I’ve made all kinds of chicken over the years. Grilled, smoked, fried. I’ve done the Beer-Can method, the spatchcock method, and many others. But the one method I have never done is cooking a chicken on the rotisserie – mainly because I never had the equipment to do it.
But that all changed when I gladly accepted the Eminence 605 from Monument Grills. This 6-burner dual-fuel (natural gas and propane) grill is Monument’s flagship, and it comes loaded with features, including 6-blade infrared burners, a built-in ceramic rear burner and a side searing station – all delivering over 89,000 total BTUs and all of which are controlled by an eco-friendly LED touch panel.
For ease of use, and for tech-savvy grillers, its Bluetooth app also allows for real-time monitoring and cooking alerts.
Bonus extras include two meat probes and – central to my cooking strategy here, an awesome rotisserie kit!
First Step: Raiding the Refrigerator and Rubbing Down the Bird
I started with a whole organic chicken and I rubbed it with Steven’s Planet Barbecue Mediterranean Herb Rub. Once the chicken was rubbed, I wanted to do a ‘dry brine,’ so I left the rub on for several hours before cooking. This allows the salt in the rub to work into the meat so that the chicken stays juicy. It also dries up the skin so that it will brown up and crisp more, especially when I blast it with the rear infrared burner.
Construction and Shake-Down
While the chicken was in the fridge, I assembled the grill. Full disclosure; this process took me a few hours, and I needed help lifting the bottom burners and lid into place (attesting to its build quality and supporting a 10-year limited warranty). But the manual was easy to understand, and I was also able to refer to an assembly video that Monument has online. All you need is a Phillips-head screwdriver and some patience (check out my unboxing/assembly video on Steven’s Instagram page).
With the grill assembled, it was finally time to christen this beauty! After a 30-minute burn off, of course—something you always want to do with a new grill (since I don’t want my chicken tasting like factory oil and cardboard) I was ready to get grilling.
Ready Set, Go!
Once the grill was prepped, I pre-heated it to about 375°F and ran the rotisserie using the lit outer burners to keep the heat indirect under the bird.
I removed the giblets from the chicken, patted the skin dry, and tied the legs tight with butcher twine so it would spin evenly on the rotisserie. I also set a drip pan underneath to catch the drippings and keep flare-ups and cleanup under control. I then attached the spit to the grill, pushed the button, and away we went!
I started with the rear infrared burner to get some color on the skin, then backed off and cooked the rest of the way with indirect heat from the outer burners. You can also turn on the rear infrared burner at the end.
While the chicken was cooking, I kept an eye on the temperature of the grill, and that is something you can easily do as there’s a digital readout right on the control panel – and you can also use the aforementioned app to connect your smartphone and monitor temperatures. That noted, I had to fiddle with the burners to keep the temperatures consistent.
Finishing and Feasting!
After about an hour I started checking the internal temps – ideally,165°F in the breast and 180°F in the thigh area. With chicken you want to make sure you have a minimum safe temp of 165°F in the thickest part of the bird. For me, it was about an hour and 30 minutes of total time on the grill.
Once I took the bird off the grill, I let it rest for about 10 minutes so that the juices could settle. Then right before serving I squeezed some fresh lemon juice on it.
This chicken came out perfectly! The skin was crisp; the meat was tender and juicy, and Steven’s rub made it herby, savory, with fresh rosemary up front and a little mint on the back end.
A gigantic thanks to Monument Grills for sponsoring this post and providing this opportunity to experience the Eminence 605 – a truly amazing grill that makes me look forward to using it often!
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