Guide to Rotisserie Cooking with the Back Burner
Rotisserie Cooking
Rotisserie cooking produces foods that are moist, flavorful
and attractive. The optional rotisserie system is most com-
monly 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.
Balancing the Food
In rotisserie cooking, balancing the food is of utmost impor-
tance. The rotisserie must turn evenly or the stopping and
starting action will cause the food to cook unevenly and
possibly burn 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 rotis- serie 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 posi-
tions. 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 rotis-
serie skewer diagonally through the meaty sections. If pro-
truding 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 17
of this
Owner’s Manual.
The location of the back burner makes it more suscep- tible
to winds that will decrease the performance of your rotis-
serie 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.
Guide to Using the Smoker Drawer
Preparing to Smoke
Smoking gives food a distinctive, delicious flavor. You will
find a variety of wood chips or pellets available for use in
smoking grilled foods. Pre-soaking of wood chips may be
required so read and follow the manufac- turers instructions
for preparation of smoking chips prior to filling the smoker
drawer.
Using The Smoker Drawer
Start your grill and allow it to reach the desired cooking
temperature for the food you are grilling. Wear an insulated
cooking glove and pull the smoker drawer out of the grill
and fill with your prepared smoking chips. Dried herbs and
spices may also be added to produce different flavors.
Return the smoker drawer to the grill, ignite the smoker
drawer burner See instructions on
Page 17
, the heat will
produce smoke and season the food.
Tips for Smoking
You can reduce the strength of the smoke flavor by only
smoking for half or three quarters of the cooking time. The
heat required for smoking is normally low to medium.
Foods naturally high in oils lend themselves well to smok-
ing, while drier foods benefit from a marinade. You can also
rub the food with herbs, spices or flavored oils. Many foods
can be smoked to produce stunning results with very little
effort. Here are a few suggestions:
Tuna steaks,
marinated in Asian flavors of sesame oil,
soy sauce and sherry.
Pork fillets,
rubbed with ginger, orange rind and brushed
with maple syrup.
Mussels,
brushed with lemon rind and chili oil.
Lamb cutlets,
marinated in virgin olive oil, lemon,
oregano and black pepper. The same marinade can be
used for a whole leg or rack of lamb.
Chicken,
boneless chicken pieces – especially sliced
breasts.
Fish,
sliced fillets of firm fish, assorted seafood such as
prawns, scallops and calamari.
Pork,
sliced fillets, diced or minced pork, sliced leg steak,
sliced chops.
Beef,
sliced fillet, rib-eye, round, rump, sirloin
Lamb,
sliced fillet, round, loin.
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