The Speares

Living the life in Muskoka


Rotisserie Chicken



Wash out a small cooler, rinse really well and add

  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • a cup or two of water
  • a cup or two of fairly hot water

Stir it up and then add
  • a 4 pound chicken, mostly thawed out and rinsed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 TBSP peppercorns
  • all the ice cubes you can find
  • enough cold water to cover the chicken

Put the cooler somewhere cool and leave it for a few hours.


Take the chicken out of the brine. Discard the brine, clean and sanitize the cooler. Rinse the chicken. In a small bowl toss

  • 1/2 red onion cut into chunks
  • a lemon rinsed and cut into chunks
  • 5 or 6 cloves of garlic
  • whole fresh herbs - parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme are good
  • some olive oil
  • a grind or two of sea salt and pepper

and then stuff the chicken with this mixture being very careful not to disturb the butcher's twine holding the wings and legs together. If you have stuffing left over add it to the stock pot.

Stick the chicken on the spit and clamp it in good and tight. Put the chicken on the BBQ (on mine I have to remove the top layer of grates to make room), turn on the rotisserie, and light the BBQ on dead low. Put a smoker box in there with something pleasant - apple wood maybe.

Check that the BBQ hasn't gone flame-thrower.

Check it again. After this it should be fine.

Put two baking potatoes on the grill.

Turn off the rotisserie and probe the chicken. You want 165 in the stuffing and more than that wherever you probe the bird itself. Might need a few more minutes, make sure you turn the rotisserie back on.

Bird is most likely done. If so, remove to serving platter and tent with foil. If you haven't done so yet, get baked potato stuff ready: sour cream (or yoghurt), grated cheese, bacon bits, green onion.

Potatoes should be done. Come and get it! Incidentally, the stuffing is not to be eaten per se. When you remove all the meat from the carcass add all the bones and the stuffing as well into the stock pot.