Indoor rotisserie ovens are popular with many people as a means of cooking chicken, roasts and other foods. This method allows a lot of the fat to drip off of the food, as well as giving it a crispy skin that is typically filled with flavor. The spit that is standard with most rotisserie ovens works well for large pieces of meat and poultry, but not necessarily for other foods. Rotisserie accessories such as baskets and trays expand the cooking abilities of the machine.
One of the more common types of indoor rotisserie is primarily a countertop oven with a glass door. Inside is a removable drip tray to catch any grease that comes out of the food while it is cooking. A metal spit fits from one side of the unit to the other and is held by receptacles built into the inner walls of the oven. One side simply provides support while the other side has gears that cause the spit to turn constantly during the cooking process.
Typically the spit is inserted through the middle of a chicken, roast, or other large food item, salt or other seasoning is added, and it is set in place to begin the cooking process. Since not all foods can be skewered with the spit, rotisserie accessories such as squeeze baskets are sometimes used instead. These are typically square or rectangular baskets that can be adjusted so that the food in them can’t move, insuring that the contents will cook evenly. They fit on the central spit and are held in place by prong attachments on the spit, and work well to hold lobster, chicken breasts, fish, and similar foods.
Also popular among rotisserie accessories are larger, cylindrical baskets commonly used for cooking small ribs, usually baby back ribs. Typically, the ribs should not be separated before cooking for best results, and the entire strip of meat is wrapped around the outside of the basket and then held in place with special clips. The basket is placed on the spit, and the food inside cooks in the same way that a chicken or roast does.
Other rotisserie accessories include a steaming or warming tray that can be set on top of the oven while meat is cooking inside. This tray warms rolls or can be used to steam vegetables while the rest of the meal is cooking. Using the top for the special tray allows the cook to use only the rotisserie oven in order to create the entire meal.
Kabob skewers are also popular rotisserie accessories, and allow cooks to make these meat and vegetable meals on a stick in the house instead of on an outdoor barbecue grill. These skewers fit onto the round basket and turn themselves automatically as the spit rotates. Usually these are used to cook chunks of meat and vegetables an inch or two square, and all of the pieces should be about the same size for best results.
