The Chicken Hook

What the heck is this thing? How does it work?

Here's another view. Does that help?

So it 's like this.

I had a new grill on order. The old one hadn't been used in years. It was so badly rusted, I didn't want food near it, much less on it. And it didn't start without help. So there was a risk of kaboom, even before the rust problem.

I got an email from some folks who make a device called The Chicken Hook. For roasting chickens. Obviously. The hook suspends the chicken over the pan or grill, so the whole chicken gets time in the hot air.

Sure, why not, I said. I can try it on my grill.

Grill arrived (more on the grill at a later date), and I went out and bought a chicken to test the rotisserie.

Then the chicken hook arrived. Decisions, decisions. Rotisserie or hook?

I decided to test the hook, since I can cook other things using the rotisserie. Like roasts. Or other chickens.

The chicken goes on the hook breast down and butt (or tail, I guess) up. Then you put it on a pan in the oven, or in the grill. Of course I used the grill. It's hot out. No way am I turning on the oven. It looks kind of ridiculous, right?

I used indirect heat, so the bottom of the bird - which now was the breast - wouldn't cook too fast. I shoved some potatoes around it, thinking that the drippings on the spuds would be nice. Later, I moved the potatoes to a hotter spot on the grill. Indirect cooking was great for the chicken, but the potatoes weren't really amused.

After about 30 minutes, I had a beautiful golden skin, but the bird wasn't quite cooked all the way, so I let it keep on going until it was done. It didn't look quite as weird once it started cooking and wasn't sagging any more.

What would I do different next time? I think that at end of cooking, I might turn the heat on directly below the chicken to get that skin more brown. But other than that, it worked pretty well, although it looked bizarre as heck when I first put it on the hook.

The finished chicken looks pretty nice, though.

They also sent me three of their spice mixes. I've sniffed them, but haven't used them yet. All three look like they'll be pretty useful. Positano is an all purpose Italian mix, which is always handy to have on hand. Santa Clara is garlic-heavy. Yup, I like that. And Machu Piccho is a spicy Peruvian-inspired blend. Yum times three.

Who's it for: People who want to try a different way of cooking chicken.

Pros: Heat gets all the way around the chicken, and it's not as tall as with a beer-can style chicken that stands upright. Easier to fit in oven or grill.

Cons: If you put this thing away without the instructions and find it a year later, you might not have any idea what it is.

Wishes: There's really not a lot I can ask from a bent piece of metal.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Coming Soon! Uuni Pizza Oven

Gah! I hate it when bad timing on my part and bad weather delay a review, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. The nice folks at Uuni sent me their pellet-fired pizza oven, and although I've wanted to test it (I love pizza), it simply hasn't happened.

It's an outdoor pizza oven. Every time I had ingredients on hand, it snowed. If I ran out of cheese (which happens with frightening regularity) the weather was nice, but I had no time to do a grocery run.

I've been insanely busy with other things, so ... the Uuni pizza oven has yet to be reviewed.

I mean, seriously, I went grocery shopping yesterday and bought everything I wanted for pizza. It was nearly 70 degrees. I was looking forward to a pizza for lunch today, but when I woke up there was snow outside. Snow. Cold. Blergh.

BUT.

I know things about it that I can tell you. This thing is fired by wood pellets. So it's a wood-fired pizza oven, but I don't have to chop down trees to use it. It's light enough for me to move it easily, so I don't have to ask for help from the neighbors when I want to move it into an appropriate spot for cooking. It heats in 10 minutes, so I don't have to wait an insane amount of time when I decide I want pizza. And it cooks pizza really fast (they say about a minute) so I don't have to pace around waiting for a pizza to cook.

On the other hand, I shouldn't leave a pizza in there while I go to the mailbox unless I run to the mailbox. And if I ever decide I want to make two or three or four pizzas in a row, the first one will still be screaming hot when the last one comes out of the oven.

What I don't know - which will come with the review - is how long it takes to cool down and whether I like the way the pizzas turn out.

So ... as soon as the weather and my schedule allow, there will be a review. And if this puppy works the way I think it will, there may be some recipes as well. Because, heck, it looks like a whole lot of fun.

I received this from the manufacturer at no cost to me for the purpose of a review. Which I promise will happen.