Rotisserie chicken on Smaug

[wilburpan]

One of the nice things about a Komodo Kamado is that it comes ready for a rotisserie. All you need is the motor and the rotisserie basket. I’ve cooked a whole chicken on Smaug before, and it was great, but I thought it was time to try out the rotisserie function.
 
Here’s the rotisserie basket. The two forks hold the food on by grabbing the outside of the food, as opposed to the rotisserie forks that pierce the food. There’s a lot of flexibility in how I can place the forks, as they can be attached to either one of the outside rods on the rotisserie basket. Here I have one fork on each outside rod, but I can put both fork on the same rod, and the forks can be individually rotated to fit the food exactly.



This is how the rotisserie looks mounted on the grill. There’s a drive bearing built into the right side of the grill, which is how the motor couples to the rotisserie basket, and another bearing built into the left side of the grill that holds the other end of the rotisserie rod.



I set up the charcoal basket with the divider, so that the chicken would receive direct heat on one side and indirect heat on the other as it rotated. This is how the charcoal basket looks with the divider in place. The charcoal will go on the left side of the basket.



This is how the basket looks loaded with charcoal. I’m aligning the splitter in line with the main shaft of the rotisserie. You can also see the steel plate that blocks air from flowing past the burning charcoal, forcing all the air coming up from the bottom through the fire. This is more efficient than other systems that split the basket to create two zones within a kamado.



So here’s our chicken. I picked it up from the Chinese grocery store. I love getting poultry there because it’s fresh, never frozen, and great quality. Plus, there’s the entertainment value of getting a chicken with the head and feet still on.



I made a rub with 1 part salt, 1 part baking powder, 1 part ground black pepper, and 1 part poultry seasoning. The reason for the baking powder is that it helps crisp up the skin. I’ve used that trick for making wings, so I figured it would work for the whole chicken. I would have used 2 parts poultry seasoning, but I forgot that I had it and had already ground the black pepper. Oops.

I dried off the chicken as much as possible with a paper towel, and then massaged the rub into the skin.



Then I put it onto the rotisserie, and turned on the motor. Smaug was set at 350º.



I cooked the chicken until the thigh meat hit 160ºF, which took about 45 minutes. Then I opened up all the vents to crisp up the skin. Ten minutes later, this was how it turned out. Those of you who are really observant will note that the chicken is positioned differently. That’s because after I started up the motor, I saw that the chicken was off balance, and I repositioned it. The wings and one leg also popped out during cooking, but (spoiler alert) this didn’t spoil the cooking at all.





And the final result.



Here’s a piece of thigh meat, along with some corn.



The chicken turned out great. Both the white and dark meat were nicely done, and really moist. The skin was nicely flavored and crispy, even though I didn’t rub butter or oil onto the skin, which I’ve done before. We devoured the whole thing. No leftovers tonight, which is how I know the meal turned out good.

 

I keep hearing how great spatchcocked chicken is. Based on my experience so far, I can’t really imagine how spatchcocked chicken can be that much better than cooking one whole.

 
All in all, the KK rotisserie was flawless. Because the rotisserie unit is entirely contained within the grill, I don’t have to worry about how airtight Smaug was, which might be a concern with the design of aftermarket rotisserie units for other kamado grills which rely on the seal being tight between the upper lid and the rotisserie frame, and the bottom of the rotisserie frame and the lower shell of the grill. In addition, the KK rotisserie isn’t vaporware.

[ckreef]

Totally awesome cook. I'm very jealous.

The biggest issue with a 16.5" is it doesn't have a small rotisserie option - bummer.

Me and Mrs skreef have been talking lately about the new outdoor Bistro building and future grills. Although I have 3 more grills needed none of those will be a KK so I'm stuck without a rotisserie option as I plan on trading my large Akorn for a Primo oval Jr with travel cradle.

I'll probably give Mrs skreef Prometheus to use as a kamado oven and I'll latch onto the oval Jr.

[DennisLinkletter]

Totally awesome cook. I'm very jealous.

The biggest issue with a 16.5" is it doesn't have a small rotisserie option - bummer.

 

 

The end plates of the rotisserie need to clear the side walls front and rear and on the 16" by the time you clear the walls left and right there is little space left for the cradle.

[tinyfish]

Wiburpan what a delicious cook. That chicken looks perfect. I can't wait to try my cradle out for the first time.

[ckreef]

The end plates of the rotisserie need to clear the side walls front and rear and on the 16" by the time you clear the walls left and right there is little space left for the cradle.

I understand.

[MacKenzie]

Wilburpan, thanks for that writeup. I really enjoyed it and found it very helpful. My motor is on the way to me and I'll likely get it before my KK. Cooking a chicken using the rotisserie is something that I am very excited about doing. Your cook looks fantastic. It makes my mouth water. The plated pix sure looks tasty.        

 

[bryan]

This is without a doubt a Top 10 post. Keep those pictures coming!

[tony b]

Hey Wilburpan!    Where you been, buddy?? Missed your awesome cooks - glad to have you post again!! 

[Edwinclevans]

This attachment is definitely on the Christmas list. It may have to be pre christmas so I can do a rotisserie turkey. Is the splitter really worth it? So far I have used the stone for indirect and otherwise used direct for everything other than low and slow. Have you done this cook without the splitter for a direct compare?

[tony b]

 Is the splitter really worth it? So far I have used the stone for indirect and otherwise used direct for everything other than low and slow. Have you done this cook without the splitter for a direct compare?

 

The splitter would have come in handy on that steak cook of yours. Direct sear, then just slide the steak over to the indirect side to roast to final temp. Easy, Peasy!

[BigLazy23]

The splitter would have come in handy on that steak cook of yours. Direct sear, then just slide the steak over to the indirect side to roast to final temp. Easy, Peasy!

We also do burgers indirect and finish them direct (check the AmazingRibs Steakhouse Burger). Delicious and invaluable having the splitter.

[GoFrogs91]

I use the split basket more often than the full basket. It makes reverse searing or cooking indirect a breeze. Must have for me.

[wilburpan]

Totally awesome cook. I'm very jealous.

The biggest issue with a 16.5" is it doesn't have a small rotisserie option - bummer.

There's an easy solution for that: get yourself a KK 23" to keep Prometheus company.

No need to thank me for that suggestion. Knowing that I was able to help is thanks enough.

[wilburpan]

Hey Wilburpan!    Where you been, buddy?? Missed your awesome cooks - glad to have you post again!! 

Too many weekends recently where I either was working or out of town. It's amazing how much cooking you miss when you're not really free for the weekend.

[wilburpan]

This attachment is definitely on the Christmas list. It may have to be pre christmas so I can do a rotisserie turkey. Is the splitter really worth it? So far I have used the stone for indirect and otherwise used direct for everything other than low and slow. Have you done this cook without the splitter for a direct compare?

Besides reverse searing and two zone cooking as described above, my main reason for setting up the basket splitter for this cook was to control and reduce flare ups. On gas grills that have a rotisserie attachment, the heater is often placed to the side of the rotisserie, usually mounted to the back of the grill. Since the cooking and spinning pretty much guarantees a steady steam of juice and fat dripping off of the chicken, if the entire charcoal basket was used, the flare ups might get out of control.

[BigLazy23]

Inquiring minds want to know from those who have done both spatchcock and rotisserie, what is your preference? I've read that spatchcock is great to spread the chicken out to get a more even cook and crispy skin, whereas rotisserie is great as it keeps the backbone which provided a great amount of fat and juice. I think after reading Wilbur's post and seeing those mouth watering pics I'm just trying to rationalize the purchase of a rotisserie...

[wilburpan]

Here’s a video of Smaug's rotisserie in action, if you’re curious.

https://flic.kr/p/tioVWQ

 

On the subject of spatchcock vs. rotisserie, I’d vote for rotisserie any day. In fact, I’d vote for roasting a chicken the conventional way over spatchcock if for no other reason than I like my roasted whole birds to look like roasted whole birds. 

 

Without having tried spatchcocking a chicken myself, my results with conventional roasting in a KK grill and using a rotisserie are such that I can’t imagine how much better spatchcocking might be. I understand the reason for spatchcocking, in that it helps with the different cook situation and times required for white meat, dark meat, and to get crispy skin. I’m just saying that in my hands, that hasn’t been an issue.

[tony b]

I don't have the roti, but I have cooked my fair share of chickens - whole vs spatchcocked, direct vs indirect, main grate vs upper grate, vertically (NOT on a beer can!!!) vs horizontally, and I have to say that there isn't a lot of difference in the juiciness of the meat between all these variations - all come out succulent, but the differences are in the crispiness of the skin and the overall cooking times. Obviously, a spatchcocked chicken is going to cook faster than a whole bird, either vertical or horizontal on the grill, as there is more surface area directly exposed to heat. I seem to get better results on the skin doing them spatchcocked, too, as it is easier to control the browning of the skin by being able to flip it over either toward or away from the heat source, as needed. It also has the advantage of allowing the use of the upper grate to get the bird closer to the dome walls without worrying about burning the high spots on a whole bird.

 

Here's some pics of what I'm referring to.

 

First, the whole bird on the vertical rack (can't do this on the upper grate).

 

 

Got a little too done on the very top where it gets close to the dome walls. 

 

Now, here's a spatchcocked one on the upper grate.

 

 

By comparison, a horizontal whole bird on the upper grate.

 

 

While this one has great color, the skin isn't as crispy as the spatchcocked bird. 

 

Unless I'm doing Cornell or Alabama White chicken, I like doing chickens spatchcocked, direct, on the upper grate @ 425 dome, the best so far. With those sauced/brined chickens, you really need a drip pan to stop the flareups. YMMV.

[DaveyR]

Agreed with everything that Tony said.

[bryan]

"6 Way Chicken"

Is there a Best way or a bad way? Would cooking chicken 6 ways at same time then taking one bite of each lead to the best way to cook chicken?

You guys make all cooks 1st class. 

 6 chickens,  ! K-Kooker, 1 temp, 1 time  = "6 Way Chicken"