Rotisserie Chicken

We received a counter top rotisserie as one of our wedding gifts a few months ago (thank you Aunt Johnnie and Uncle Kit!!) and last night we decided to give it a whirl for the first time. 
Some might think that a rotisserie would  be a waste of space but after spending time working the line at Seatown Seabar & Rotisserie (a little gem of a restaurant at the end of Seattle's Pike Place Market owned by Chef Tom Douglas) I knew what could be achieved by using one. We obviously had a large commercial grade rotisserie where we would roast multiple chickens at a time plus ribs, tri tip, porchetta, and turkey breast. Then we would fill the bottom of the rotisserie with a huge pan of potatoes that would cook in the meat drippings. Dirty. Delicious. 
So when it came time to build the registry for our wedding - we picked out a rotisserie that we could use at home. Through Williams-Sonoma we found the Cuisinart Vertical Rotisserie. It can accommodate up to an 8 lb roast and can be heated up to 450 degrees. Perfect. 

via Williams-Sonoma

It seems that Williams-Sonoma has discontinued selling this rotisserie but you can find it on Overstock.com for $199 if you are in the market for one. After using it once, I would recommend it to anyone and everyone - it made a perfect rotisserie chicken, was super simple to operate, and very easy to clean after using.  There is just something about a rotisserie chicken that beats an oven-roasted chicken every time;  beautifully golden brown all the way round the bird, something you just can't achieve with the chicken laying down in a standard oven. The outer skin develops this perfect crust while the chicken continues to self-baste as it rotates around and around cooking evenly from all sides.  

I decided to go with simple seasoning for the first go - I rubbed the chicken with old bay seasoning, salt, and pepper, and placed it on the vertical roasting tower over the drip tray.  It roasted at 450 for the first 30 minutes then I reduced the heat to 400 for another 30 minutes and then let it rest for 10 minutes before splitting in half and serving it with a simple kale salad.