Countertop Rotisseries

[chefmd]

How about this one?

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/philips-smoke-less-grill-with-rotisserie/?pkey=celectrics-new&isx=0.0.788

[Lisa Shock]

My parents got a Kenmore rotisserie/oven/griddle as a wedding gift and never used it. I took it to college with me and it was great. Huge, but great. The griddle on top could hold two modest sized pans and acted a stovetop in addition to being a flatop griddle. The rotating parts could be removed, and the unit could be used as a regular oven. While everyone else in my dorm was using those little immersion coils to heat up single cups of hot water for noodle cups and tea, I was making full meals for 6+ people. Of course, this was the 1970s and early 80s, and microwaves were expensive and toaster ovens not so common, I think.

[KennethT]

11 minutes ago, chefmd said:

How about this one?

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/philips-smoke-less-grill-with-rotisserie/?pkey=celectrics-new&isx=0.0.788

This looks great, but is a lot more expensive than I was looking to spend...

[KennethT]

I was looking at something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Electric-Vertical-BBQ-Grill-Kebab-Machine-Kebab-Shawarma-Cooker-Rotisserie/332461249270?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D49451%26meid%3D511a5b67752049f5993eb435485e7741%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D332461249270&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Afc8d7efe-f979-11e7-b4ca-74dbd1804888%7Cparentrq%3Af6c81d891600ab15e9eb1d82ffe78e27%7Ciid%3A1

[JoNorvelleWalker]

25 minutes ago, chefmd said:

How about this one?

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/philips-smoke-less-grill-with-rotisserie/?pkey=celectrics-new&isx=0.0.788

 

If I didn't already have a Farberware I would order that.

 

 

Edit:  and it must be great for poultry -- it is even made in Turkey.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

[Shelby]

I have one of these Ronco rotisseries  and we used to use it a lot.  It makes a great chicken.  But it's a total pain to clean.  And it's too big to just keep on the counter.  

 

Both Ronnie and I agree that as good as our rotisserie made chicken, the CSO does it better.  Granted, it doesn't turn the chicken so that it gets every nook and cranny of the skin crispy (you could do that yourself if you wanted I guess) but the tender/juiciness of the meat more than makes up for that.  

 

Plus the CSO does so many other great things.......but then again, you already probably know that  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

31 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Wow... that thing is huge! Way overkill for what I need - the biggest bird I'll cook weighs less than 3 pounds...

 

Where, these days, do you find a 3 pound chicken?

 

[KennethT]

Either Chinatown, or I was thinking using rock cornish hens or poussin if I was feeling fancy...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Either Chinatown, or I was thinking using rock cornish hens or poussin if I was feeling fancy...

 

Cornish hens or poussin are what I prefer.

 

[KennethT]

@JoNorvelleWalkerI prefer them too but they're more expensive...  One of these days, I have to run down to the poultry market in chinatown - I've always seen good prices there on lots of different types of poultry - poussin, squab, quail, silkies, etc...  I have lots of room in the laydown freezer in the corner of my dining room.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, chefmd said:

How about this one?

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/philips-smoke-less-grill-with-rotisserie/?pkey=celectrics-new&isx=0.0.788

 

And until tomorrow WS has 20% off and free shipping!

 

Disclaimer:  I did not order the rotisserie but they caught me for other things.

 

[boilsover]

20 hours ago, chefmd said:

How about this one?

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/philips-smoke-less-grill-with-rotisserie/?pkey=celectrics-new&isx=0.0.788

 

Ouch!  MSRP $569?  I've not handled one of these, but it is the functional equivalent of the old Farberware.  In fact, it might not work as well, since this has one elements along each side, some distance from the food.  The Farberware has 4 "turns" of calrod element both at the sides and under the food.  I also don't really understand how that folding reflector improves anything--for it to work well as an IR reflector, it would probably have to tip inward instead of outward.  The Phillips also appears not to have a spit height adjustment, which can be very important.

 

I've cooked a lot on the Farberware, and the "smokeless" thing is a red herring--even with the under-food turns of calrod, there is not enough smoke from drips to worry about.  It's also an absolute SS tank; all the metal is thicker than it needs to be, and the only plastic is on the handles.  It's easy to disassemble for cleaning, too.

[KennethT]

@boilsoverwhich Farberware one do you have?  It seems like you'd recommend it...

[andiesenji]

I have a vertical electric chicken rotisserie that works quite well.  It had kebab skewers but I lost them years ago as I never used them.  

there are several on ebay.

 

[boilsover]

6 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@boilsoverwhich Farberware one do you have?  It seems like you'd recommend it...

 

It's called the "Farberware Open Hearth".  I'm not sure which exact model number it is (mine is at my beach house), but it is this one. 

These can be found for peanuts at estate sales, because if you haven't used one they don't look very practical.  Right now there's one up on Ebay for $65.

 

 

[boilsover]

2 minutes ago, andiesenji said:

I have a vertical electric chicken rotisserie that works quite well.  It had kebab skewers but I lost them years ago as I never used them.  

there are several on ebay.

 

 

Hi, Andie:  What make and model?  Do you know of any modern version of the old tournebroches that hang vertically?  I have a project going with grates and an large outdoor, permanent, elevated grill that I'd like to outfit for a larger side-fire for rotisserie.  With one of these, I can just use a tripod, rather than fiddle with spitjacks.

 

Thanks.

[KennethT]

@andiesenji What do you think of the one I linked to above?

One of the things I like about it is that it is open - there's no door there to trap heat inside and turn it into an oven rather than a true rotisserie.  But I'm curious as to your thoughts since you're always so knowledgeable about this stuff!

[andiesenji]

4 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@andiesenji What do you think of the one I linked to above?

One of the things I like about it is that it is open - there's no door there to trap heat inside and turn it into an oven rather than a true rotisserie.  But I'm curious as to your thoughts since you're always so knowledgeable about this stuff!

 

You would need a space for it where SPATTERING GREASE would not be a problem.  I also have one of the HUGE horizontal rotisseries that has an open front and I had to use it out on the deck or swathe everything because grease would spit out 3 feet from the thing.  

 

[boilsover]

9 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@andiesenji What do you think of the one I linked to above?

One of the things I like about it is that it is open - there's no door there to trap heat inside and turn it into an oven rather than a true rotisserie.  But I'm curious as to your thoughts since you're always so knowledgeable about this stuff!

 

Obviously not andie, but (a) the reflector setup looks awesome; but (b)  it looks like there's no distance adjustment.  AS she said, I would prepare for spatter and cleanup. 

 

Oh, I just remembered:  for the horzontal 1/4" square spits, there's an aftermarket tumbler basket add-on for things like wings and chunked meat.

[dcarch]

33 minutes ago, boilsover said:

 

Ouch!  MSRP $569?  I've not handled one of these, but it is the functional equivalent of the old Farberware.  In fact, it might not work as well, since this has one elements along each side, some distance from the food.  The Farberware has 4 "turns" of calrod element both at the sides and under the food. 

The number of heating elements is not that important. The total wattage is what counts. As a matter of fact, with electric devices, which are limited by the outlet power of around 1800 watts, the fewer/shorter the heating element, the hotter the heating temperature will be generated.

 

I also don't really understand how that folding reflector improves anything--for it to work well as an IR reflector, it would probably have to tip inward instead of outward.  The Phillips also appears not to have a spit height adjustment, which can be very important.

Actually the Philips design of the reflectors is outstanding if you look at their shape, which is kind of parabolic focusing to beam the IR output toward the food. Also, because the IR beam is focused, the distance of food to the heating elements is not that critical.

 

I've cooked a lot on the Farberware, and the "smokeless" thing is a red herring--even with the under-food turns of calrod, there is not enough smoke from drips to worry about.  It's also an absolute SS tank; all the metal is thicker than it needs to be, and the only plastic is on the handles.  It's easy to disassemble for cleaning, too.

They did not say "smokeless", They said "smoke less"

 

dcarch

 

 

[KennethT]

Thanks both @andiesenji and @boilsover - I hadn't thought about the grease spitting all over - I was actually thinking about sitting it on top of my stove (which wouldn't be used at the time) and facing it towards the wall where I can hang a sheet of foil or something.  No, it doesn't look like there is any distance adjustment, which would be nice, but I don't think critical for what I want to do...

 

My biggest concern is how a chicken would sit on the central main spit - I don't see from the photos what would keep the spit from just turning inside the chicken while the chicken itself doesn't move, and I can't seem to find the user manual online...

 

Also, FYI, I just saw this same machine on Amazon for $69 including shipping...

 

So, I guess, worst comes to worst, I can get it from Amazon, take a look at it and the manual, and if I don't think it will work well, just return it and start looking all over again...

[boilsover]

12 minutes ago, dcarch said:

Actually the Philips design of the reflectors is outstanding if you look at their shape, which is kind of parabolic focusing to beam the IR output toward the food. Also, because the IR beam is focused, the distance of food to the heating elements is not that critical.

 

I guess I need to see one of these in person, because it looks like the folding reflector is planar and bass-ackward.  Is the parabola under the food?  This is not ideal, but it's better than nothing.  

 

12 minutes ago, dcarch said:

Also, because the IR beam is focused, the distance of food to the heating elements is not that critical.

 

See, above.  Also, the Phillips elements seem very similar to those used in the Breville Smart Oven and its ilk.  My experience with the largest BSO cooking things roasted and toasted is that the elements are too far from the food to do a good job.  Farberware instructed users to adjust the spit downward to the point that the food barely clears the element.  We're not talking about a heliostat here...

Edited January 15, 2018 by boilsover (log)

[andiesenji]

This is the one I have. Regal - about 20 years old, only used a couple of times because I  got the Sharp combi convection/microwave oven, which did the same thing only more rapidly.

 

[gfweb]

I sense that eG is about to have a Big Easy Oil-less Fryer moment

[boilsover]

1 minute ago, andiesenji said:

This is the one I have. Regal - about 20 years old, only used a couple of times because I  got the Sharp combi convection/microwave oven, which did the same thing only more rapidly.

 

 

It's like a tanning booth for chickens!