Review – Weber Rotisserie:
Following on from my review of the Weber One Touch Premium I thought I should write a review for the Weber Rotisserie too as it’s one of my favourite accessories. So here we go Review – Weber Rotisserie.
Below is the review for the Weber One Touch Premium:
As I mentioned in that review there is a vast array of accessories available for the Weber grills but in my opinion one of the best and the one I recommend to everyone is the rotisserie.
The Kit:
This is what you get when you order the rotisserie. A black, powder coated steel ring, the rotisserie bar, the motor to turn the rotisserie bar and two sets of prongs.
You can see some notches on the lower edge of the rotisserie ring, these are apparently to make it sit better in the grill. Not sure if they are for a specific grill but there is nothing on my One Touch Premium for those notches to sit over so the rotisserie ring does feel a bit loose and wobbly when it sits on the grill.
The rotisserie bar feels fairly substantial and the prongs are pretty sharp so watch out for those! The motor is also fairly heavy but annoyingly only has a small lead at 80cm. Unless you have an outdoor power socket at grill height very close to your grill you will need an extension lead.
With an RRP of £169.99 (generally available for £152.99) it doesn’t look like you get much for your money here. But, I still feel it’s worth it. Let’s find out why!
Setting Up:
Rotisserie ring placed on the grill, full chimney of lit lumpwood poured into the charcoal baskets (bought separately) which are placed either side of where the rotisserie will run. Slide the motor onto the rotisserie ring then with gloves on both hands place the rotisserie bar into the motor on one end and the bar onto the rotisserie ring on the other end. I have tried to place the rotisserie bar in place with only one glove and even without gloves, trust me it’s not worth it! The heat is usually so high you will get burnt so wear gloves on both hands.
The most important thing to remember next is one that I forget quite often for some reason – place a drip tray under the meat! If you don’t put a drip tray down all the fat and juices from the meat will drip onto the grill and make a mess. Depending on what is on the meat it can also flare up and burn the meat, especially if it’s oil based. You can put a tray beneath the meat to cook awesome roast potatoes too. The fat dripping off the meat adds more flavour. Flick the switch on the motor and the meat will spin along happily then put the lid on to build up heat.
Christmas dinner on the rotisserie. You can see I forgot to put a drip tray underneath the turkey. The other interesting point in this photo is the wood chunks. You can see I place them as far to the side as possible. In the photo above, the flames are actually from the wood chunks and they were too close to the meat so charred it a bit. Place the wood chunks all the way to the side to avoid the meat getting burnt.
Why Rotisserie?:
The rotisserie makes it very easy to cook some of the juciest and tastiest meat possible. The constant rotation ensures the meat is evenly cooked and as it’s rotating the meat is basting itself saving another job for the chef.
Why the Weber Rotisserie?:
There are cheaper rotisseries available which are deemed suitable for the Weber Kettle but I haven’t heard many good things about them so far. Complaints are usually a really poor fit on the grill and/or issues with the motors not being powerful enough to drive heavy cuts of meat or even burning out completely. Some folk have bought 3rd party rotisseries and are happy with them but for me it’s worth the extra cash for the branded item as you are covered by the warranty and Weber customer service is usually spot on.
Cooking:
I started off with chickens as they are pretty easy to do. To start with I wasn’t getting a crispy skin so I started moving the charcoal baskets in at the end of the cook to crisp the skin up. Doing it at the end of the cook is better than the start as the charcoal should have burnt down a fair bit and won’t be as hot so there is less chance of burning the chicken.
The maximum weight for the rotisserie is 22 pound which is just under 10kg. I have cooked two big chickens before and it handled it perfectly.
What can you cook on the rotisserie? Many world cuisines have recipes for cooking over a spit which can all be adapted for the rotisserie:
There are also more traditional British cooks you can do also:
As well as some quite different dishes:
The basket used for the popcorn is purchased separately.
All my rotisserie cooks can be seen here: https://kungfubbq.co.uk/category/kit/accessories/rotisserie
Other Information:
The full unit weighs just under 6kg and the warranty is for 2 years.
Everything is quite easy to clean and I recommend you clean the rotisserie bar and prongs by hand.
Where is the counterweight? You don’t need it on the newer version – this statement is on the Weber site:
Many of our older model rotisseries came with a counterweight that was needed to help balance the rotisserie so the spit would rotate properly. Our current line of rotisseries are strong enough to rotate the spit without the need for a counterweight, so they are no longer included,
On most of my cooks the included prongs are sufficient to hold all the meat. Sometimes I have added extra kebab skewers to hold everything together. The advice is to use butchers string to truss the meat to the rotisserie but I haven’t had to do this yet.
Summary:
The rotisserie is quite a basic bit of kit so there isn’t a great deal to write about it. It is quite expensive but I feel it’s worth the money for the quality of cooks you can produce on it. If you like cooking a roast dinner on the weekend then do it on the rotisserie and you will see an improvement in the taste pretty quickly.
I am looking out for more rotisserie inspired recipes as I love cooking on it so keep an eye on my blog.
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