Best Grills With Rotisserie For Your Summer BBQs

A grill with rotisserie is a device used for cooking food using the indirect method of heat transfer, involving two different sources: (1) hot air and (2) heated surfaces. The heated surfaces include rods over which food may be placed and met and cooked by the heat source. 

The grill is usually placed atop another device—the barbecue or something with a similar purpose. It is constructed with a stand and may be mounted over the coals of a charcoal fire or over the burners of a gas grill. 

The grill is considered great because it allows for cooking food in whole pieces—such as poultry, beef, and pork—and even whole fish.  

It also helps conserve the juices of the meat inside while giving it a nice smoky flavor due to the continuous dripping of the meat’s fat onto the fire, which is usually covered with a lid. By cooking food slowly and continuously, it produces a very moist dish while sealing in all its flavors. 

The grill works by placing the food on metal skewers or rods that are then inserted into holes within a large piece of metal. The latter rotates slowly over a heat source while the food cooks from the surrounding heat and the grease drips from the meat helps create a fire, which then heats up an element that generates more intense heat for cooking. 

It uses indirect heat transfer to cook meat evenly from all sides, thus resulting in a moist dish that is not overcooked on the outside and still pink or red on the inside. 

A rotisserie rod, spit, or skewer is a metal bar usually between 17 and 30 inches long with pointed ends. It serves as the support system for meat to be cooked using the grill’s rotisserie function. The pointed ends of the rod are pushed into a center hole and held by a rotisserie motor that slowly turns the rod. 

A spit is an instrument used to hold meat or other food while roasting it over fire; it also refers to the long-handled fork used for rotating meat as it cooks. The food impaled on the spit is usually placed before or above hot coals to cook it evenly all around. 

The grill has four main types:  

(1) electric rotisserie grills, which use electricity to power a rotor that turns the spit rods of food placed in the central hole using an electric motor,  

(2) gas grill rotisseries, which use propane to power the rotor placed inside the center hole of food impaled on rotisserie rods, placed through this device that are then turned by a motor outside of it,  

(3) charcoal grills with built-in rotisserie burners, where coals are used to heat a metal plate that heats the food placed on rotisserie rods turned by a motor, and  

(4) non-motorized rotisseries, where the rod is manually turned using a crank. 

Its parts include spit rod, spit wheels, rotisserie rod motors, spit forks, center hole filler plate, push buttons for attaching motors to rods & fork or a crank in non-motorized grill. 

To clean a grill with rotisserie, you should let it cool completely. Then use a grill brush to remove any pieces that remain stuck on it.  

If the grill comes equipped with a removable center piece, take it out and use soap and water to wash both the inside and outside of the grill, then wipe dry with paper towels or leave in direct sunlight to air-dry. 

This type of grill is cooked as follows: 

1. It leaves a browned exterior texture on meat, which provides a nice layer to the finished product.
2. Its spit design enables juices from the food to drip down and help create a fire that then transforms an electric element into a heat source for cooking.
3. Its rotating action slowly cooks all sides of the food, resulting in a moist dish that is not overcooked on the outside and still pink or red on the inside.
4. The device can be used to cook different types of meat at a time by impaling them individually onto rotisserie rods placed into one rod holder.
5. It has a large surface area for cooking large quantities of meat, vegetables, or other food.

This type has a few limitations:  

1. It is difficult to cook starchy foods such as potatoes and yams on a grill with rotisserie because they cannot be impaled onto the rods and would fall through the center hole. To hold them, you would need a ring or a metal plate with holes in it to hold them.
2. It requires electricity/gas/charcoal to work, which means that it cannot be used when these energy sources are not available
3. This type of grill takes up space and is heavy to move around, compared to other grills.
4. The rotisserie motor must be manually turned by hand, which can cause problems if the food is not evenly cooked due to uneven turning of the device.
5. It does not work well for cooking thin or small pieces of meat that would fall through the rods.
6. Rotisserie cooking systems are expensive to buy.

If you’re looking for a grill with a built-in rotisserie, you can expect to pay anywhere from $3,000 to upwards of $20,000. A quality restaurant will probably be the most expensive option.  

This price range is because many companies that make them are small businesses that really invest in the quality and safety of their product.  

A standard grill you can buy at a department store is bound to be upwards of $1,000, but you shouldn’t need to spend more than $300 on a good rotisserie if you just want it for your backyard or patio. 

You can buy a grill with built-in rotisserie at a local department store, home improvement center, or online

Some companies that make grills with rotisserie are Chevrolet, Weber, and Black & Decker. Brinkmann makes a tabletop version for barbecuing small pieces of food. 

If the barbecue grill has a spit or skewer attachment, then it can be used as a rotisserie. It’s best to have a barbecue grill with side burners so that more than one piece of meat can be cooked at once on separate spits. 

Best to use a barbecue grill with a rotisserie attachment. But you can also make your own spit and skewer or buy them separately, assemble and attach to an existing BBQ grill. 

You can either buy them separately or find a metal rod that fits the dimensions of your BBQ grill and a spit attachment. The best way is to get a metal rod that’s slightly thicker than the spit, so it won’t collapse under the weight of the meat while rotating.  

Drill a hole in both ends of the rod, one for attaching to your BBQ grill and the other for attaching the spit. Attach the spit to one end and you’re ready to go. 

Where can I find a barbecue grill with rotisserie attachment? 

Most large Supermarkets stock them, as well as BBQ equipment stores. They can be purchased online at Amazon or eBay and shipped directly to your home.  

When buying online it’s best to check the product specifications to ensure that it’s compatible with your current BBQ equipment, the weight limit should be at least 50lbs for large objects. 

Yes, it’s best to have at least two spits so that multiple food items can be cooked at once. It’s not recommended to cook meat directly above another meat because the fat and juices will drip down onto the food causing it to steam, unless you have a separator grate. 

It’s best to use slow cooking cuts of meat such as beef shoulder/butt, pork shoulder/butt and lamb shoulders for best results.  

Remove all bones with sharp knives and season with your favorite spice rub.  

Skewer the meat to fit snuggly in the center of your spit and secure it with string to ensure that it doesn’t move until done, you may require additional metal skewers for this purpose.  

Attach the spit onto your BBQ grill motor and plug into a power outlet, then slowly rotate using the controls for the desired time.