BBQ Pitmaster: 5 of The Best Rotisserie Ovens

Cooking mouthwatering meals at home is not only limited to special occasions like birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. where preparing special food may take hours, if not days.

You may be busy juggling with work or your children school activities, so you rarely have the time to make meals for your family.

However, we may have a solution for that! I will tell you 5 of the best rotisserie ovens available in the market. You now have an answer for the never ending question: “what’s for dinner?”

What Is A Rotisserie Oven

A rotisserie oven has one or more spit forks that are skewered into the meat while it rotates, undergoing the cooking process. It’s commonly used for poultry (chicken, turkey, duck, etc). 

While the meats rotates, the oven coats and flavors the meat in it’s own drippings which creates that crispy, golden brown skin we all love, not to mention the mouth-watering juiciness of the meat.

Early forms of rotisserie-style cooking is done over an open flame where the user is responsible for rotating the spit.

I really love roasted chicken when cooked properly. You may roast it in a lot of different ways, but my personal favorite is the recipe below.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

Mix sea salt, ground pepper, herbs de Provence, and dried garlic powder into a bowl.

Brush the chicken generously with butter. Brush it inside the cavity as well. Massage seasoning mixture evenly into the skin and inside the cavity of the chicken.

Use a pot or roaster surrounded by vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onions, celery and garlic) and cover the chicken with foil.

Place it inside the oven at 250 degrees to cook the inside of the meat for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

After it’s done cooking, let it rest for 1 hour outside the oven so that the juices go back inside the meat.

While waiting for the chicken to rest, crank up the oven to 500 degrees and place the chicken back inside the oven for 10 minutes ONLY. If any longer, the chicken might lose its moistness, thus it may get dry and tough.

Let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Using A Rotisserie Oven

If you want to skip reading the manual that comes with the rotisserie oven of your choice, watch the video clip below to learn how use the machine and get wonderful roasted poultry.

Types of Rotisserie Oven

Horizontal Rotisseries

This type of rotisserie is the most common type we can find and use. This type of rotisserie ensures that the meat is cooked evenly due to the continuous distribution of heat. This type of oven is it has a convection cooking feature.

Vertical Rotisseries

We don’t normally see this type of rotisserie oven because it cooks the meat from either direct heat from the side or from the bottom unit. Based from personal experience it takes a long time to cook with this type of oven, so I highly discourage buying one.

Considerations When Selecting A Rotisserie Oven

When choosing your rotisserie oven, consider the features and what best suits your family’s needs. Many models now come with added features such as broiling, toasting, or warming options.

Here are some considerations to take into account when selecting a rotisserie oven:

Rotisserie Capacity

When you're the type of family who regularly cooks large quantities of roasted meats, you have to take into consideration the capacity of your rotisserie. Some units will only cook one meat, weighing four or five pounds, while other machines can roast ten to fifteen pounds.

Size

This type of oven is usually considered to be small appliances. However, it will occupy a lot of space in your kitchen countertop. When choosing your rotisserie oven, make sure that you have the right amount of space.

It should be placed in a location that has a power outlet which can manage the wattage and have enough room in between other appliances to allow good air circulation so it doesn’t overheat.

You don’t have to worry about the size of your oven because it comes in a wide range of sizes, so make sure it fits in your working space.

Cleaning

It may be the most boring to do but at the end of the day, you have to clean your oven. Make sure to look for the best model that is easy to clean and doesn't need regular maintenance.

Non-stick surfaces, doors and trays that are easy to detach will make cleaning a breeze and take little time. Some models even come with a dishwasher-safe feature.

Added Features

Nowadays, a lot of rotisserie oven brands have added functions besides roasting, such as baking, grilling, and roasting. Some can even cook a 12” pizza!

Price

Prices may change from brand-to-brand based on the considerations above. There are some brands that are reasonably priced.

On the other hand, high-end, quality rotisseries may cost several hundred dollars depending on the features. Regardless, there are a lot of options for any budget.

An Overview Of The 5 Best Rotisserie Ovens

Some features of the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Oven include removable heat shields to make that golden brown, crispy skin and perfectly juicy meat.

Exterior handles stay cool while cooking process is undergoing, which is very useful when you're going to open the door to check your meat -- it’s very safe.

This wonderful machine is designed to start cooking quickly, but it uses ⅓ less wattage than any of the given rotisserie ovens in this list.

Non-stick dishwasher safe pan makes cleaning up a breeze, just wipe it with damp cloth and you’re good to go.

Finally! A rotisserie oven that’s worth investing. Can you believe that I have been using this for 17 years now? Yes! It has experienced tough cooking during Christmas, birthdays, parties, or just a simple family dinner and it’s still going strong.

What I really love about this oven is the way you clean it. Everything (except the meat lol) goes inside the dishwasher; you just have to wipe the inside with a damp cloth and you’re done.

With a precise rotation speed, the Ronco 5500 Series Rotisserie Oven allows self-basting and is able to circulate heat efficiently so that excess fat and grease drip away. With a see through glass door, you can monitor cooking progress.

Upon purchasing this product, you get oven gloves, a removable drip tray for excess fat, a carving platform to show off to your friends and family, and a rotisserie spit.

Whole chicken and turkey are roasted to perfection with this oven. Craving for shawarma? The Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Oven will roast beef, lamb and pork with its long and slow cooking process. 

You may also grill vegetables! This rotisserie grill is great for anyone looking for easy and flavorful food - especially if you're on a protein only diet.

I recommend laying the drip tray with foil each time you use it to help with cleaning up as washing it can be a tedious task.     

You know, I think this is better than the TV. Why? Because from the minute the oven is turned on until the timer sounds and dinner is served, my kids look at the see through door, watching the meat go round and round.

It’s like watching Frozen or The Lego Movie but you actually don’t get cliffhangers, instead you get good food.

I’m very impressed with this rotisserie oven. Made with a polished platinum silver color exterior, it’s sure to grab the attention of anyone who goes inside the kitchen.

It’s very easy to use as well. Skewer your meat, put it on the machine, and turn on the oven -- 1 hour and a half later, you have a perfect roasted dinner. It’s that simple!

Easy cleanup, everything is dishwasher-safe. Just rinse and toss it in the dishwasher. It’s ready for cooking in just a heartbeat. If the glass door gets messy with splatters of the meat, it’s also easy to disassemble and throw into the dishwasher.

If you want to multitask while cooking the chicken, you may do so. Go pick up your kids from school, go watch tv, clean your house, anything you want to do!

You don’t have to worry about over cooking the meat because it automatically shuts off when the timer is finished.

This unit is also very lightweight so you can move it from storage space to your counter in a blink of an eye.

The Ronco 4000 Series Rotisserie Oven can cook up huge batches of food. Whether it’s a 15 lb turkey, 10 lb ham, four fillet of salmon, 15 sausages, two 5 lb chicken, or 9 lb of short ribs, you can cook them with just this machine! Can you imagine that?

It really helped that a 3-way rotisserie controls allows for specialized heating method that rotates the meat efficiently and circulates the heat so that excess fat and grease drip away.

I also didn’t have to worry about it from over cooking because of it’s automatic turn-off feature.

Once the machine cooled down, cleanup was very easy to do -- simply use warm soapy water. Even the splatter on the glass door came up sparkling clean.

This rotisserie oven is made with stain-resistant metal for easy cleaning. It also includes a grease drip tray for mess-free cooking.

This vertical rotating oven is both energy and time efficient, using only 1500 watts. It cooks your meat in no time!

Easy to control temperature with a range of 100 degrees Fahrenheit to 464 degrees Fahrenheit and an adjustable timer setting up to 1 hour.

It’s also perfect for kebabs, shawarma, grilled vegetables & many more roasted goodness.

So far, so good roasting chicken using this appliance. It comes out moist, succulent, and has the perfect crispy skin. However, the cooking space may be a bit small for turkey.

Also, the instruction manual that comes with it only talked about the time and recipes. I would have liked it better if it talked a little bit about the power.

Verdict

The best rotisserie oven is *drum roll* the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Platinum Edition.

It’s the best in terms of price and quality. You would expect the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie Oven to be expensive because it’s made out of premium quality materials like non-stick metal, for instance.

Any pit master aficionados will love this wonderful rotisserie oven because it’s designed to quickly cook your food at an efficient rate.

Worried about paying too much for your electricity bill? Don’t be! this machine uses only ⅓ less wattage than any of the given products above.

Remember, this is the best rotisserie oven to use if you want to be the BBQ Pitmaster!