Rotisserie Chicken - Chinese 5-Spice

Last Summer Tim and I purchased a rotisserie motor for the gas grill. Our first experiment with this new toy was a Pork Shoulder using a nice Latin spice arrangement. Unfortunately the smoke chips caught on fire in the last twenty minutes of what was promising to be a three hour masterpiece; not to mention basting every hour. Alas, although the exterior was charred to a crisp, the interior was still moist and delectable and delicious! We will try that again.

 

But this weekend we tried a Rotisserie chicken. Many folks have recommended rotisserie chickens from the grocery as an easy multi-night dinner. You can have the wings and drumsticks one night, then shred the remaining meat for use in soups, salads, casseroles, enchiladas, etc. Giant Eagle was offering all natural, cage free, no antibiotic fresh whole chickens for less than $1.70/lb. Having never purchased a whole chicken, I thought that was pretty good! I bought a 5 pound bird.

 

Tim searched through his Grilling cookbooks for recipes and instructions. We settled on this recipe from "How to Grill" which called from some very flavorful and Asian inspired seasonings. I've never oven roasted a chicken (I know, but I was a vegetarian for 15 years), but I assume the principal is the same. This recipe should translate to oven roasting as well.

 

Prepare the bird:

• 3.5 lb to 5 lb whole chicken
• 3 feet cooking twine

Remove the gizzards (Freeze to use in stocks or discard). Remove the extra fatty piece at the cavity opening.

 

Here in lies the Rub:

• 2 t Chinese 5-Spice
• 2 t granulated sugar
• 2 t Kosher salt
• 1/2 t Cracked Black Pepper

Combine above and toss 1/2 mixture inside the bird. Reserve 1/2 until after next step.

 

Truss the bird. This step is really difficult to explain without pictures. So follow the details here: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Truss-a-Chicken/ This step ensures even cooking by fastening the smaller and thus faster cooking parts (wings and thighs) closer to the carcass.
 

 

Next Step:

• 1 T Toasted Sesame Oil
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 slices (1/4 in) peeled fresh ginger, smashed
• 3 scallions thinly sliced, white and green parts

Take one crushed clove of garlic and one slice of ginger and thoroughly rub the chicken's skin. Take the remaining garlic, ginger and scallions and place inside the bird's cavity.

 

Coat skin with toasted sesame oil and cover with the remaining rub.

 

Roast until thickest part of the meat reaches 170 degrees F. Or use your rotisserie to cook for approximately 1.5 hours over medium to medium-low flame. Keep an eye if doing the rotisserie method to moderate the heat according to how quickly the skin is cooking. Remember, chicken is not done using either method until the internal temp reaches 170 degrees F.

 

Allow bird to rest for 10 - 15 minutes before slicing to ensure moist and juicy.

 

 

Enjoy!