Spinnin' Chicken w/ pics

[DallasCowpoke]

I finally broke down and bought a rotisserie for my gas Weber. The following is the "shakedown cruise" from last night.
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First, brined the bird overnight in water, salt, sugar, halved lemons, halved onions, peppercorns and bay leafs .

Processed the following into a smooth paste.
Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme, Tarragon, Garlic, Lemon Pepper, Butter, Olive Oil and Anchovies. Not shown but added during processing: Lemon zest, 1/2 Jalapeño, S&P and Red pepper flakes.

You want this mixture so it holds onto a spoon when inverted.

Stuff this under the skin, liberally. Use your fingers to work it around to cover as much of the meat as possible. Don't be afraid to use more than you think you'll need.

Refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours. Remove and rub the skin lightly w/ olive oil. Salt and pepper it. Place on skewer.

First minutes on the rotisserie.

Temp in grill was at 400-425. Middle burner off. Front and rear burners turned to medium.

Forty minutes in.

Temp had leveled off to 375-400. Front and back burners turned to low.

One hour in.

Temp in two spots reads between 165-175. Turned all 3 burners to medium, and left for 8 minutes to crisp skin a bit.

The finished product.

Sorry for the crummy pic. Camera battery was about dead and memory card was nearly full. Plus, I WAS HUNGRY!

Next week I'm gonna do a duck or some cut of pork.

Hope y'all enjoyed!
Chef Paul U.

 

[Anastasis]

Looks nice.

 

[IcyHotStunta]

I've seen hotter rotisserie chicken on campus.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Man, I'm shocked nobodies called me on the anchovies! Thought fer sure I'd get a few

on that one.

 

[NCAAFBALLROX]

I'm shocked you didn't post photos of the cut meat.

PS: Looked good - I have zero complaint & would like to try it (mostly for your mixture). I get amazing results off of my smoker without spinning. I recently pulled two whole cut up birds out of the locker freezer & thawed them on the counter, then once @ room temp, for two 1/4 pieces (thigh / leg) in the micro for 6 minutes @ 40% power. Tasted just like they were fresh off the Bandera & the kitchen even smelled like Oak smoke.

 

[Brisketexan]

I'm actually curious about the anchovies -- I think they are an under-utilized ingredient, although using them in this manner hadn't occurred to me. How did that work out?

And does putting the butter mixture under the skin really add that much? With the brining AND the anchovies, did you have any saltiness issues?

 

[Smoky Brisket]

Now that youve done it, was it worth it getting the rotisserie attachment?

 

[DeadHeadHorn]

Damn that looks good. Nice work.

If I had a gas grill I'd be tempted to get a rotisserie. Alton's show on gyros definitely made me want to get one.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Anchovies to me, once they are cooked, basically dissolve and taste like meat. I don't mean in the sense where they taste like beef for pork, more so in the way caramelized onions taste differently than sautéed or raw onions.

They lend a dimension of flavor that is undecipherable as what they are, and completely different from their raw state. If you've never tasted them cooked into a dish, you'd never know what the flavor you're tasting was.

Putting the butter/oil/herb mixture under the skin doesn't make an appreciable difference in the flavor of the chicken, but at the same time it does. Mostly because of the added moisture, and because the herbs just naturally add flavor no matter what you use them in or on.

The brine I used was moderately low in salt-to-water ratio, so I just keep that in mind when I seasoned the outside of the chicken. Also, I've found that this particular brand of anchovy are not terribly salty, especially once they are heated and melt.

Yes, I'd say the rotisserie is well worth it. I like the differences in texture of the rotisserie chicken for a change some times, to the just baked or broiled. Not that I don't like those too.

I'm also looking forward to using the rotisserie for rib roasts, pork shoulders and some duck, which I love.