First time with a rotissarie - help, please.

[74STL]

I bought a grill from Sam's club a few weeks ago. It has a infrared burner, as well as a rotissarie. I've never cooked anything with a rotissarie before and would like to start with chicken. I'm wondering how long would I need to cook the chicken? Is there some rule of thumb... so many minutes per pound for example. What should the internal temp. of the cooked chicken be? I'm guessing that I should put a drip pan underneath it so I don't get grease all over my new grill. I hope that I didn't jump the gun and go overboard-- I bought a 6.5 lb. bird.

Thanks for any help.

[Andy M.]

Welcome to DC.

I have no experience with an infrared. Does the owner's manual give any info on cooking times?

[GotGarlic]

My FIL recently bought a grill with an infrared burner - it's a side burner. We grilled pineapple on it, and it was done much faster than it would have been on the regular burners. Is your infrared a side burner?

re: the rotisserie, I'm not sure I would have started with that big a bird. It will take more time to cook than a 3-4 lb. chicken, so the outside might get more done that you want by the time the inside is done. An instant-read thermometer in the thigh (not touching the bone) should read 160* for it to be done.

When I do a wine-can (variation on beer-can) chicken, I use a 3.5-lb. or so bird and it takes 1 to 1 and a quarter hours to roast it in the grill, so you would need to increase your time accordingly. HTH.

[MexicoKaren]

On my rotisserie, it would take at least two hours to roast a bird that size, but your heat source may be different from mine. I always use a spice rub before I cook the chicken (sometimes I get lazy and use a prepared one like the Canadian Montreal Chicken Seasoning - it's really good), and you'll need to take some butcher's twine and wrap it around the wings nice and tight, then bring it around the chicken and cross it, then finish it around the legs, so that the chicken doesn't flop around on the rotisserie. While 160F works for me when I am cooking chicken breasts, for our tastes, I bring the whole chicken to 180F - we don't like any bloody spots deep inside. My favorite way to cook chicken. Congrats on your purchase and enjoy!

[74STL]

Unfortunately the owners manual didn't have any specifics on cooking times for the rotissarie... I think, I'll recheck just to make sure. The chicken has one of those plastic pop-out timers. Do you all think it would melt with the infrared side burner being so much hotter than the regular burners? Should I remove it?

[74STL]

I always use a spice rub before I cook the chicken (sometimes I get lazy and use a prepared one like the Canadian Montreal Chicken Seasoning - it's really good)

I love the Montreal chicken seasoning! I'll probably use that. I did a Google search before I came on this board to find out any info on rotissarie chicken. There was a guy on a youtube video who had a recipe for it. But I think it was more of a commercial for that rotissarie "set-it-and-forget-it" contraption! It didn't give me any idea for cooking time per wt. either. Plus I'm not sure it would heat the same, since it was an electric cooker anyway.

[MexicoKaren]

Originally Posted by 74STL

The chicken has one of those plastic pop-out timers. Do you all think it would melt with the infrared side burner being so much hotter than the regular burners? Should I remove it?

Yes. I would defnitely remove it.

[74STL]

I found the grill manual, finally! It doesn't mention cooking whole chicken on the rotissarie but it does mention cooking a 12 pound turkey. Since my bird is 6.5 lbs. I guess I'll start with 1 1/2 hours. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

[love2"Q"]

i would imagine that you would leave the infra red burner off ...
those things get really hot ..