Only my third time using the roti, and my second with a bird.
A couple weeks ago, I picked up some free-range, hormone free, etcetera yardbirds from a local farmer.
I fired up a full sized chimney of lump. Dumped this into homemade charcoal baskets, then got the drip pan in position.
Got the bird on. This one was 7 lbs. Just a coating of EVOO, and S&P was applied.
The temperature settled in the 350-390° range with the intakes half open for the first hour.
After 1½ hours, I removed the drip pan.
I then dumped the remaining charcoal into another homemade charcoal basket. I also added a mini chimney of lit lump.
I'm very glad I did this as there was not a lot of initial charcoal left to keep going with my plan to finish it over direct coals.
The last half hour over direct heat did some amazing things to this bird. The skin crisped up very nicely.
A rice mixture, and some carrots from the drip pan ….. Plus homemade gravy using the drippings. Delicious!