How to Roast Chicken on a Spit

If you lived back about a couple of hundred years ago, you would have had to cook over an open fire. Your dinner spun on a long stick that was cut from a surrounding tree and your feast was trussed on the branch. It must have tasted pretty good, because we still do that same sort of cooking in the present day—spit-roasting meats. Here's how to spit-roast a chicken.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• One or more roasting chickens
• Spit
• Kitchen twine
• Salt
• Pepper
• Seasoning salt
• Chain drive
• Motor

1. Take a whole roasting chicken and remove all the items in the gut cavity. Sprinkle salt and pepper into the cavity, rub the outside of the chicken with a small amount of butter and then sprinkle some seasoning salt and pepper on the outside of the chicken.

2. Hold the spit, push it up the rear of the chicken and guide it through the cavity. Center the chicken on the spit and, using a piece of cooking twine, tie the legs together around the spit. Tuck the wing tips of the chicken back and against the body. More than one chicken may be positioned on the spit and roasted at the same time, provided your fire is wide enough.

3. Mount the spit over the fire and on the roasting rack. Attach the chain drive to the end of the spit and engage the motor to start the spit turning. Adjust the motor speed to about one revolution of the chicken per 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Allow the chicken to roast over the fire for approximately 45 minutes to one hour. Test how done the chicken is by poking the crease in the thigh with a knife and see if the juices run clear. If they do, the chicken is done; if not, allow it to continue rotating and roasting until they are running clear.

Resources

• Spit-Roasted Chicken Recipe
• Roast or Broiled Chicken

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