George Foreman 10039 Baby George Rotisserie

What is it?

I was given a George Foreman Rotisserie grill a few years ago and in all honesty I use it quite a lot, more so since I bothered to re-read the accompanying handbook that came with it telling me to use inside it and guestimate cooking times.

The Rotisserie is actually referred to as 'The baby George' throughout the manual which for anyone who has one, it really is useful to read. As for the term 'Baby', it is used because it is a smaller version of an original Rotisserie produced by George Foreman.

George who? Is he that boxer?

As for George Foreman himself, he is probably best known as an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion and for the fight titled "The Rumble in the Jungle" which took place in 1974 against Muhammad Ali, George Foreman lost the fight in the 8th round by way of a knock-out. Since his boxing days, George Foreman as well as a Baptist Minister and Olympic Gold Medallist introduced the world to the "The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine" back in 1994 and to date over 100 million products have been sold worldwide. George Foreman didn't invent the grilling machines; he is simply the front man on the commercials and allows his name to be used in connection to the products.

The Rotisserie

The Rotisserie itself is quite compact in size, when you think of a Rotisserie; the first image which springs to mind is one of those massive contraptions you might see in your local supermarket which can cook 5 or 6 chickens at any one time. This little machine is a lot smaller, so much smaller infact that it is probably no bigger than a microwave and therefore sits on your kitchen side without any problems, the actual measurements within the book state that it measures 17 inches wide, 11-1/2 inches high, and 12 inches deep.

To look at the George Foreman Rotisserie has a bright white coloured body which is metal covered by plastic and it has four feet, each feet has a sucker attached to it, so that as soon as it is placed on a flat surface it sticks to it and this provides your Rotisserie with some grip and makes it safe to use because there is a lift-up cover which has a see through front, thus allowing you to see into the Rotisserie to see what is happening at all times and the cover is lifted up using two knobs, one on each side of the body, they are grooved to help grasping them much easier and you simply turn they backwards and forwards to open and close this cover. Also on this Rotisserie body is a timer which you turn to the time you want your meat to cook, with this product the maximum time you can set it for is three hours and the minimum time is 15 minutes. If your meat needs longer to cook then you can re-set the timer as many times as you like until you are happy with it. When the timer runs out, you will hear a ping from the bell to let you know the time has elapsed and then it automatically turns itself off. Inside the Rotisserie is a heating element that is shaped like a sideways letter M or W depending which letter you prefer and when this element is hot, it glows bright orange.

The accessories

Accompanying the Rotisserie are a number of accessories so that you can use the Rotisserie to its full. Firstly there is a flat basket and with this basket you can place any sort of meat chop, beef burgers, potatoes and vegetables to name a few. They sit within this basket, which has a lid and then you insert it inside the Rotisserie using the wheels which are located inside. Next you should also have Four Kebab Meat Skewers which are used for chunks of meat and vegetables and finally the actual Rotisserie also known as 'the spit' itself for your chickens, Beef, Pork and so on. This Rotisserie can only roast a Chicken up to 5lb, the same for other meats as a joint of meat, so you need to bare that in mind when purchasing your food.

Lets get cooking...

Once your meat is within the Rotisserie there is one important item that I haven't yet mentioned and that is the drip tray. This drip tray which sits at the bottom of the Rotisserie catches all of the fat from your meats and collects it at the bottom, it is then up to you as to what you do with that fat, you can baste your meat in its own juices should you want to, but personally, I don't feel that any meat I have cooked needs the extra basting because as it turns forwards through your Rotisserie, some of that fat is simply transferred onto the meat when it turns so it is self-basting. As the meat turns it is amazing that it makes no noise at all, it is completely quiet the whole time, the only noise that can be heard if you get close is the timer counting down because it is analogue rather than digital.

I like my Rotisserie; it is easy to use and takes the arduous work out of cooking a roast when you simply don't have the time. The trickiest part of using the machine is learning, through trial and error, how to put your joint of meat onto 'the spit' so that it cooks properly and evenly, if you read the detailed instructions which tell you how to hold the meat and then how to place it over the skewers, it is really quite easy. I have had my fair share of re-attempts at skewering the meat properly. The rest of the accessories are such as the kebab skewers are also really easy to use, but again, I would suggest reading the instruction booklet and following the advice given to do it properly when using the first few times. Once your meat is safely fasted onto the internal skewer and turning wheel, the meat will begin to rotate as soon as you set the timer and temperature, as soon as it begins to rotate you simply close the door and let your meat cook.

Once your meat is safely inside the Rotisserie, it is at this point you should plug it in and set the timer for the meat to cook. In most cases your meat will come packaged with an approximate cooking time on it and if you are not sure at the back of the instruction booklet is a chart which gives you an idea of what time to use, so for example if you have a 5lb chicken then it states you need to cook it at the maximum temperature which in this Rotisserie is 180F for one and half to two hours maximum and should you cook a baked potato for between an hour to an hour and a half until it is tender. So each item of food has a suggested time for cooking and once your food is cooked you remove it using the supplied handle which is referred to as the Rotisserie Remover and it is a metal handle which is shaped like a fork with the middle prong missing and slightly curved to allow your joint of meat to sit comfortably on the remover until you can place it on the plate. Because the meat and 'the spit' are going to be hot, you should always wear an oven glove when removing the meat or your vegetables and you should always ensure you face is not too close to the meat because although steam and vapours are released through vents when cooking, there is always steam and vapour from the meat when the door is opened.

Cleaning it

When it comes to cleaning the Rotisserie it is quite a simply process, firstly you need to remove everything from inside the body of the Rotisserie and ensure the heating element has cooked right down and then using a soapy sponge you simply wipe the insides of the Rotisserie, don't use anything that is abrasive or that could scratch it such as scouring pads. Once it has been wiped down, you need to dry it thoroughly, this stops it from going rusty thus making it unusable, and so I always use kitchen towels to dry it properly. With the rest of the accessories, I tend to let them soak in soapy water whilst I am cleaning the Rotisserie and then run them over with warm water before letting them drop dry for a few minutes and finally wiping them clean. Then once I am satisfied all of this has been done, all of the accessories fit inside the body of the Rotisserie for storage and then I put it in my kitchen cupboard out of the way.

I love it

The thing I love about my Rotisserie is that you can do so much with it, initially I thought I would hardly ever use this because I don't actually cook chicken that often, it wasn't until I read the manual and the recipe book that came with the product that I realised you could actually cook a whole lot more food in it, sadly you can only cook one thing at a time, but when you do cook, especially Chicken or fish, the meat is so tender it drops off the bone, with your chicken if you want crispy skin and have rubbed it with salt it turns out beautifully, you can also put stuffing into your chicken whilst it is in the Rotisserie as you would with one you put in the oven.

The one meat I am yet to cook using my Rotisserie is Pork because I like real pork crackling and not the squishy fatty stuff, so I need to spend some time working out the best way to do this and whether or not you can do it in the Rotisserie, but I have done chops, Chickens, steaks, fish, meat and vegetable kebabs and jacket potatoes and they have all been wonderful and so tasty, the aromas that emit from the Rotisserie as the meat cooks are also simply amazing and mouth watering, I just need a bigger rotisserie and a bigger kitchen so that I can cook a meal in it all together. However, it is a healthier way of cooking your food because you don't need to add anything to it, you simply cook it as it comes and it tastes amazing.

Finally

So overall I am a huge fan, I am not too sure where you would purchase this exact rotisserie from anymore as I have looked on Amazon and it wasn't available. Mine was a gift from a friend who bought it and never used it and I said I wanted it, so she duly handed it over, but a quick search using Google shows that in most places it is out of stock but there are some alternatives that range in price and size from £40 right up in the £100s, so even if this one isn't available and it is something you would like, you can always shop around.