Grocery store rotisserie chicken question.

[Paper Roses]

To save time and for about the same money as a small chicken to roast myself, I will sometimes buy one of the store cooked chickens. I think today was the last time. It seems they are always undercooked, no matter how browned they are. When I get home, I peek in the joints of wings and legs, there are always globs of yellow fat and they seem slimy.

This, to me is not a cooked chicken. Perhaps I am just used to my way of cooking but I find that I have to cook these chickens longer in my own oven. Defeats the purpose.

Anyone else find this is so?

Does my store have a defective timer and thermostat on their rotisserie cooker?

[The empressof all]

1. The ones at my grocery are usually pretty puny

I have noticed I usually need to continue to cook the Costco Birds. I think they take them out a bit on the "rare" side to compensate for sitting time under the lights.

As an aside I noticed my local grocery has the cooked ones on sale for 3.99. That's the lowest I've seen them. I'm not eating meat right now but I was surprised and thought about getting one for my husband.

[elleng]

2. I like them a lot, and haven't noticed 'undercooking.' I remove noticeable fat.

[grasswire]

3. I always put it in the oven for half an hour or so.

I totally agree with you. Not done enough.

Besides, I really don't like any of their seasoning flavors. They have lemon pepper, "savory", bbq. I don't like them.

[cbayer]

4. Mine are always pretty perfect and save a lot of time and energy.

I guess I would prefer undercooked to overcooked, as it is so easy to remedy. I sometimes get one that I think has sat under the lights too long and is dry.

:hi:

[Warpy]

5. If you can stick the point of a knife into the thickest part of the thigh

and the juices run out clear and not pink, that chicken is fully cooked. If the juices are pink, carve the bird into serving portions and put everything but the wings into the microwave for a few minutes, then let it rest.

Usually, unless they've just taken the chicken out of the rotisserie unit and you've hustled it home and cut into it without letting it rest, that chicken will have adequate time to rest and cook through.

The fat might not be rendered sufficiently for your taste, but that's not any indication that the bird is underdone. Pink juices and pink meat near the bones are, and that's nasty.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. We get them from time to time. Always cooked okay

The thing that grabs me is why these cooked birds are so much cheaper than whole, raw birds. What are we paying for - or not getting - for that price disparity? My real issue with them, however, is the salt. Lots of salt. Oh, they taste good for sure. But salt!

[Warpy]

7. Yeah, they're brined to the point that they should call them

salt preserved chickens. My guess is that they're cheaper because they were frozen and can't be marketed as fresh and perishable, something that could also account for the overbrining. Freezing destroys flavor and salt is a way to compensate for it.

It's why I don't get them. I had one, it was salty, I retained water, and once I'd finished the last bit of chicken salad from it (the most palatable thing I found to do with it), I never bought another one.

Undercooking wasn't its problem.

[madmax]

8. We get ours at Harris Teeter they are

great. However, they have gotten a bit smaller - they used to be big! Oh well, the economy and all that. However, they are always cooked perfectly. Maybe we're just lucky that whoever is doing the cooking for HT is very good at his/her job.