Weber Rotisserie Review
Reviewed by Kerri Chard
Intro:
Do you find yourself buying a new BBQ every year, replacing the dirty old BBQ that was put to the back of the shed at the end of the summer the year before? With hot summers becoming more frequent and our growing love of alfresco dining with friends and family we think it’s time to take this rustic way of cooking more seriously, and that means making sure you have the very best equipment. We recommend you treat yourself to a Weber.
Weber is the world’s no 1 Barbecue brand. It boasts long term warranties of up to 25 years on all of its BBQs and has an extensive range of accessories and gadgets to help you BBQ like a pro and create some mouth-watering recipes. You can say goodbye to boring old burgers and sausages!
We personally love the Weber® Charcoal Rotisserie. The Rotisserie, which can be used to cook whole joints of meat and poultry, uses a motor to spin meat to ensure it gets an even exposure of heat, which means you can leave it to cook to perfection whilst you are relaxing and enjoying yourself. The Rotisserie pictured fits Weber’s 57cm Kettle charcoal barbecues (A weber gas barbecue rotisserie is also available) and lets you roast with the lid down. It costs £189.99.
Weber products are available from most reputable barbecue retailers nationwide and online.
For more information and to see the entire the collect of Weber products visit www.weberbbq.co.uk.
Review:
We were very excited to receive our Weber Charcoal Grill Rotisserie. As BBQ fanatics, we enjoy trying new cooking methods so that we can make use of the barbecue as much as possible when the great British weather allows, and the rotisserie presented a fantastic way for us to cook a joint of meat in a unique way, any day of the week! We particularly like that you can get more than one bird on the skewers so it is even a great cooking method when you have a large group to feed.
The Rotisserie arrived in an exciting large box. Opening it up was like Christmas morning. Why such a large box? Because the Rotisserie is a solid single unit – no fiddly assembling of multiple pieces, and as with all Weber paraphernalia that we have tried, it felt well manufactured, clearly a quality bit of kit. This meant it was extremely easy and quick to set up (note: you will require the Weber Bar-B Kettle and outdoor mains power) so we were ready get cooking within minutes.
We had a go at roasting a chicken which we had marinated beforehand. We simple loaded the chicken onto the rotisserie arm, and once the BBQ was up to temperature (which with the help of the quick lighting Weber charcoal chimney accessory can be no to time at all) we were ready to start cooking. Watching the Rotisserie in action is really satisfying and the smell it produces as it cooks is a nasal delight. Turning the bird as it does, the meat is guaranteed to cook evenly and even bastes itself as it rotates. It is recommended that you use a collection tray below the meat you are cooking. This works two fold as firstly it avoids aggravating the charcoal which causes it to burn too hot, and secondly it enables you to collect all the lip-smacking excess juices to use as gravy which would be a travesty to waste.
On a side note, Weber boasts a very useful downloadable app called ‘Weber’s on the grill’ which not only features 280 classic weber BBQ recipes; 40 recipes for rubs, marinades and sauces; and a very handy tool to create a shopping list for your favourite recipes, but also provides a recipe grill timer which pings when the recommended cooking time should end. On investigation, for simple roasting, we found that most times matched the cooking times you would ordinarily use for a fan oven. We used the app when we were cooking our chicken and we are pleased to report that when the ping sounded and after 15 minutes rest time, our chicken was cooked to perfection. We would go as far as saying that it is the best chicken we have ever had!
We can’t wait to try different meats on the Weber rotisserie. No doubt they will be just as delicious and perfectly cooked. Using the rotisserie really enhances the traditional, safe BBQ methods we are all guilty of sticking to. If you fancy exploring some more exotic ways of getting the most out of your BBQ this summer then we highly recommend you give the rotisserie a try.
And here is a recipe courtesy of Weber to get you started…
Aromatic Chicken with Lemon Balm or Mint By Weber
Tender chicken infused with lemon balm or mint, coriander and peppercorns to create an aromatic roast. A sure way to impress guests with this take on the classic roast chicken.
Serves 4
Prep Time – 20 mins
BBQ time – 75 mins
Charcoal Roast / Gas Roast
Ingredients:
1 Lemon
50g/2oz caster sugar
1.5kg/3-3½lb corn-fed chicken
Bunch of lemon balm or mint
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
Method:
Thinly slice the lemon. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, add the lemon slices and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh the blanched lemon slices under cold running water. Put the sugar and 150ml/ ¼ pt water into a clean saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the blanched lemon slices and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave aside to cool.
Meanwhile, to prepare the chicken, work your fingers between the skin and the breast meat to loosen it and then loosen the skin on the legs. Drain the lemon slices. Work the lemon slices and lemon balm or mint up under the loosened skin, over the legs and breast meat.
Put the peppercorns and coriander seeds into a pestle and mortar and grind coarsely. Mix with the oil and brush all over the chicken.
Place the chicken on the skewer and if necessary, tie the thighs and wings together. Put a drip tray under the meat with a little water in. Insert the skewer into the motor and switch on. Barbecue over indirect Medium heat for 1-1 ¼ hours until the juices run clear and internal temperature is 170º F/ 77 º C. Leave the chicken to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £189.99
Available to buy from Weber here.
