Fireplace String-Turned Roast Chicken

[dawg1157]

Good idea with the chicken! Just ignore the cat haters... :D

[wesawebi]

this was great! it was only marred by the damn cat! cats are nasty.

[Sixguns4fighting]

That is ROASTING. "oven roasting" is actually baking.

[damwmnm]

Your site is now one of my favorites.

Also 5 stars.

[hwbout]

OMG!! I have been searching for days trying to find how to cook a chicken this way. Thank you. We saw this demonstrated at a fair and wanted to do the same at our cabin in the woods. Can't wait to give it a try.

[PaulyCracker]

Very nice idea! Does the almond wood burn hot?

[grillingguru]

Yes, almond wood is quite hard and gives off intense heat. Its smoke also has a nice, sweet aroma almost like a fruit wood. It is one of my favorite cooking woods, particularly considering that it is widely available and other good cooking woods like apple, pear, cherry and grapevines are not nearly as accessible in most places.

[criminalmindxxxx]

Just genious...Would you also recommend adding things to the fire, such as herbs, hickory chips, etc?

[grillingguru]

Thanks! Adding flavorings to the fire doesn't make much of a difference in this case since the smoke is not going up around the chicken to flavor it. If cooking on a rotisserie over a fire pit you can definitely add smoking chips or herbs for more aroma and flavor. In that case the smoke itself helps cook and flavor the chicken so it is quite a different technique than string-turned cooking in front of your fireplace.

[petergerad1960]

What was that other "slop" you put on the plate? Why didn't you use some stuffing thyme, bread, onion etc?

[grillingguru]

Hi! That "slop" was a delicious butternut squash puree with sauteed onions, butter, cream and a bunch of other stuff that makes it delicious. It is actually the best pairing with the ginger/tarragon chicken marinade I've tried. There is a recipe for it at my website which you can find by following the links above or on my grillingguru page on youtube.

I'm sure you could serve a stuffing with it too and it would be delicious. Enjoy!