Bye Bye Safeway/Costco - Rotisserie Chicken

3 irish men + 1 large truck + 1 rickety elevator/4 flights of stairs + 2 more flights of stairs + FOUR hours + 1 old apartment + 1 shiny new (to me) condo = money very well spent.

As of June 1, I am officially moved out of the apartment and into my new place. I deliberately said "into" and not "settled into" because I have one very empty living room that could lead a second life as a mini ballroom dance floor and boxes galore. I'll give you one guess as to which room in the condo is completely unpacked and furnished (over furnished at that)...yes, my kitchen. Granted, I still need to buy some more glasses, flatware, dishware and miscellaneous spices, but as of yesterday, I successfully had guests over for dinner cooked in my new kitchen. Actually patio would be a little more correct. May I present the newest addition to the ChuThis collection - my shiny Weber Genesis grill:


Isn't it pretty? I feel like a new proud parent. (Note: picture is snagged from bbq.co.uk, not my actual grill)

And like a new proud parent, I was eager to show it off. Yesterday, we used the grill with the new gadget:

(Note: picture is from barbeques.com)

Costco and Safeway - I'm sorry, but I will no longer be purchasing your lovely Rotisserie chickens (unless absolutely pressed for a cheap, last minute dinner) since I can now make them even better myself.

I need to learn to truss a chicken properly when I have more time and when I don't have 4 hungry guys waiting to eat. I'm sure I wasted a large amount of propane while I fussed with attempting to follow a video that taught me how to truss a chicken (hitting the replay button with a your elbow due to chicken covered hands is not my idea of fun). In the end out of pure frustration and hunger, we tied the chicken up using any means possible just to get it on the grill and cooking. Would a proper trussing have made any real difference? Based on the fact that the chicken was gone before I had time to snap a picture, I'd say no.

The recipe that follows has measurements, but I'd caution you to really create it by taste. I used the "little bit of this, little more of this, and a little more of that" method, so as I recollect my memory of yesterday, I'm really just guessing. Besides, I'm sure just as many of you like more/less salt/garlic/pepper.

In the end, the rotisserie chicken turned out great - juicy and flavorful. Take away the trouble with trussing the chicken and this would have been next to effortless, something that might be worth trying at a BBQ party down the road.

Rotisserie Chicken
Serves 4-5 people

1 3-4 lb. whole chicken
1/2 C Butter
2 t Paprika
2 t Garlic Powder
1 t Salt
1 t Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Pre-heat grill without rotisserie rod.
2. Truss chicken (or tie it up any way possible to keep everything held tightly together).
3. Impale chicken on rotisserie rod (I'm sure there is a technical or just plain nicer term; however, I got too hung up on how barbaric I felt putting the chicken on that huge skewer)
4. Melt butter in a small bowl. Mix in paprika, garlic powder, salt and ground pepper to taste.
5. Place rotisserie rod with chicken on grill with a aluminum pan underneath to catch the drippings. At this point, you should have the front and back burner on low with the middle turned off. The temperature should be approximately 350.
6. Baste chicken with sauce. Cook for approximately 1.5 hours. Baste chicken with sauce and drippings every 25 minutes or so.
7. Remove chicken from grill when temperature reaches 160. Let sit for 10 minutes. Cut and serve.