July 2006
SPECIAL REPORT:
Rotisserie Revolution
By Mike Sherer

What goes around comes around, they say, and nowhere is that more true than with rotisseries. We humans have been roasting meat on rotating spits since we learned how to make fire.

Widely used in Europe for roasting birds, rotisseries gained notice here 20 years ago when the Boston Market chain was founded. With the advent of home-meal replacement in foodservice, supermarkets were next to invest in rotisserie cooking. Nowadays, you can see spit-roasters in operations ranging from cruise ships and corporate cafeterias to mom-and-pop restaurants.

Rotisseries continue to gain ground for a couple of key reasons. Customers perceive them as a healthier way to cook. And they’re a great way to show off an operation’s cooking, at least some of it.

Versatility’s a good reason to look at them, as well. In addition to whole chickens, turkeys and roasts, some operators are using these machines for roasting fish and even vegetables.

Rotisserie-style cooking even has specialty niches. A recent trend has been the growth of churrasco barbecuing, the Brazilian method of grilling meats on spits. And more traditional barbecue uses rotisserie smokers to slow-cook brisket, pork, turkey and a host of other cuts for true barbecue.

More common rotisserie ovens range from small countertop units capable of roasting one to three whole chickens to gigantic units that can hold up to 80 3-lb. birds. Typical full-size rotisseries hold around 30 to 40 birds. They come in all sorts of configurations and are available in electric, gas, solid-fuel and combination units.

A Primer On Styles

Whether or not you purchase a rotisserie will be based on your decision to add an item to your menu. Which style you choose, however, will depend on your company’s philosophy about food as well as operational constraints.

Cooking is both art and science. Like many other pieces of cooking equipment, rotisseries range from models that give chefs complete creative freedom to those that require the simple push of a button.

The category can be divided into three primary segments: high-end rotisseries for open display kitchens; category workhorses that can be used in either the front or back of house, and the style of ovens often seen in supermarket delis or university cafeterias. Most manufacturers, though, make a wide range of products to fit several segments.

Your first consideration is which type of rotisserie best suits your operation and philosophy.

Continuous. Often called a “vertical” or “stacked” rotisserie, this type of machine has spits horizontally positioned one directly over another in a cabinet. Each spit rotates independently. Heat usually comes from a cal-rod or infrared burner behind each spit, but also can be convected throughout the cabinet.

The advantage of this type of rotisserie is that products can be cooked continuously throughout the day. To prevent cross-contamination, however, uncooked product has to be placed in the bottom position and moved up successively as each top spit finishes cooking.

These units require a good deal of labor, and cooking in them is more art than science, usually requiring more experienced cooks.

Batch. Referred to as “horizontal” or “drum” type rotisseries, these units have several spits mounted on wheels to form a drum that revolves like a Ferris wheel around a central axis. A planetary gear system also rotates the spits as the drum turns. Since the revolving drum constantly puts one spit over another, adding raw product during the cooking cycle could cause cross-contamination. So, products are batch-cooked.

The heat source, again, is usually one or two infrared burners or electric elements in the cabinet. Depending on fuel source and model, many also use radiant heat.

Great for display cooking, batch rotisseries are easy to load and unload because you can stop the drum whenever it’s convenient to reach a spit. One drawback is that because they cook a large amount of product in a single batch, they might stand empty for a large part of the day, negating their terrific merchandising effect. 

Vertical. Not to confuse you, but a few manufacturers make another type of vertical rotisserie that’s sometimes called a “beer can” rotisserie. Spits are mounted vertically on a drum inside these units, and revolve around a center post. Like horizontal batch rotisseries, planetary gears also rotate the spits themselves.

In gas units, heat comes from both infrared burners and radiant flame either from the center post or the back of the unit.

The big advantage of these units is that you can cook different kinds of products at the same time, as well as raw product with partially cooked product without fear of cross-contamination. They’re typically used like horizontal rotisseries to batch-cook, but can be used in continuous fashion.

Choosing Your Fuel Source

Most models of these different types of rotisseries are available in gas and electric versions. (The exception is the beer can rotisserie, the only available version on the market being gas.) Another alternative is solid fuel: wood or charcoal. Often, rotisseries are available in a gas-wood combination.

They key to rotisserie cooking is an infrared heat source that’s hot enough to melt fat and caramelize meat. Electric units use either cal-rods or quartz lamps. Gas units use ceramic burners, though some makers are using new materials such as Kevlar and stainless steel mesh because ceramic often is fragile.

Both gas and electric do a credible job of cooking, so in most cases you can pick a unit based on your area’s utility costs and ease of installation. If gas is inexpensive in your area (tougher to find these days with rising natural gas prices), choose gas-fired equipment. If electricity is a bargain, you can go that way.

Gas units do have a leg up when it comes to merchandising. Many units have gas jets in the front or back of the unit that create open flame in the oven, a real eye-catcher. Some makers use ceramic logs to make the units appear wood-fired.

Configurations And Controls

Another key consideration is how you want your rotisserie configured. Continuous rotisseries are all front-load machines since the infrared burners are on the back wall of the cabinet behind the birds.

Batch rotisseries, however, can be loaded from the front, rear or both. The big advantage of both rear-load and pass-through units is that you can locate the machine between kitchen and dining area. Staff can then load raw product from the kitchen. Carrying raw product out to the dining area to load the machine from the front is both unappetizing and unsafe.

Front-loading units work quite well if the unit is located in a display kitchen. Customers still get the merchandising effect of slowly rotating food as it cooks, but the unit is in the kitchen where food safety can be more tightly controlled.

Controls range from a simple on-off switch to elaborate programmability depending on the unit. Wood- or charcoal-fired and open-faced gas units are likely to have nothing more than a switch to turn on the rotisserie drum. They have no thermostat or temperature control, so you have to depend on your chef’s skills.

Enclosed units will give you both rotisserie motor control and a thermostat. Some units also have dual-speed control for the drum.

Revolving ovens have the most sophisticated controls. Thermostats allow you to set temps up to about 575º F. Up to 16 program buttons let you set cooking instructions for up to 32 specific menu items. All employees have to do is load the unit and push a button for that product. Many also have hold cycles that automatically hold product at proper temps once the cooking cycle is finished.

Bells And Whistles

Don’t forget the accessories that can help you get more out of your unit. Typical options available from most manufacturers include angle spits, fork spits specifically for chickens, turkeys or roasts, clamshell baskets for veggies, baskets for ribs and fish, spit holders, spit handling tools, bird bells and bird hooks.

Other options include casters and quick-disconnect water and gas connectors to let you move the unit around as you need it. Some makers offer special worktables that attach to the unit. And on some of the wood-fired or wood-gas combination units, you can get an attached charbroiler.

Rotisseries aren’t for everyone. They’re specialized cooking equipment geared to a particular menu niche. But they do a fabulous job of catching your customer’s eye and appealing to the desire for more healthful foods. If rotisserie-cooked food is right for your menu and concept, there’s certainly a piece of equipment out there that will meet your needs.

Clean Machine Means Long Life

Keeping rotisseries clean is the key to their longevity. Look for a unit with a built-in water pan at the bottom of the cooking cavity. The water pan catches grease drips, making the unit easier to clean. It also helps keep product moist as the water evaporates. A number of units have a water hook-up, making it simple to fill the water pan.

And note that one manufacturer now has an auto-clean unit. When you start the cleaning cycle, the unit sprays the interior of the rotisserie with degreaser and rinses it with water.

Most important is keeping grease and carbon build-up off the drums and spits so they don’t clog up the planetary gear drive in batch units. The same goes for the spits in stacked continuous units. Following manufacturer’s instructions and using old-fashioned elbow grease works best. Some makers swear by an Ecolab product called “Kote” which prevents grease and carbon build-up on rotisserie parts.

A regular maintenance program should include deep cleaning and inspection of moving parts. Most stacked and drum rotisseries are accessible from side panels so you can clean out and/or repair gear drives. Some units let you slide the drums on the center axis, exposing the drive from the inside of the unit. The former configuration is easier to work on, but the latter is the way to go if you plan to build the unit into a wall, for example.

Most units are pretty ruggedly built, but look for heavy gauge steel construction with a high quality stainless interior. Exterior finishes often can be customized.  Also look for well-insulated sides and tops to help even open-faced units direct more heat to the product.

As we mentioned earlier, units come in a variety of sizes, giving you a wide range of capacity. What size you need really depends on what you plan to cook, peak production demands and meal traffic patterns. Remember that an empty rotisserie does little good as a merchandiser. If you pick one that doubles as a holding oven, you can always have a spit or two of finished product rotating to help sell customers. If you want a high-end open-faced rotisserie for display cooking, your chefs will want to time production so the product they need keeps coming off the rotisserie during the meal period.

The more spit positions your unit has, the more flexibility you have. Typical full-size drum rotisseries, for example, have seven or eight spit positions, while smaller units may have four or five. Some units, though, have as many as 10 spit positions. That lets you adjust for larger products (roasts and turkeys) or a mix of products.—MS

Spec For Your Staff

Here’s a key point to keep in mind when spec’ing a rotisserie: who will load, unload and clean the units in your operations? It’s not easy to handle a skewer loaded with 20 lbs. of chicken, so you need to be sure your staffers can manage the job.

If you have employees who are on the shorter side or are challenged by heavy lifting, consider short machines that load from front and back for more flexibility, and units with easy forward placement that doesn’t require an awkward stretch.—JH