Rotisserie Cooking
Rotisserie cooking produces foods that are moist, flavorful and attractive. The optional rotisserie system is most commonly used for cooking meat or poultry and is designed to cook food from the Back Burner using infrared heat. The location of the Burner allows the placement of a cooking pan beneath the food to collect juices for basting and gravy. To flavor the contents of the cooking pan you may add herbs, onions, or other spices of your choice. The
Back Burner is an infrared type, which provides intense searing radiant heat. The intense heat sears in the natural juices and nutrients found in quality cuts of meat.
The cooking times on a rotisserie will be approximately the same as for oven cooking, but differences in wind, air temperature and equipment will affect the cooking times. It is recommended that you use a meat thermometer to test for the desired
ROTISSERIE COOKING CAN BE CONSIDERABLY SLOWER THAN DIRECT HEAT COOKING, BUT THE RESULTS CAN BE WELL WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT.
Balancing the Food
In rotisserie cooking, balancing the food is of utmost importance. The rotisserie must turn evenly or the stopping and starting action wilt cause the food to cook unevenly and possibly bum the heavier side.
The easiest foods to balance are those of uniform shape and texture. To test if the food is balanced correctly when secured, place the ends of the rotisserie spit loosely in the palms of your hands. If there is no tendency to roll, give
the spit a quarter turn. If it is still stable, give it a final quarter turn. It should rest without turning in each of these positions. It can then be attached to your grill.
Food Preparation
When preparing poultry, truss the birds tightly so that wings and drumsticks are close to the body of the bird. The cavity of the bird may be stuffed prior to this. Pull the neck skin down and, using a small skewer, fix it to the back of
the bird. Push the rotisserie spit through lengthwise, catching the bird in the fork of the wishbone. Center the bird and tighten with the holding forks. Test the balance as described before.
A rolled piece of meat requires the rotisserie skewer to be inserted through the center of the length of meat, then secured and balanced.
For meats that contain bones, it is best to secure the rotisserie skewer diagonally through the meaty sections. If protruding bones or wings brown too quickly, cover with pieces of foil.
Tips for Using The Back Burner
For Back Burner lighting instructions refer to page 22 of this Owner's Manual.
The location of the Back Burner makes it more susceptible to winds that will decrease the performance of your rotisserie cooking. For this reason you should not operate the Back Burner during windy weather conditions.
For best results, always rotisserie cook with the grill Lid down and the Back Burner Control Knob set to HIGH.
DO NOT USE THE MAIN GRILL BURNERS WHEN THE BACK BURNER IS IN OPERATION.