Cooking Rotisserie Chicken

Within the past few months, my wife and I received a brand new air fryer from my Mother-in-law after the toaster oven decided to break (again). I’ve fixed it several times until parts were not available. But we have to say, we love our new air fryer. The really cool thing about it is that we can cook rotisserie chicken with it.

My First Bird

Since I don’t cook all that often, my chef skills are quite comical. My first chicken was an abomination. I washed it, put the skewers through the middle and stuck it on the skewer. The bird flopped around the oven like a flasher in a raincoat: arms and legs dragging itself through the grease pan. It gave it quite the flavor. Good thing because I had forgotten to season it. An hour and a half later [yes, you read that right] it was finally done. The bird didn’t turn out like the turkey on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, but I knew first bite I seriously needed to rethink my strategy.

My Second Bird

For my second bird, I knew I needed to season it. A simple mix of salt, pepper, and garlic should do the trick. Seasoning on one side I flipped it over and doused all the top and sides with the impromptu concoction, I knew this one would at least taste better. But, in order to keep my little flasher from exposing itself, I decided to tie it with cooking string. So I did. I wrapped that thing up so tight. Around and around, it looked like a purple finger with the circulation tied out of it. But, wouldn’t you know, much of my seasoning was still all over my plate and had fallen off. What the heck? So, instead of retying the bird I decided just to smear the wet seasoning all over the string. “That should do it,” I said to myself, and put the mummified chicken into the griller. Pulled it out and I couldn’t tell the difference between the string and the skin. I’m sure I ingested some threads, but they tasted good anyway — thoroughly seasoned.

Third Time’s a Charm

The third bird I decided to really sit down and evaluate my strategy. I looked up online how to tie a chicken for rotisserie, which is called “trussing.” A technical word for tying it up so it can’t flop around. Here is a very simple video on how to truss a chicken for rotisserie:

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I can’t lie, I had to put it on slow motion after the first several times; rewinding with chicken juiced fingers is not good.

In order to keep the seasoning on the bird, I decided to dry the chicken. I don’t know why didn’t think of it earlier, but it worked. This might be obvious to the chefs reading this, but to me, I was amazed at the difference; and it only took an hour to cook. The picture above is my last and best one. But, there are a few lessons of this story to what we should keep in mind especially when we are learning how to share Jesus.

No matter what, the first time will not go as planned

The first time you ever do anything, it will not go as well as you planned. We all envision doing something for the first time flawlessly. It never goes that well. Even when we go with someone or watch others do it, it never looks as good. Why? But that shouldn’t stop us from at least trying.

Failure is not trying. Success is stepping out and giving it a go.

The more you do it, the better it gets

Practice makes perfect. The only way you get better is if you practice. What better way to practice than sharing Jesus to strangers whom you will probably never see again.

The big game is when we share Christ to those whom we love, who we care about, and who we see regularly. Those are the “Thanksgiving meals” in which the bird needs to be as perfect as possible. So, why not test your skills on a 4lb chicken at first?

Get help

We all need help and advice from others. When we don’t, we waste valuable time and money. Chickens are expensive; YouTube videos are free.

Why didn’t I research how to cook the chicken before diving in? I don’t know. I wanted to see if I could do it myself. It was fun, and I laughed at myself — a lot. But there comes a time when we just need to ask others who’ve done it before for a little guidance.

If you are looking for guidance in sharing your faith and need a little encouragement, just ask me. I promise I won’t make you cook a 40lb Thanksgiving Turkey the first time. We need each other. Just coming out and watching me practice actually helps me in a big way. You’ll be doing me a favor.

The lesson of the story: when at first you don’t succeed — don’t show it to anyone, and eat it anyway. No matter what — it will always look worse in your stomach.