Cooking a whole chicken on the grill is the perfect way to get tender breast meat, juicy legs and crispy golden skin. The process is simple and just takes a little know how.

1. To start, you will want to pick the right chicken...this depends mostly on the number of people you intend to feed. Most grocers will have 3-4 options. Cornish game hens have a rather misleading label, as they are never game birds and not always hens. They are just small chickens under a month of age, have at least one Cornish breed parent, and weigh less than 2 lbs. They provide meat that is very juicy, but not of strong flavor. The grill will provide plenty of flavors, so the Cornish game hen is  good option. Broilers and fryers are two bigger bird options available in most markets.
2. Remove and discard the giblets and extra fat right inside the body cavity. Rinse the chicken inside and out and blot dry with paper towels.
3. Salt and pepper the inside and outside of the bird. You may want to put a peeled garlic clove, bay leaf, lemon zest, or rosemary in the body and neck cavities for extra flavoring.
4. Truss the legs of the bird using butcher's string. This step helps the meat cook more thoroughly and maintain the ideal shape of the bird for serving. 
5. Set up the grill for rotisserie cooking. Rotisserie cooking provides slow, gentle heat that doesn't dry out the breast meat and as the bird warms the fat melts beneath the skin and bastes the meat continually. If cooking with charcoal, heat the coals then crate a row in front and behind where the chicken will rotate.Similarly, turn the front and back burners on the gas grill, leaving the center cool. A drip pan should be placed under the bird.
6. Place the chicken on the spit and cook, covered if possible for 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Every 15 minutes, baste the rotating bird with the drippings caught in the pan.
7. The bird should reach an internal temperature of 180° in the inner thigh muscle. A second test is to make sure the juices run clear when the thigh is punctured with a sharp knife or skewer. The meat should stand for 5-10 minutes before carving.

We recommend using our fully cooked, Hickory Smoked Sugar Cured Chicken or our Marinated Chicken Breasts, Garlic Butter and Sun-dried Tomato Basil.