Review: Showtime Compact Rotisserie

I think I will put up a review of an old item I've had for quite a while.  Just so you know I haven't left you hanging.

I'd be dismissed as a kitchen gadget guy if I didn't include an As Seen on TV product, and who else can you start with but Ron Popeil, creater of Ronco.  No doubt if you've been up late at night, you've seen this man and you've seen one of his products, but in my mind his catch phrase(besides "..and that's not all.") "Set it and Forget it", is one that I'm betting everyone has heard at least once, if not a multitude of times.  The device that made this saying famous, his Showtime Rotisserie.  While I did not purchase the full size rotisserie, i did get the Showtime Compact Rotisserie, being single at the time, having a small kitchen, and not wanting to lay down the extra money that went with having the larger one, the small rotisserie fit the bill pretty nicely, especially since I was very skeptical as I am with most infomercial products.  The other reason was that it was available at a store, which with some of the horror stories I've heard with customer service from informercial sites, and their usually outrageous shipping, purchasing it at the store made me feel much more comfortable.


Let me start now with my own personal disclaimer and one they echo in their instructions, no kitchen gadget or cooking item is, nor should it be set and forgotten.  I will admit that, this is close in that regards.  I have been more than pleased with this purchase, while I won't claim it's of the highest quality, for a sub $100 item, it has held up quite well over the years for me.  I have made chicken, pork, fish all with some excellent results.  My biggest complaint is the ease at which it is to clean, after a while it definitely started to look used, and the non stick spit rods and basket, are turning into near non stick.  Now in all fairness this was after about a year of decent use, not something i dragged out every day, but every couple of weeks I'd make something in it.

I learned relatively quickly though I didn't care for using the basket to cook things in, if you filled it up, the edges would cook more than the center(kind of expected but when you want to cook a bunch of wings or legs of chicken, not something you want to deal with)  But by far the biggest complaint I had with the basket is it's use in the real world.  Sure in the infomercial they show it used with fish fillets, pork chops, and chicken breasts, but the one thing you have to take into consideration is size, if all your cuts are not exactly the same thickness, you will get movement within the basket while it rotates, and I don't know about any of you, but I do not have the time nor want, to be sure that all my food is the same thickness.  So if you are looking at this item for the cooking basket, I'd rethink that, while it works as advertised, it's just not as convenient as you might think.  Add the issues with getting the food in there, the really hard part doesn't come till after you get it out. Who wants to drag out a cutting board to pull out this hot basket to pull out hamburgers or chicken wings, extra clean up that in my mind isn't worth the effort.   Like I said, it cooks fine and does a good job with it, but the effort with which to use the basket, isn't worth it.

Now the real reason you might have bought this item.  Let's throw a pork roast, or a whole chicken on the spits.  Here is truely where this machine shines.  Simple and delicious pork, I took a pork roast, rubbed in some kosher salt, and some liquid smoke, put it on the spit rods and tossed it in there.  In about an hour or so (depending on the size of your roast) I took out a wonderfully delicious and moist roast, that for me, I simply cut into patties and served on buns, but can be sliced and served in a more elegant manor just as easily.  All depends on how you want to enjoy it. Chicken as well comes out every bit as good as what you get in your local grocery store deli.

My only real complaint was it's noise, while it's not the noisiest kid on the block when it comes to small appliances, when you have to listen to the whirring of the motor and the slight tick of the timer for over an hour, it can get old.  I guess I do have one other complaint, is the size, it's not something you can easily fit in any cabinet in your kitchen, and if you are low on space in your pantry to hide it away, forget it.  While not as big as the full size rotisserie, it's still a large item and demands space, both when stored and while in use, remember this thing is putting off some good heat, you don't want it browning your cabinets that are only inches above it do you?

All in all, it's a nice little rotisserie, and I truely think I've gotten my money's worth out of it.  Though now as the glass has gotten a little glazed with use, can't say that I want it sitting out constantly, although it's nice to be able to see your contents, with it's relatively small space I think they could have used tinted glass so that burnt on grease didn't stain it quite so bad (and you can more easily hide all the attachments while not in use).

In closing, I think if you have the space to store it, and love that rotisserie taste, it's hard to go wrong with this item for something in this price range.  Don't get me wrong, I really can't tell you how long it will last, as it doesn't seem to be sturdiest, but it has held up for me pretty good.  However for this price, you can't hardly expect it to last a lifetime, at least I wouldn't.

Good luck in the kitchen!!!!