I’m thinking of getting one, because I adore rostisserie’d meats. They do end up juicy and tender, at least on a BBQ rotisserie.
Does it accomodate big chickens and roasts? Easy to use? Easy to clean? Does the meat come out tender? Worth the money?
stoid
I’ve got one, and it’s not bad. It’s kinda smoky, though, so we use it outside. We made one of our thanksgiving turkeys on it last year, and it came out pretty damned well, and we’ve used it for pork, lamb, and various other roasts since, and it’s turned out very well each time.
The main thing is the smoke. If you can set it up outside, it’s great. If not, it’s quite a mess.
Are there varying temperatures?
A good cure for smoke when doing a high-heat oven roast is to line the pan with stuffing. In the example I read, it was a high-heat turkey, but some kind of bread/vegtable combo would work in any case. Not veges alone or water, because it prevents crisping.
In the Rostisserie it might not work, though…are there heating elements in the bottom of it? (Which seems a bad idea!)
stoid
Consumer Reports did a quick test of 3 such appliances for this month’s issue (December 2001) and listed the “Ronco Showtime 4000” as one of the two they liked. The other was the “George Foreman G$82 George Jr.” They list as drawbacks that it is more expensive ($160 to $99) and has a shorter warranty (only 6 mos.). On the other hand, the Ronco is the larger and I gather from the review the easier to deal with of the two.
Hope this helps.
I have this device. I’ve used it exactly once. It stank up my kitchen was an awful mess to clean and left a puddle of grease on my countertop from the chicken, which really wasn’t all that special.
I would recommend a smoker or a turkey frying setup as much more fun, useful and tasty.
My mom and dad have one. As far as I know it doesn’t smoke for them at all. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t because they use it in the kitchen, frequently, and if there were any smoking going on, my mom would have thrown it out by now.
They’ve done alot of turkeys and they were all fab. I think the biggest you can cook in their model is 12 lbs. Chicken, both whole on the rosisserie and cut in the tumble basket, kabobs of all types…but the thing really kicks butt with a pork loin roast, boned and rolled. It was tender and juicy, but not greasy like an oven roasted pork roast can sometimes be.
I’d buy one if I had both the counter space and the money for it.
Why bother buying one when all you need is a shoebox, hair dryer and a cordless drill?
One of my sisters has one of the “Set it and forget it” Ronco rotisserie and has had no trouble with smoke.
It’s not that easy to clean inside, but it makes a FABULOUS chicken!! Tender, juicy – the absolute best I’ve ever had!!
They aren’t that impressed with it for other meats, though.
I’ve got one. We haven’t had a problem with smoke, but:
You get this ridiculous set of quasi-“welder’s gloves” to try to pick up everything, but they’re not very heatproof. So, my opinion is that the thing works okay, but the actual rotisserie contraption is sloppily built and almost dangerous.
We bought one and returned it. The ribs were mediocre at best… I make far better ones in the oven or BBQ as it is.
I have little doubt it would be good for bird, but there are far cheaper “poulty” rotisseries on the market (around $80 CDN). I’d save my money and buy one of those instead.
Ummmmm…
Poulty = Poultry
Just incase you didn’t figure it out on your own…
Explain yourself, Zenster. Shoe box? Hair dryer?
FWIW, I laughed myself silly, Zenster. 
My mom has one too, and uses it about once a week with great results. Hers doesn’t smoke either, and if you do have a dishwasher, it’s easy to clean. Public, maybe there’s something wrong with yours…hers snaps together very tightly, and it’s never had to be held together.
Ronco products are of such low quality that I refuse to buy them solely on principal. Ron Popiel relies entirely on perceived value instead of actual quality. If you compare the percentage of his corporate income spent on advertising with that of any legitimate major appliance producer you will see a huge difference. Compared (my guess) to 25% that Ronco spends most large companies could never afford to expend that portion of profits on advertising. Ronco does this to create the illusion of importance and market share. This is called perceived value and is the hallmark of garbage products.
It is why I say that if you cobble together a shoe box, blow dryer and spin up the mess with a cordless drill you will probably get the same results. At least KneadToKnow got the joke.
Sorry I missed the joke, but we don’t see a lot of Ronco up here. Probably failed the Canada electrical standard exam or something.
One can only hope.
Thanks for the words… it looked cheap. But I love rotisserie, so I was tempted.
This machine is good for cooking poultry but thats about the extent of it. That part when he says you can cook up to 8 quarter pound hamburgers at a time; BULLSHIT!
Also the little steamer up top…well if you want to heat something up in that you better be prepared to wait untill xmas of next year. Usauly the food cooking on the inside is finished before the food cooking up top.
I have owned the o/g since 2000 and it still WORKS! My ex gave it to me among many of other great gifts. Go figure I never cooked a meal for him. Hmmm, I digress, this is a great healthy and time saving way to cook meals!! The top steams veggies perfectly. I’ve cooked everything in it. Whole chickens, chicken parts, kabobs, pork, etc. All perfectly done to a perfect crisp. Tonight I just made Al Pastor tacos. Yummy. I was concerned because I was supposed to use a vertical rotisserie, but I went for it and am glad I did! I have even smoked in it! I placed soaked wood chips in tray with water. This has lasted me 15 yrs. and across many moves to different places. I highly recommend adding this to your list of appliances. Clean up is no harder than dishes. I just soak it after using it.
*Use small basket and place on furthest notches to get it really crispy. (Notch beyond the middle one). Not all food fit though because it is close to heating unit.
**I don’t use the grate that’s on top of drip tray anymore. It’s really unnecessary and is additional clean up. I used to line tray with foil, but it’s EVEN better to just add a little water in tray, so drippings won’t stick or smoke! Hope this help. 