dryer would get anywhere near hot enough. My heatgun puts out a maximum of 1100 degrees F., and I have actually thought about trying to sear a steak with it.

Edited February 26, 2004 by MGLloyd (log)