Eiffel Tower Chicken (Vertical Roaster) + Chicken Hook

LTH,

With deference to Mr. Kass and Beer Can Chicken, and as much fun as it is to jam a can of beer into a chickens tush, my Low & Slow preference is the open frame Eiffel Tower style vertical roaster which allows heat and wood smoke to flow through the chickens cavity.

Vertical Roaster



Four and a quarter pound Air Chilled roaster from Whole Foods lightly brined then rubbed both under and over the skin with butter, s/p, lemon juice and Herbes de Provence then onto the Big Green Egg for a session with lump charcoal and apple wood.



Note falling snow in picture



Juicy, moist, even the breast meat was tasty





Polenta, marinated asparagus* and few slices of tomato rounded out dinner. A solid Thumbs Up from both myself and the bride.



Enjoy,
Gary

*Simmer asparagus just past crisp, drain, while still warm marinate in vinaigrette for at least 30-minutes.

Looks great, Gary. The oft-posted (by me) place I became acquainted with this piece of equipment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VjLCRqKNk

"What I usually do is... take that flap of skin... I love that chicken-neck." You're in good company.

Matt,

I don't think I've seen that, but I should have known the The Continental could cook.

Enjoy,
Gary

looks great gary

My brother gave me a neat little vertical chicken roaster that has a beer-can-sized circular opening in the middle and four metal feet to keep it stable. Best of both worlds. I'd post a link picture if I could find one similar to it on the internet. A quick google reveals that there is no shortage of vertical chicken roaster designs out there.

Katie wrote:A quick google reveals that there is no shortage of vertical chicken roaster designs out there.

Lots of choices, my preference the open frame design, pictured upthread, which allows heat/wood smoke to flow through the cavity of the bird.

Eight years later the open frame Eiffel Tower style, aka Vertical Roaster, remains my preference.

Chicken went about 375° on a 26.5" Weber Kettle, two stage lump charcoal fire, rotated every ten minutes or so until 165° in the thigh.





Vertical Roaster, Count me a Fan!

Duck on my new Elevated Cook Chicken Hook. Started about 5am so I didn't melt, bride is out of town, smoked duck for breakfast, sure, why not! Duck was bought at Harrison's Poultry Farm in Glenview, the only place I know that always has fresh never frozen duck in Chicagoland.








First time out I'm digging the Chicken Hook.

Gorgeous, Gary. Btw, duck you!

=R=

G Wiv wrote:First time out I'm digging the Chicken Hook.

Chicken Hook? I thought you were a Chicken Hawk.

Did you finish with high direct heat? How'd you get the skin so crispy? Is there any way to turn the bird over, or is that irrelevant with that setup?

JoelF wrote:Did you finish with high direct heat? How'd you get the skin so crispy? Is there any way to turn the bird over, or is that irrelevant with that setup?

No need to finish with high heat as the 26.5 setup for indirect ran around 375° to 400° No need to turn the bird over but, and this is essential with both the vertical roaster & chicken hook on an indirect/two-stage Weber kettle fire, one must rotate* the bird every ten minutes so different sides of the bird, duck/chicken/falcon face the fire for even cooking.

As duck is fatty I poked holes in the skin, careful not to pierce the flesh, to help the fat melt off and placed a drip pan half filled with water under the duck to catch the dripping fat. Without the water filled pan there is a good chance for a grease fire and a 100% chance of a fatty sludgy mess to clean up.

Two other things, I often do poultry hot and fast, aka hot smoke roast, as there is no need to break down connective tissue as in ribs/brisket etc, and if one is using a WSM or Big Green Egg, where the heat comes up evenly around the grate, there is no need to rotate using either device.

I'm not much one for cooking gadgets but I'm digging the Chicken Hook and have used vertical roasters for years. I should point out there is no need to use a device to cook terrific poultry on a smoker or grill, just makes for an interesting tasty variation once in a while.

The rub I used was tasty interesting and contained a new to me spice blend, Vadouvan, French masala curry powder. I mixed Vadouvan with Half-Sharp paprika, Gary Wiviott rub, salt, cracked pepper and a bit of onion/garlic powder, all from The Spice House.


*Right, left, back, front. No need to rotate top to bottom.

G Wiv wrote:*Right, left, back, front. No need to rotate top to bottom.

So, what you're saying is that there's no need to flip the bird?
*rim shot*

=R=

Chicken on the Elevated Cook Chicken Hook, Tasty, Crispy, Juicy and I just beat the rain! Smashed cucumbers, rice and chili oil to round out a nice summer meal.




Chicken Hook, Count me a Fan!

Fennel and Mushroom Salad, Chicken Hook chicken on Big Green Egg = dinner with the bride. #homecooking





Roast chicken, count me a fan!

Chicken on the Elevated Cook Chicken Hook = Dinner with the bride #lowslowbbq #countmeafan #homecooking


Chicken Hook, count me a Fan!

Gary,
I'm just curious.

Great pics and write up of the chicken on the vertical over the years, as well as the chicken and duck on the hook!

Looking at the chicken on the vertical roaster pics, it appears the roaster easily handles the chickens in the sizes you mention, but have you ever tried that vertical roaster with a turkey?

Maybe it wouldn't be able to handle the bigger size of the bird, stability wise, but it looks like it could.

Not sure if you would have the top clearance on the 26 kettle or your BGE.

I have too many gadgets as it is, but I could eliminate a couple with the roaster/hook combo purchase.

Thanks for the great write ups

Willkat98 wrote:but have you ever tried that vertical roaster with a turkey?

I have not used the chicken vertical roaster with a turkey, though it takes fairly large birds. Not to worry though, they make a vertical roaster for turkeys. ---> Link

According to ---> This Weber info site the clearance from cooking grate to dome on a 26" charcoal kettle is 8.5 inches, the vertical turkey roaster is 10".

I have a large BGE, grill grate 18", I'm guessing no problem on vertical turkey roaster height, worst case scenario place it directly on the plate diffuser setup for low/slow.

Chicken hooks and vertical roasters are easy and fun to use but, of course, are by no means necessary to accomplish beautiful tasty birds on BGE, WSM or Weber kettle.

When I do turkeys on a BGE or WSM I tend to use the method I outlined in http://www.lowslowbbq.com book 2

Thanks Gary.

Great info and links.

I got rid of my Bandera which is how I originally made your acquaintance with the Pit Crew list serv, way way back.

But I have an insulated cabinet smoker (can't shake the vertical!) which the turkey tower roaster link you provided might just be the ticket.

Breaking in the Blackstone 36" griddle this weekend.

So many toys, so little time

Thanks and good cooking to you

Willkat98 wrote:I got rid of my Bandera which is how I originally made your acquaintance with the Pit Crew list serv, way way back.
=-
Breaking in the Blackstone 36" griddle this weekend.

Ahhh, the Bandera, a terrific piece of equipment, still have mine though the door has been rewelded on twice. Bandera's, last time I looked, are now made overseas and a whisper of their former glory.

The Blackstone griddle seems to be the new It Girl of the outdoor cooking crowd. If my wife wouldn't have my head I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Those old listservs were wonderful sources of info.

G Wiv wrote:

Willkat98 wrote:I got rid of my Bandera which is how I originally made your acquaintance with the Pit Crew list serv, way way back.
=-
Breaking in the Blackstone 36" griddle this weekend.

Ahhh, the Bandera, a terrific piece of equipment, still have mine though the door has been rewelded on twice. Bandera's, last time I looked, are now made overseas and a whisper of their former glory.

The Blackstone griddle seems to be the new It Girl of the outdoor cooking crowd. If my wife wouldn't have my head I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

It's a very weird coincidence that just this morning this item had magically moved from the near to the bottom of my 'saved for later' Amazon cart to the very top of it. I'd carted it last year on Prime Day, when the price dropped to $200 but I never pulled the trigger. If it happens again this year, perhaps . . . and yes, please don't tell my wife. If I do get one, I'll try to sneak it out back and pretend like it's always been there.

=R=

Chicken on the Elevated Cook Chicken Hook = dinner with the bride. Bonus, knockwurst from Joseph's Finest Meats




Chicken Hook, count me a Fan!