is there one worth buying? i have read alot of good things about the
Ronco showtime on here...anyone with opinions on it or other brands to
check out? it is VERY appreciated!

i am itching to get one but dont want to blow my cash on something
basically useless...or shoddy...or worse.

thanks !

bloo

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> is there one worth buying? i have read alot of good things about the
> Ronco showtime on here...anyone with opinions on it or other brands to
> check out? it is VERY appreciated!
>
> i am itching to get one but dont want to blow my cash on something
> basically useless...or shoddy...or worse.

We've had the Ronco for a few years now and it earned and keeps a place on
the counter. I've looked at others, and most don't seem to be as well made.
I have no idea if they cook as well though.

We do chicken, pork roast, chicken, rib eye roast, chicken, sausages and
more chicken. Just rub the chicken with your favorite spices and let it go.
Ed

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> is there one worth buying? i have read alot of good things about the
> Ronco showtime on here...anyone with opinions on it or other brands to
> check out? it is VERY appreciated!
>
> i am itching to get one but dont want to blow my cash on something
> basically useless...or shoddy...or worse.

We've had the Ronco for a few years now and it earned and keeps a place on
the counter. I've looked at others, and most don't seem to be as well made.
I have no idea if they cook as well though.

We do chicken, pork roast, chicken, rib eye roast, chicken, sausages and
more chicken. Just rub the chicken with your favorite spices and let it go.
Ed

wrote:

> is there one worth buying? i have read alot of good things about the
> Ronco showtime on here...anyone with opinions on it or other brands to
> check out? it is VERY appreciated!

I have both a George Foreman and a Ronco Jr.rotisserie.
Both machines cost the same -- $99.95 plus tax at a discount
store.

Physically, they are both about the same size. The Ronco Jr.
has a door that swings out, so it requires extra space in front
of the unit. The George Foreman is shaped like a horizontal
cylinder, with a curved door that slides up like a roll-top desk,
so it doesn't require extra space for the door.

The George Foreman is a nicer-looking unit. The Ronco Jr.
is very functional-looking, like it was designed by an
engineer.

The Ronco Jr. rotates at about 8 RPM, as compared to the
George Foreman at 4 RPM. The Ronco Jr. always rotates
in the same direction, while the George Foreman seems to
randomly pick a direction of rotation. You can turn the unit
off and on to get the direction of rotation you want, which
doesn't matter for most purposes but does matter for mine.
(More about this later.)

Both units come with a flat basket. The Ronco Jr. basket
is about 8 x 8 x 1.5 inches. The George Foreman basket
is about 7 x 8 x 2 inches. Because I mainly do chicken
drumsticks in the Ronco Jr, and they fit well within 1.5 inches,
the Ronco Jr. is better in this regard. I usually have more
trouble fitting the chicken within the plane of the basket
rather than its thickness.

VERY IMPORTANT -- the Ronco Jr. has a non-stick
coating on the basket, spit rods, and drip pan cover.
The George Foreman doesn't have a non-stick coating
on any surfaces. Although the George Foreman has a
drip pan, it does not have a cover for the drip pan.

VERY IMPORTANT -- the George Foreman also comes
with a cylindrical basket for baking vegetables and french
fries. This is why I bought the George Foreman -- I thought
it could be used to roast nuts. It does this VERY WELL.
In about 15 minutes, it will roast a pound of almonds,
pecans, or hazelnuts very evenly. I am very pleased with
the machine for this reason. Unless it breaks down in the
near future, I consider it an excellent purchase just for this
purpose. I had been looking for a nut roaster, and all the
alternatives seemed to be much more expensive.

Note that there is also a Baby George rotisserie which I saw
at $59.95. That is a much smaller unit, and does not appear
to come with a cylindrical basket.

The Ronco has both a no-heat rotation mode and a heat-only,
no-rotation mode. The George Foreman only has heat+rotation.
I have no use for heat without rotation, but I use rotation
without heat all the time, to allow my chicken or ribs to cool down
and rest after cooking.

Also, for what it's worth, the Ronco is made in Korea, and the
George Foreman is made in China.

The George Foreman has a heat reflector behind the heating
element which can be removed for cleaning. The Ronco
doesn't have anything behind the heating element, except
the back wall of the cooking chamber. In either case,
if you're cooking meat, it's probably hopeless to try to keep
the machine clean. I look at the Ronco commercials and
laugh -- they're using brand new, unseasoned machines,
totally unrealistic.

Although some Ronco machines come with kebab skewers,
my $99.95 (retail) unit did not. The George Foreman comes
with skewers and a big tong-like tool for removing the
spit rod or basket from the machine while it's still hot.

The spit rod device for the George Foreman is secured
by a setscrew, while the Ronco spit rods fit into holes on
the opposing plate. The Ronco device is much simpler,
and works fine, even after "seasoning" (i.e. after developing
a coat of brown crud).

The axis of the spit rod device for the Ronco rotates in
two depressions pressed into the sheet metal in the sides
of the cooking chamber. These areas must be lubricated
occasionally with fat, otherwise the machine makes a
groaning sound as the device rotates. The George Foreman
has two strips of metal bolted to the sides of the cooking
chamber to hold the rotating food holder, and seems to
require no lubrication at all. In this respect, the George
Foreman machine is a superior design. It can be annoying
when the Ronco starts groaning during the middle of
cooking something, when everything is too hot to remove
from the machine just so you can lubricate it.

BOTTOM LINE: for cooking meat the Ronco Jr. is
clearly the best. The heavier construction and no heat
rotation mode make it the winner. For roasting nuts,
only the George Foreman will do, because it is the
only one with a cylindrical basket. Internal paddles
in the basket redistribute the nuts as it rotates, for
even roasting. I think it would work for coffee, but
have not tried it.

BOTTOM LINE 2: since writing above, I have
received unsolicited e-mail spam selling the Ronco.
For this reason, I do not recommend the Ronco.
When you buy a Ronco, you are supporting spam
which is a rip-off of the time and ISP fees spent
by the people who receive spam. This is a
completely dishonest form of advertising, because
it forces the receiver of the spam to pay for it.
Please DO NOT buy a Ronco.

There is a much older rotisserie (1950's-1960's)
for which I've heard good recommendations
but have never seen nor used myself. It is
called a Roto-Broil, and frequently appears
on eBay. Many of the units on eBay are missing
the two long, sword-like skewers. It's almost
useless without them. The Roto-Broil looks like
a toaster oven, but with a long slot along the right
side of the machine. The skewers fit in this slot,
so the handles of the skewers are outside the
machine while the meat is rotating. When it is
time to remove the meat, the handles are cool
enough to pick up, and the skewers can slide out
of the machine through the slot.

Here's a picture of a Roto-Broil, with one skewer
in the slot:

http://home.att.net/~kdjay/images/rotobroil400.jpg

There are other machines that were sold under the
Roto-Broil name, such as a deep fryer.

The man behined the Roto-Broil was Leon Klinghoffer,
who is otherwise famous as the wheelchair-bound hostage
killed by terrorists in the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship
Achille Lauro:

http://www.specialoperations.com/Ima...2/achille.html

Mark Thorson wrote:

> I think it would work for coffee, but
> have not tried it.

I meant to edit this out. The question of
whether the George Foreman can roast
coffee has been definitively answered,
and the answer is no, unless you make
some major modifications to the machine.
It does not get hot enough.

Mark wrote:

<snip>
> Both units come with a flat basket. The Ronco Jr. basket
> is about 8 x 8 x 1.5 inches. The George Foreman basket
> is about 7 x 8 x 2 inches. Because I mainly do chicken
> drumsticks in the Ronco Jr, and they fit well within 1.5 inches,
> the Ronco Jr. is better in this regard. I usually have more
> trouble fitting the chicken within the plane of the basket
> rather than its thickness.
<snip>
> The Ronco has both a no-heat rotation mode and a heat-only,
> no-rotation mode. The George Foreman only has heat+rotation.
> I have no use for heat without rotation, but I use rotation
> without heat all the time, to allow my chicken or ribs to cool down
> and rest after cooking.

I use the basket in conjunction with heat-only no-rotation to broil chicken
pieces. I rotate it just enough so that the basket is parallel to the
broiling element. Halfway through cooking, I rotate the basket so that the
"away" side becomes the "toward" side.

I don't own a George Foreman, so I can't compare the two, but I'm happy with
my Ronco.

Bob

thanks everyone who replied. what great and helpful information! i am
probably going to look into the ronco medium sized one (the one that
can do a small turkey)-will post after i get it

bloo

thanks everyone who replied. what great and helpful information! i am
probably going to look into the ronco medium sized one (the one that
can do a small turkey)-will post after i get it

bloo

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> is there one worth buying? i have read alot of good things about the
> Ronco showtime on here...anyone with opinions on it or other brands to
> check out? it is VERY appreciated!
>
> i am itching to get one but dont want to blow my cash on something
> basically useless...or shoddy...or worse.
>
> thanks !
>
> bloo
>=================

I personally recommend the ST 5000 (Ron Popeil) Showtime Rotisserie. I
absolutely, positively, without a doubt - ROCKS!!!

If you don't want/need several of the attachments the bottom post is the
least expensive... but for "all of the goodies" the first URL is the better
bargain. I have "all of the goodies" plus some and can not say enough
WONDERFUL things about the Rotisserie and the accessories.

As I've said numerous times... just wait until you make meat loaf in it! Oh
my stars!!

http://popeilfamilystore.com/rotisseries-5000t.html

http://www.snappyhome.com/products/p...roductsID=3675

My SIL has the little George Foreman version...she likes it but I got the
impression that it doesn't clean as easily as mine!

Cyndi

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> is there one worth buying? i have read alot of good things about the
> Ronco showtime on here...anyone with opinions on it or other brands to
> check out? it is VERY appreciated!
>
> i am itching to get one but dont want to blow my cash on something
> basically useless...or shoddy...or worse.
>
> thanks !
>
> bloo
>=================

I personally recommend the ST 5000 (Ron Popeil) Showtime Rotisserie. I
absolutely, positively, without a doubt - ROCKS!!!

If you don't want/need several of the attachments the bottom post is the
least expensive... but for "all of the goodies" the first URL is the better
bargain. I have "all of the goodies" plus some and can not say enough
WONDERFUL things about the Rotisserie and the accessories.

As I've said numerous times... just wait until you make meat loaf in it! Oh
my stars!!

http://popeilfamilystore.com/rotisseries-5000t.html

http://www.snappyhome.com/products/p...roductsID=3675

My SIL has the little George Foreman version...she likes it but I got the
impression that it doesn't clean as easily as mine!

Cyndi

In rec.food.cooking, Edwin Pawlowski > wrote:

> We do chicken, pork roast, chicken, rib eye roast, chicken, sausages and
> more chicken. Just rub the chicken with your favorite spices and let it go.


Mmmmmm.....Pork Roast!

I've got a good looking boneless loin pork roast from BJ's. My guess is
the Showtime would work great. In fact, it's a natural, given the
consistent diameter. Mmmmmmmm......


--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight David Eisenhower