You can’t beat a chicken that’s been cooked on a rotisserie. This was the main reason that I purchased my Weber rotisserie attachment! The principle of cooking a rotisserie chicken is that the juices will baste the chicken during the entire cooking process so you won’t have a dry chicken. A Rotisserie Chicken on a Charcoal Grill is the most juicy chicken you’ll ever have!
This rotisserie chicken recipe is so simple. Most of the taste comes from the cooking method so all you need is the following:
Salt
Pepper
1 whole chicken
butchers twine
olive oil
Before you start cleaning and trussing your chicken, prepare your charcoal grill for a medium heat. You want your grill to roughly maintain 350 to 400 degrees during the cook. I usually add more charocal about 1 hour into the cooking to ensure that the temperature can be maintained.
While the coals are lighting, clean and truss the chicken. If you want to see how I truss a chicken check out my YouTube instructional video on how to truss a chicken.
You Tube Video on Trussing a Chicken
Trussing your chicken is essential for cooking a rotisserie chicken because the rotating motion of the rotisserie causes the wings and legs to flop about during the rotation. This is not a good thing. After you truss your bird be sure to securely place it on the spit.
Once the chicken is secure on the spit, carry the spit out to the grill on a cutting board to make sure that no chicken juices drip on the floor. Attach the spit to the rotisserie attachment and switch the motor on. Once the chicken is rotating, I liberally brush some olive oil on the chicken and then add salt and pepper.
Look how great this rotisserie chicken looks after a few hours! Part of the magic of rotisserie chicken cooking is that you don’t have to constantly monitor the temperature. You can switch the motor on and do something else. As long as you know how to maintain a constant medium heat, you’re set!
I like to cook the chicken for at least 2 or 3 hours. I use a digital thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken. Anywhere from 165 to 175 is where you want your temperature to be internally. A lot of websites suggest cooking to 180 but this simply overcooks the chicken. If you want that classic grocery store rotisserie chicken (otherwise known as “overcooked rotisserie chicken”) cook your chicken to 180 degrees, but you are perfectly safe cooking your chicken to 165.
The chicken below was cooked to about 170 degrees. Oh wow!!!!!
I like cooking rotisserie chicken so much that I do it once a week every Sunday. On Sunday night I cut up the chicken and make chicken sandwiches for lunch during the work week. Rotisserie chicken salad sandwiches, chicken breast sandwiches, or a drumstick and thigh. No preservatives, no fillers; just all natural chicken. Delicious, healthy, and tastes great! Rotisserie Chicken on a Charcoal Grill.
