One of my weekly rituals involves roasting a chicken.  Yeah, so what, you say…

Gone are the days when I used to stick a bird in the oven for one and a half hours and settle for an unevenly cooked and uninspired clucker.  Back in 2006 I decided to take definitive action and purchased the Weber 6408 Style Poultry Roaster.

This thing is a dream as it combines two of my favorite things in life:  my Weber Genesis Gas Grill and a fine roasted chicken. 

If you have a barbeque grill you need one of these TODAY.  Go out to your local Weber dealer or better yet save some time and buy it online here via the Online Shop and pick one of these up and your chicken will be revolutionized and revitalized immediately.

This apparatus is quite simple and was made to get similar results from the ever popular “beer can” chicken roasting technique.   Now, there’s no mess or grease to worry about as the handy drip pan base of this tool takes care of the mess for you while the chicken quickly roasts.   I have never had such a succulent and moist bird by any other cooking technique.   The legs and thighs are always cooked to perfection while the breast meat remains incredibly moist and not overcooked.   Best of all the skin picks up a nice even roasting and you have a perfect crispy and delicious finish on your bird.

The device features a flavor enhancer reservoir in which you can add some white wine, beer, garlic and olive oil or other herbs and oils as you like.   Simply place your bird’s body cavity upright over the handy 4-pronged “cone” of the device and then take some good quality extra virgin olive oil and gently massage your bird fully.   Then make sure to finish with a bit of fresh ground pepper and a healthy sprinkle of coarse sea salt and put on “indirect” heat on your grill at medium heat for about one hour.   

When the bird is finished remove it from the device and cover with aluminum foil or a kitchen towel for a further 10-12 minutes before tearing into that thing and enjoying the finest roast chicken you could ever imagine.

I had the opportunity to live and work in Munich Germany from 2001 to 2003 and it was a fantastic experience.  Munich is the capital of Bavaria, Germany’s free spirited, fun loving and hard partying State.  The city features a vibrant old town with expansive squares and pedestrianized areas.   My old apartment was about 5 minutes from Munich’s great Viktualienmarkt and about 7 minutes walking distance from the central Marienplatz and the famous Glockenspiel.  

Munich continues to be a shining example of a modern forward thinking city yet still steeped in tradition and history.  Munich was recently ranked as the number one city in the world as far as “livability” goes.   

The Viktualienmarkt always provided great entertainment and fresh air strolling through all of the food stalls featuring local Bavarian produce, wild game, fresh fish flown in from around the world and of course plenty of opportunities to take a break and enjoy a cold german draft beer.  It was also a good meeting point and a featured attraction whenever visitors were in town. 

In the winter of 2001 I purchased my first two Global cooking knives a stones throw away from the Viktualienmarkt and they continue to be my favorite knives and in my opinion the best chef knives available on the market. 

The knives are striking in appearance and feature an excellent balance and hand feel.  And importantly the blades maintain a razor sharp blade for long periods of time.  Slicing and dicing tomatoes and chopping up fresh herbs is a dream with these beauties.

In production, after stamping the stainless steel blank into the shape of the blade, the knives are heat-treated at about 1000 degrees centigrade. After that, it undergoes the rapid cooling at minus 80 degrees centigrade. This “sub-zero treatment” increases the hardness of the blade, and the enhanced uniformity of the stainless steel’s crystalline structure leads to the improved cutting qualities. After this “sub-zero treatment,” the knife is once again passed to another heat treatment that takes about four hours. This tempering process makes the knife stronger, and tenacious.

I’ve owned both Wusthof and J.A. Henckels knives and the Global knives are still my top choice.   Get one for yourself or a loved one for Christmas!  If you’re reading this in Marbella you can now purchase Global knives at Corte Ingles Puerto Banus.