Trial and error is a good and necessary process. Without it, and without persevering until I conquered the beast, so to speak, I would have failed at mastering the rotisserie function of my large air fryer oven. But aanhou wen, as the useful Afrikaans saying goes. Persistence wins.

Many of you who have been following my rotisserie woes, and who saw the ultimate result once Iâd finally got the hang of how to use the rotisserie components of the machine, have been asking for the recipe.

Not surprisingly, because if Iâd seen the photo of the finished rotisserie chicken I would have searched for the recipe myself. Luckily, it was my own, so I now have the recipe on hand, right here in my head.

I donât think I will ever forget it. And I donât think Iâve ever cooked a better roast chicken. Thatâs not a boast â its success is down to that revolving spit rod and the fact that the bird was clamped onto it properly, bound with kitchen string.

This process can be a bit messy, but honestly, just sluk it back (to use another good Afrikaans expression, âswallowâ just doesnât have the same impact as sluk).

Now that I have the hang of the rotisserie and securing it (because my earlier attempts had the bird crashing to the floor of the machine), Iâm eager to try other meats on the spit rod, including a rolled pork shoulder, a rump cap, and â how about this? â a rotisserie duckâ¦

But for now, letâs first get the hang of a rotisserie chicken. Hereâs howâ¦

Tonyâs air fryer rotisserie chicken with pimenton and garlic

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

1 x whole chicken, about 1.6 to a maximum of 1.8kg

1 Tbsp pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika)

1 heaped tsp garlic powder

Salt and black pepper

4 Tbsp olive oil

Kitchen string

Method

Start an hour before you need to start roasting the chicken.

Pour the olive oil into a small bowl or ramekin and add the pimenton, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Rinse and dry the bird, including the cavity.

Season the cavity with salt and black pepper, and sprinkle a little pimenton and garlic powder into it too.

Find the kitchen string (itâs probably in that drawer over there).

Cut a length that looks too long. Cut another two lengths 10cm longer.

Tie the shorter length around the lower ends of the drumsticks and around the parsonâs nose. (Look it up.) Tie it tightly. If it slips off, start again. I find it useful to first tie the string around one lower leg, then around the other to bring them together. (Itâs a mission of trial and error for my clumsy fingers but if I can do it, anybody can.)

Tie one of the longer lengths of string near the other end of the bird to secure the wings, and use the third somewhere nearby, just to make the whole bird a bit more secure. Fowls can be a bit needy.

This is probably a good time to preheat the oven to 200°C.

Brush the outside with the olive oil mixed with pimenton and garlic.

Only now do you need to find the spit rod and pair of clamps. (I donât know where they are, youâll have to find them. Itâs possible you may have put them in that cupboard near the drawer where you forgot the string was.)

One clamp needs to be off the bird. Machines differ, but in mine (a Kenwood 25-litre air fryer oven) the skewer first slots into the rotisserie hole on the right-hand side of the oven, with the opposite end slotting onto a little thingamabob on the left side. A sort of hook-like thingy.

Insert the skewer right through and out the opposite end, and clamp one side very firmly, making sure the bird is in the middle of the rod, then push the other clamp on and stick it firmly into the bird.

Put some kitchen gloves on â theyâre likely to get a bit dirty so youâll just have to put them in the washing machine later â and secure the rod and its formerly feathered friend onto the spit.

Adjust the timer, setting it to 90 minutes, because now is when you need the cooking duration to commence.

After 15 minutes, turn the heat down to 180°C and continue roasting for another 75 minutes. If, after a total of 80 minutes cooking, the outside of the bird is not yet a beautiful golden brown, turn the heat back up to 200°C for the final 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook whatever side dishes youâre planning to go with it. How about these hasselback roast potatoes and some perky glazed carrots. DM

To buy a copy of Tony Jackmanâs Retro Karoo Food (Penguin Random House) signed by the author in gold, send an email to him at tony@dailymaverick.co.zaOr buy it through the Daily Maverick shop.

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.