Choose The Best Rotisserie Chicken On Store Shelves With This Tip

Stores like Costco and Sam's Club churn out freshly cooked rotisserie chickens throughout the day to meet demand. These juicy birds are loaded onto a spit and turned on a rotating carousel to ensure they cook evenly, remain juicy, and develop a golden and crispy skin. While they may look identical at first sight, checking for ones with the tightest skin is a useful tip for making sure you always choose the best of the bunch.

The reason rotisserie chicken tastes so good is that the birds are cooked in batches and essentially baste each other with their liquefied fat as they rotate. This produces skin that's deliciously crisp and packed with savory flavor (which can simultaneously be sticky with caramelization in some yummy spots). However, as a whole, the skin should still be mostly taut without any wrinkly areas. If the chicken skin looks shriveled, this likely means the meat has become dry on the inside because it's been sitting under the heat lamps for a lengthy period. When packed in a container or bag, the steam inside the chicken can also get trapped, causing the skin to turn almost soggy and soft. Meanwhile, the freshest birds that have just come off the rotisserie have a tight skin that has plenty of golden color and a speckling of visible seasoning on the outside. On the inside? The breast meat should be juicy and succulent, and the leg meat unctuous with a slightly fattier mouthfeel.

Another rotisserie chicken red flag that's super easy to spot is cracked or split skin. Any fissures or gaps in the skin, particularly along the joints where the drumstick meets the main body of the bird, are also key indicators that the chicken has started to dry out inside. Rotisserie chickens that have large areas of torn or wrinkly skin, which are falling away from the meat, could be a result of poor handling and are best left on the shelf too.

One of the other most useful tips for picking the best rotisserie chicken is to select one that doesn't have too many juices pooling at the bottom of the container. This can be a sign that the bird has lost its internal moisture and become overly dry as it sits. On the other hand, the freshest chickens will feature tight skin, fewer juices at the bottom, and feel heavy when you pick them up. The best time to buy a fresh rotisserie chicken at Costco is as soon as you hear the sound of the bell that's rung behind the counter when a new batch is ready. If you grab a freshly cooked bird, it will have the perfect combo of juicy flesh and tight skin.