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Mark Thorson
 
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Default Rotisserie grill experiences?

Ablang wrote:

> I'm pondering the purchase of a Rotisserie grill (George Foreman
> or otherwise), but I want to hear people's experiences on them.


I have both a George Foreman and a Ronco Jr.rotisserie.
Both machines cost the same -- $99.95 plus tax at a discount
store.

Physically, they are both about the same size. The Ronco Jr.
has a door that swings out, so it requires extra space in front
of the unit. The George Foreman is shaped like a horizontal
cylinder, with a curved door that slides up like a roll-top desk,
so it doesn't require extra space for the door.

The George Foreman is a nicer-looking unit. The Ronco Jr.
is very functional-looking, like it was designed by an
engineer.

The Ronco Jr. rotates at about 8 RPM, as compared to the
George Foreman at 4 RPM. The Ronco Jr. always rotates
in the same direction, while the George Foreman seems to
randomly pick a direction of rotation. You can turn the unit
off and on to get the direction of rotation you want, which
doesn't matter for most purposes but does matter for mine.
(More about this later.)

Both units come with a flat basket. The Ronco Jr. basket
is about 8 x 8 x 1.5 inches. The George Foreman basket
is about 7 x 8 x 2 inches. Because I mainly do chicken
drumsticks in the Ronco Jr, and they fit well within 1.5 inches,
the Ronco Jr. is better in this regard. I usually have more
trouble fitting the chicken within the plane of the basket
rather than its thickness.

VERY IMPORTANT -- the Ronco Jr. has a non-stick
coating on the basket, spit rods, and drip pan cover.
The George Foreman doesn't have a non-stick coating
on any surfaces. Although the George Foreman has a
drip pan, it does not have a cover for the drip pan.

VERY IMPORTANT -- the George Foreman also comes
with a cylindrical basket for baking vegetables and french
fries. This is why I bought the George Foreman -- I thought
it could be used to roast nuts. It does this VERY WELL.
In about 15 minutes, it will roast a pound of almonds,
pecans, or hazelnuts very evenly. I am very pleased with
the machine for this reason. Unless it breaks down in the
near future, I consider it an excellent purchase just for this
purpose. I had been looking for a nut roaster, and all the
alternatives seemed to be much more expensive.

I was considering the Alpenro$t coffee bean roaster, but
its high price (minimum, $259, not including shipping) and
low capacity (max. 8 ounces) made it seem a poor choice
for my purpose. I think the George Foreman probably
could be used to roast coffee beans, but I'm not going to
try it because I don't want to deposit volatile oils from the
coffee beans in my machine.

Note that there is also a Baby George rotisserie which I saw
at $59.95. That is a much smaller unit, and does not appear
to come with a cylindrical basket.

The Ronco has both a no-heat rotation mode and a heat-only,
no-rotation mode. The George Foreman only has heat+rotation.
I have no use for heat without rotation, but I use rotation
without heat all the time, to allow my chicken or ribs to cool down
and rest after cooking.

Also, for what it's worth, the Ronco is made in Korea, and the
George Foreman is made in China.

The George Foreman has a heat reflector behind the heating
element which can be removed for cleaning. The Ronco
doesn't have anything behind the heating element, except
the back wall of the cooking chamber. In either case,
if you're cooking meat, it's probably hopeless to try to keep
the machine clean. I look at the Ronco commercials and
laugh -- they're using brand new, unseasoned machines,
totally unrealistic.

Although some Ronco machines come with kebab skewers,
my $99.95 (retail) unit did not. The George Foreman comes
with skewers and a big tong-like tool for removing the
spit rod or basket from the machine while it's still hot.

The spit rod device for the George Foreman is secured
by a setscrew, while the Ronco spit rods fit into holes on
the opposing plate. The Ronco device is much simpler,
and works fine, even after "seasoning" (i.e. after developing
a coat of brown crud).

The axis of the spit rod device for the Ronco rotates in
two depressions pressed into the sheet metal in the sides
of the cooking chamber. These areas must be lubricated
occasionally with fat, otherwise the machine makes a
groaning sound as the device rotates. The George Foreman
has two strips of metal bolted to the sides of the cooking
chamber to hold the rotating food holder, and seems to
require no lubrication at all. In this respect, the George
Foreman machine is a superior design. It can be annoying
when the Ronco starts groaning during the middle of
cooking something, when everything is too hot to remove
from the machine just so you can lubricate it.

BOTTOM LINE: for cooking meat the Ronco Jr. is
clearly the best. The heavier construction and no heat
rotation mode make it the winner. For roasting nuts,
only the George Foreman will do, because it is the
only one with a cylindrical basket. Internal paddles
in the basket redistribute the nuts as it rotates, for
even roasting. I think it would work for coffee, but
have not tried it.