Rotisserie Chickens And Visit With Eric & Matthew

The last time I cooked a rotisserie chicken in April, 2020, we thought it was very good and I’ve been looking forward to doing it again.  Before, I cooked one 5½ lb. chicken and I wanted to use two smaller ones this time but could only find 2½ - 3 lb. fryers at Knoxville’s Fresh Market so I bought a couple a while back, stuck them in the freezer and hoped the burner was long enough to cook them together.

The evening before, I made up the same brine as before (link above) but since they were two salty last time, they only got an eight-hour brine on cooking day this time.  Then I dried them and used the spice and herb mix below to put under the skin of the breast, thigh, and part of the leg and rubbed the extra on the outside.  The recipe amounts below are increased from the previous time due to two chickens and I mixed the herbs and spices with butter this time.

Before mounting them on the spit, I confirmed the set up would work then mounted them rear to rear – plan was to spatchcock and grill  them if the rotisserie wouldn’t work.

Rotisserie Chickens – Adapted from Cooking On The Ranch

Ingredients:

1½ tsp. garlic powder

1½ tsp. onion powder

1½ tsp dried oregano, crushed

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

¾ tsp dried thyme, crushed

¾ tsp. dried rosemary, crushed

¾ tsp. Black pepper

¾ tsp. chili powder

Directions:

1. I removed the chicken from the brine and fridge about an hour before cooking so it could air dry and warm up a little.

2. Thirty minutes before cooking, I combined all spices with softened butter in small bowl. I loosened the skin with my fingers to distribute the mixture evenly between meat and skin of the breast and thigh and leg I could reach and rubbed the extra on the skin.  

3. After putting them on the spit, I tressed the legs, tied the wings to the body

4. Since it was cold and windy outside, I set the rotisserie burner on high and it took about two hours to reach 160F in the breast and get beautiful skin.

The chicken didn't look so good in my plated pic as the skin came off.  We sided it with a baked sweet potato and salad, with homemade creamy feta for me.  

We made a trip to the Mennonite market and reloaded on purple and orange sweet potatoes.

The Verdict:

Everything was delicious and I really like the ease of cooking on the rotisserie.

38 National Parks Later

On June 1, Eric and his son, Matthew, were dropped off in New England to begin their 2200 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail ending in the smokies.  But, after 250 miles, they decided that this adventure was way too boring so they decided to spent their planned five months camping and hiking in national parks.  

From New England, they spent a few days at home then made a loop through the northwestern states and after a few more days at home, they looped through the southwestern states ending up back at home for another short stay.  They visited every park in western US except Joshua Tree, Channel Island, Big Bend, Saguaro, Carlsbad Caverns, and Guadalupe Mountains.

Finally, they headed to the Southeast and while visiting the Smokies, they spent a couple of nights with us for our first time together since Jul 2019.  From here, they will spend a few more nights in the smokies before heading to NP's in NC, SC, and KY before heading home and they will have hit all but six NPs in the eastern US plus they also missed those that are in Alaska, Hawaii, and American Samoa. 

In total, they will have hiked in 38 of the 50 parks in the mainland US and camped in most of them, for which they have stickers on their car carrier. 

What an adventure they have had with many memories created.  

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

10/14/22 meal date