Another foray into rotisserie land! This time with a classic beast, a beast of chicken. This ferocious monster came to us via the supermarket (which, if you’ve seen my supermarket on a Saturday afternoon, you’ll understand why I call it a ferocious beast; things get pretty crazy in there…)

This cook takes a little longer then the beer-butt-chicken, but that’s OK, because it lets you drink more beer. So – to the BBQ!

Prep

Well, first to the kitchen, where we open a beer and begin to prep the rotisserie.

1. Get the rotisserie kit from wherever you hid it after the last cook.
2. Wash the bird, and cut the strings.
3. Remember to put on the counter-weight this time. Ha!
4. Have some beer to settle the nerves.
5. Skewer the bird; no mercy, straight down the middle (as best you can).
6. Have some more beer to celebrate your accomplishment
7. Rotate the bird in your hands, and adjust the counterweight as necessary to get a good roll.
8. Job well done! Have some beer.
9. Season the chicken with some seasoning salts; nothing complex, but get some liberal coverage over the breast and legs.
10. Go to the BBQ and remove the grill
11. Drop in a foil pan to catch the drippings.
12. Fill the pan with about 1” of water (to cover the bottom well).
13. Splash in some beer for good luck (a couple glugs is more then enough)

You should be almost done your first beer by now.

The Cook

1. Fire up the grill and get it to your 300°F mark (or there abouts).
2. Crack a beer.
3. Apply the chicken to the rotisserie rig, and turn it on to watch it rotate. If all is well, then close the lid and let it spin
4. At around the top of the label, check your heat (I had to drop mine right down to ‘low’) You want to maintain your 300-350°F temp if possible.
5. Enjoy the rest of your beer, checking occasionally that the temperature isn’t running away, and that the rotisserie hasn’t slipped or whatever.
6. Open beer no. 2, and get the baster. Baste the bird with the drippings in the pan to keep it nice and moist. Add water (or beer, I suppose) to the drippings pan if its getting too dry.
7. Enjoy your beer to the bottom of the label.
8. Check your bird; it should be slow cooking nicely. Mind the liquid level in the drippings pan, and give it another basting for good measure.
9. Finish your beer and open the third one; endgame is upon you!
10. At the 1/4 beer mark, check out your bird. If it looks finished (legs are pulling away from the body and starting to dry) then you are probably done; if not, no worries. Maybe bump your heat up a bit and keep drinking.
11. By the last 1/2 or the last 1/4 of your beer, you should be finished cooking, depending on the heat of your grill.

Once again because this is a roast (and a chicken) I must recommend a meat thermometer. Your bird is probably cooked, but make sure its done to an internal temperature of 180°F. There is nothing worse then cutting into a roast only to find its still unfinished. You’ve been patient, so be sure. Besides, if its not done, you can boost the heat and open another beer…

When it is done, take it off the grill (don’t forget the oven mitt…) and carve that juicy monster up! Enjoy!

Total Beers: about 2 1/2 + 1 prep bonus.