National Rotisserie Chicken Day is observed annually on June 2nd.
- Rotisserie chicken is cooked whole on a rotisserie or spit that turns continuously over heat source roasts it slowly. This type of cooking sears the skin to seal in the flavor, resulting in a tender and juicy chicken.
- Rotisserie chickens have been available in stores and supermarkets since the 1930’s.
- The practice of rotisserie cooking chickens goes back hundreds of years, with paintings showing them being done in large batches since at least the 1300’s.
- They’re made to be addictive. People like to joke that these perfectly seasoned roasts are addictive—and that’s not by mistake. Most rotisserie chickens are pre-seasoned in factories and then shipped to supermarkets, where they’re skewered and cooked.
- It’s John Legend’s go-to meal. The Grammy-winning singer told US Weekly that he eats half a rotisserie chicken before every show.
- Costco sells them better than anything else. Every single day the company sells over 157,000 birds—probably because of the $4.99 price point. This dinner is so popular it even has its own Facebook page.
- the modern-day rotisserie renaissance—cheap birds in take-home containers at supermarkets and big-box stores—can be traced back to the early ‘90s, when Boston Market (then Boston Chicken) started selling them at drive-thrus.
- in 2017, Americans purchased no fewer than 625 million rotisserie chickens in supermarkets.
- Costco sells an average 157,000 chickens a day. In 2017, they sold 87 million over the course of the year.
- 4: Hours a rotisserie chicken can spend on the shelf before drying out.
- 29%: Decrease in price of Whole Foods’ rotisserie chicken after Amazon took over in 2017.
- 460: Milligrams of sodium in a Costco chicken, thanks to saline-flavor injections
- 1985: Boston Chicken, now Boston Market, is founded in Newtonville, Massachusetts
- 1994: Costco and Kroger offer rotisserie chicken
- In 2011, Canadian chain restaurant Swiss Chalet launched a 24-hour rotisserie chicken channel for customers in Ontario. The 13-week broadcast consisted entirely of a loop featuring 12 chickens rotating on a rotisserie.
- According to Costco’s chief financial officer, the retailer loses between $30 and $40 million a year on the chickens. Still, they refuse to raise their prices to a more reasonable $5.99. The reason: They really believe $5.99 is how much a chicken should cost. “That’s us,” said the CFO on a call with analysts. “That’s what we do.” In a less selfless way, the chickens keep foot traffic high at the store, which benefits its bottom line.
- Chicken as a meat has been depicted in Babylonian carvings from around 600 BC.
- Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world.
- There are more chickens on earth than people.
- The largest serving of fried chicken (2,493 lbs) was served at Kentucky Fried Chicken in celebration of the restaurant’s 70th anniversary.
- Chicken consumption in the United States increased during World War II due to a shortage of beef and pork.
- According to the National Chicken Council, more than 1.25 Billion Chicken wing portions (more than 100 million pounds) were consumed on Super Bowl weekend in 2012.
- Popeyes Chicken is named after the character Popeye Doyle in the movie “The French Connection.”
- The Rhode Island Red [chicken] (Gallus gallus domesticus) was designated as the Official Bird of Rhode Island in 1954.
- Alektorophobia is the fear of chickens.
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