Killer Barbecue

Vertical chicken roasters are a terrific method to cook a whole chicken in a backyard barbeque. The most bare bones design can be constructed on your own, while store bought kinds range from about $15 to over $100. Really, there’s nothing to it: a lot of roasters are a metal cylinder attached to a base. You slide the bird over the cylinder, add beer or water , and set it on the grill to let it cook.

The stands are usually conical or cylindrical and fashioned of metal. One type is made with high-temperature glass that can be filled with beer, water, or anything you like. On some, the stand also serves as a roaster for veggies and herbs . Others are made of steel and coated with a nonstick coating. Others come with skewers to clip on the side so you can roast potatoes alongside the chicken. The more expensive vertical poultry roasters are round pans made of cast iron with a cylinder in the middle to stand up the chicken.

Make sure you put some planning into the style of stand to get with your roaster. If you’re not worried about using the fat or roasting with vegetables or herbs, a plain base will do. Other bases are molded into trays to hold fruit, veggies, or herbs. And you can catch the fat to make gravy.

For the do-it-yourselfer, all you need is a soda or beer can and a steady metal base, such as a roasting pan, that will hold up under heat. Fill the can with beer or water. This is the roaster I use. It’s recyclable, simple, and doesn’t hog up a lot of space simple, recyclable, and doesn’t take up a lot of space.

The original reason for the design was to roast a bird without it sitting in a lake of fat. The chicken is less fatty, but still juicy, tender, and moist. If you want to make gravy, the trays can collect fat dripping from the chicken.

A poultry roaster can be set up on the grill, in a smoker, in the oven, or over a campfire. And the adventurous roaster isn’t limited to chicken. You can roast duck, pheasant, Cornish hens, or a small turkey . You’re only bound by your imagination.