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Great food, every time with the Ron Popeil
I actually have three of these, that's how obsessed I am.
I have an older one that's showing it's age so I went online looking for a replacement, only to find that many places weren't selling it anymore -- all the sites have the super small one, but noone had this version. I saw it at Amazon, so I bought two of them, in case they stopped making it.
Now when my old one dies, I have two back-ups.
There were originally three models; a small one, this one (the "Platinum" version), and a "Pro" version that was longer and allowed you to fit like, four chickens at a time. That's overkill, even for me.
I originally got this as a christmas gift, and it quickly took over my kitchen as the most-used cooking item aside from my outdoor grill. I cook whole chickens in it all the time, and they come out perfectly every time. Frankly, if you ruin a chicken in this thing, there's something wrong with you. You can leave the chicken in way too long and it still comes out juicy and delicious. It really is amazing.
I'll make lemon chicken, barbeque chicken, sometimes I'll salt up a chicken and halfway through, baste it up with some Trappey's Red Devil for a whole chicken, buffalo style. Almost any flavor you like (put it all over the outside as well as dumping some inside) will result in great chicken. Use one of the two supplied baskets for wings -- awesome. I will frequently drop a Rib-eye roast in this thing (did it this week, in fact) with some seasoning all over it (be liberal with the seasoning, a lot of it falls off in the process), and it might be my favorite meal ever.
FYI, what I said about leaving chicken in too long is totally true, but it isn't the case with roasts; roasts aren't something you can leave in here too long like you can with chicken, so be aware of the time. There's a lil sticker on the side with a guide to how long stuff takes, and it's pretty accurate; once you do a roast or two, you'll know how long you need to leave it in for based on how you like it.
I'll generally dump some water in the drip tray to help keep things moist, no matter what I'm cooking. I don't think I have to do this, but I do it anyway. Also, I'll drop some foil under whatever I'm cooking to make cleaning the drip tray a snap.
I used to watch the commercials on TV and snicker a bit, but this thing is just awesome. I've since turned three friends onto it, and they can't live without it either now.
Don't even get me started on the accessories. The gloves are completely awesome. Imagine an oven mitt that's all rubber so you can just grab food with it, and when you're done and you want to clean them, just walk over to the sink and wash your hands with them on. Completely sick.
The elastic ties are genius also, I use them for tons of stuff. These two accessories alone are worth having even if you don't own the rotisserie (which you should). You can buy them separately online.
One thing I've never tried in here are burgers, because I'm adamant that burgers are for the grill.
One of my friends was dragging his feet because someone told him this thing is hard to clean, so I'll address that. There are a number of parts with this thing, so I'll break it down.
Oven unit itself: Not tough to clean. Just wipe it down with a wet rag every so often to clean up any splatter, and you're good. There's a metal reflector shield that you'll need to clean every so often also, but no big deal. The glass door comes off (careful!) so you can clean it seperately.
The spit: The thing that the meat rides on. Not a big deal. Sometimes you need to give the two spikes a good cleaning with an abrasive sponge, but biggie.
The drip tray: If you toss in a bit of foil under your meal like I mentioned earlier, SUPER easy. If you don't? Still pretty easy.
The baskets: Not gonna lie, it sucks to clean the baskets. I'll fill my sink and soak them while I'm eating, then hit them with a sink brush of some kind.
Overall, I'll tell you, I think this thing's maybe a hundred and fifty, two hundred bucks, and it's worth every penny. If you've seen it on TV and wondered, or if you're just looking to make some rotisserie chicken or whatever, buy this WITHOUT FEAR. You'll love it.
[Tuesday, October 28, 2008]
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