Rotisserie chicken?

[TimG]

Does anyone have experience with cooking their home raised chickens on a rotisserie? I wonder if this slow cooking method does anything for the tenderness of a chicken that might be past its ideal slaughter age.

 

[Cyberous]

I'm new to meat birds so I can't give a definitive answer, however I do have a rotisserie that I use for store purchase chickens and have not found a difference in speed or tenerness opposed to oven.

Maybe they build higher end rotisseries that cook slower than my cheapo model? Either way (oven or rotisserie) it takes about 1.2 hr to cook a bird.

My only concern is I'm hoping to grow them larger than what my rotisserie can handle

Don

 

[jaku]

Wow, do I ever. I bought a rotisserie thinking it would be a great way to cook my birds. So I got a chicken on it, put some wood chips in a aluminum foil packet, turned it on and waited. Well, I didn't sit and watch it cook, rather wandered around making other food in the kitchen (it was on the grill.) When I went to check on it, my grill was on fire- not just "dump a glass of water on a flame up," but ON FIRE. I had to use a fire extinguisher. I'm guessing it was because the Cornish X's have a lot of fat in the skin, which drips out and starts a grease fire. Luckily, my nearly new $300 grill survived, but the rotisserie went in the garbage, along with a shriveled, charcoal briquette of a chicken.

 

[DarkWolf]

It's all in what kind of grill you have... A rotisserie attachment is on my list of things to buy this year for my grill. Got it last years as a fathers day gift from the wife.. Well.. Part of it... She gave me the $$ and said to go buy something.. I.. Umm.... *cough*... Kinda traded up with more $$ from myself..

This is what I ended up with..

I butterfly cut these chickens to lay them flat.

More on the grill.
http://gardentenders.com/members/DarkWolf/blog/528

 

[kinnip]

A rotisserie is a great way to cook a bird, but if the meat is tough before you cook, it'll be tougher after. A good, stout brine will loosen things up a little. If you think it's going to be tough, you're probably right. Stew that sucker and make ya some pot pie.

 

[DarkWolf]

This thread also has alot of really good info in it in regards to how to loosen up a bird. A long brine bath seems to be at the top of the list, right above crocpot.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=174296

 

[cassie]

We have an electric enclosed rotisserie. It is supposed to handle up to a 12 pound turkey. I haven't put any of my Cornish X on it yet but I plan on doing so. It ought to work out really well because the fat drips off. I have cooked store bought roasters on it and they were absolutely delicious. One of the best ways to cook chicken.

 

[dancingbear]

We had a big toaster oven with a rotisserie, loved it. Wore it out, in fact. Need a new one. But I wouldn't use it for a tough bird. Get out the crock pot for a toughie. Then make tamales or enchiladas. Or tacos. Dumplings. Pot pie. BBQ sandwiches. Or whatever. Yum.

 

[JeffroDull]

Rotisserie simply provides a rotating roasting solution...i.e. no flat, slimy side when done. It is still quick, dry cooking which is toughness inducing but perfectly fine for young, tender birds.

The thing that makes older chickens tougher is all the connective tissue in the muscles that is developed as the bird exercises every day...walking, eating, etc. This same stuff is what makes beef brisket or pork shoulder/ribs tough as well. For the beef and pork solutions the best method is slow, low (below boiling temp) cooking: smoke house, bbq or braising (moist cooking in a slow cooker or oven but NOT boiling!).

If you slooooooowly raise the temp of that bird (or beef/pork cut) to NEAR boiling (180-185F) that connective tissue (collagen) dissolves giving you a ton of gelatin and leaving behind tender, juicy meat. If you raise the temp too quickly to boiling or beyond the collagen "firms up" and will never dissolve. This is what causes tough cuts or birds to toughen up.

While gelatin does not taste great on its own it adds body to the final product by acting as a flavor sponge to whatever it is cooked with and adding a mouth feel very similar to fat but without the downside of fat (heart health, floating/congealing on top, etc). This "simulated" fat feeling makes foods seem "tastier".

So, long story longer: no to the rotisserie for old birds, slow/low cook 'em for tender but FLAVORFUL meat, use the remains for better chix stock, don't boil your ribs (had to throw this last one in there....I see far too many people destroy a good rib rack this way).

References: 12 seasons of Alton Brown's Good Eats

 

[Opa]

I have cooked a lot of older birds and the method I prefer is to brine them overnight and then slow cook them in my smoker. As I cook I never allow the temperature to go above 200 degrees. I have a thermometer in the chicken and when the interal temperature reaches 160 I take them out. They will continue to rise to 165.