The Best Rotisserie Chicken Recipe

Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t love BBQ’ed chicken?

It tastes so good that some people even wonder how rotisserie chains and supermarkets cook theirs in order to get that juicy result. Actually, the answer is quite simple: they use injections.

Indeed, some commercial chicken farmers increase the weight (which also, consequently, increases the price) of their chickens and inject them with huge quantities of liquids (brine). 

What can be made of this though is that, if you’re like me and like to try out chicken from different companies, you’ll realize that some chains add way too much brine in their chicken to the point where their meat has literally “pockets” of liquids in it. In the end, you’re then left with a soggy and unappetizing piece of chicken, which is not what you were looking for.

But you know me, I am a solution guy. So, if you’re looking to cook up a great juicy chicken at home, you can let it “soak” in a mixture of water, salt, and herbs, or, simply, inject it with a store-bought premade injection mix.

Another way—the best way—to serve delicious juicy chicken on your table would be to follow this recipe (which, in my opinion, is truly incredible):

Required tools:

• All-in-1
• Roasting spit

Ingredients:

• Butcher BBQ’s Bird Booster Rotisserie Flavor (quantity according to the instructions)
• 1 cup water
• 1 grain chicken
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 celery branch, roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• Olive oil, to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• Steven Raichlen’s Project Smoke Carolina Pit Powder (or your favorite BBQ rub), to taste

Cooking method:

1. Prepare the injection according to the instructions on the box by using 1 cup of water. Heat up the mixture in the microwave for 2 minutes. Add ice to fill the amount of liquid that’s missing and to cool the mixture up (this will activate the phosphates). Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours or use it right away.
2. Preheat the BBQ in rotisserie mode at 350°F.
3. Once the injection mixture is at room temperature, inject the chicken without leaving the syringe in. Make sure to inject small quantities of mixture everywhere, without creating “water pockets”*.
4. Stuff the chicken with the roughly chopped vegetables.
5. Thread the chicken on the roasting spit and secure it well.
6. Coat the chicken with olive oil and season it with salt and pepper.
7. Place the charcoal around the edges of the BBQ and cook the chicken with the All-in-1 until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
8. Open the lid and sprinkle some Carolina Pit Powder (or another BBQ rub) over the chicken. Create a nice flame by adding wood in the BBQ (with the charcoal) to roast the chicken.
9. Once the chicken’s internal temperature is somewhere between 180 and 190°F, take it out of the BBQ and let it rest for a couple of minutes.
10. Serve and enjoy!

* Tip: Do not create holes in the chicken’s skin as it keeps the humidity in. I suggest inserting the syringe’s needle in the extremities of the chicken (where there is no skin) or under its skin to get a nice result.

Have a great BBQ!