Rotisserie chicken facts for kids

Rotisserie chicken

Rotisserie chicken is a chicken dish that is cooked on a rotisserie by using direct heat in which the chicken is placed next to the heat source.

Electric- or gas-powered heating elements may be used by using adjustable infrared heat. These types of rotisseries have proven quite functional for cooking rotisserie-style chicken. Leftover rotisserie chicken may be used in a variety of dishes such as soup, chicken salad, and sandwiches.

United States

In the United States, ready-to-eat rotisserie chickens were available in supermarkets and some butcher shops during much of the twentieth century. However, they did not become a widely available option for consumers until the early 1990s, when Boston Market helped popularize the selling of packaged rotisserie chickens.

Rotisserie chickens are now highly popular. In 2010, 600 million rotisserie-cooked chickens were purchased by consumers "in U.S. supermarkets, club stores and similar retail outlets." In 2018, over 900 million rotisserie chickens were sold by foodservice outlets and retail stores.

Rotisserie chickens are often lower in price than raw whole chickens. Two explanations are often given to justify this phenomenon. First, some grocery stores may use rotisserie chickens as loss leaders to bring shoppers into the store. The logic behind this theory is that if customers come to a store for its rotisseries chickens, they will buy other products while they are there, too. Second, rotisserie chickens are often made with poultry that is about to reach its "best by" date. By cooking and selling the chickens, the grocery stores are able to recoup some of their expenditures.

In the U.S., chickens used for rotisserie cooking may be injected with brine to retain moisture. Additional ingredients may be used to add flavor and to brown the chicken, such as oleoresin, yeast extract, sodium tripolyphosphate, and natural flavorings.

Costco and rotisserie chickens

Costco is one of the largest producers and vendors of rotisserie chickens in the United States, with one commentator describing it as "the undisputed king of rotisserie chickens." In 2017, Costco sold approximately 87 million rotisserie chickens in the United States. Costco's CFO, Richard Galanti, has repeatedly rebuffed suggestions that Costco might eventually increase the cost of its chickens above $4.99, which has been the price of a Costco rotisserie chicken since 2009.

In 2017, Costco broke ground on a new 414-acre facility in Fremont, Nebraska that would include a hatchery, feed mill, and processing plant. The facility – which is expected to produce around 100 million chickens per year, or roughly 40 percent of Costco's needs – has been reported as costing between $275 million and $400 million. The plant is scheduled to open in September 2019.

In other cultures

Canada

Rotisserie chicken has been a popular food in Canada since the 1950s, and is a staple of Canadian pop culture. Two Canadian casual dining restaurant chains, Swiss Chalet and St-Hubert dominate the market for chicken, though the dish is also the central item for other Canadian chains, popular international chains such as Nandos, or individual restaurants. Rotisserie chicken is available at most supermarkets.

Swiss Chalet owns a cable channel that exclusively airs content related to rotisserie chicken, "twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week." It typically airs chickens rotating on a rotisserie. Occasionally, a dancing man appears wearing a costume that looks "like a container of Swiss Chalet's dipping sauce."

France

Napoleon Bonaparte was a frequent consumer of rotisserie chickens.

Australia

The two major supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, both sell chickens cooked in large ovens. A common variation on the local fish and chip shop is one that also sells charcoal chicken, rotated and cooked above charcoal.

Gallery

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  Chickens being roasted on a spit. Romance of Alexander, Bruges, 1338-44 (The Bodleian Library, Oxford, MS 264 fol 170v)

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  Rotisserie chicken prepped for cooking on a barbecue grill

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  Rotisserie chicken (pollo rostizado) cooking at a take-out shop in the Obrera neighborhood of Mexico City

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  Roast chicken tacos, colonia Condesa, Mexico City.

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  A Costco rotisserie chicken

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  A packaged rotisserie chicken

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  Rotisserie chicken being cooked at a restaurant in California