Rotisserie Direct or Indirect


 
Should I be cooking rotisserie items direct or indirect on my kettle?
Are there certain foods to do one way or the other.
I've done thighs indirect that turned out great and tri-tip indirect that didnt seem any different than cooking normal indirect.
 
Rotisserie is always best used indirect. Depending on what you're cooking and the result you want vary the amount of coals and air flow for different results
 
What would be the difference rotisserie indirect and regular indirect on the grate, then?
I assumed that rotisserie direct would get more char, without burning, and possibly more flavors from the fat dripping on coals.
Thanks
 
Even indirect on grate you have one hot side, when the product is turning, it’s gettiing it’s heat evenly on all sides.
Direct will allow drippings to burn and provide that type of flavor but, the direct heat may be too hot and overcook the exterior before it’s properly cooked.
Get three pieces and do the experiment and fill us all in with your observations. Three almost identical chickens would be cheap enough.
 
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What Tim said. The idea of spinning the food is it also self bastes
 
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"Proof read"

Mistakes sometimes make I. Touch screen when using phone on finger fat. Happen sometimes do mistakes. The even using to text speak always works doesn't often.

Happens it.
 
I'd disaqree to some extent. There are some cuts of beef that benefit greatly from direct heat on the roti in certain instances. Take Picanha for example. If you want to cook it and serve it like a traditional steak, then you'd want to go indirect so that the inside would be fully cooked to temp while the outside is nicely browned. BUT< if you want to serve it like they do in Brazilian steakhouses, where you just slice off the outer browned layer, exposing the rare inner part, then putting it back on the roti to brown the exterior again, then direct over the coals works better.

With something like Prime Rib, it all depends on how you like your PR to look. If you want a consistent edge to edge color, then run with coals offset for an indirect cook. I'd even just run with a single basket to keep the heat down as low as I could. However, if you like the bullseye effect with the outer band being well done and the center being your target temp, I'd go right over the coals with direct heat.
 
Still direct negates the use of spinning. For the effects you note, simply using more or less heat wil do the trick. The whole point of rotisserie is to be able to use that high heat without setting the food on fire or having it over done on one side or the other. And the bullseye effect is not good eats. Not a fan
 
Larry, I think you and I must have been related in a previous life! We think way too much alike when it comes to this stuff!
I agree, Picanha is not required to be rotisserie cooked, simply turned, slice off the outside and turn again. For a standing rib roast, indirect but, very hot method is my preferred method for the “Bulls eye” issue that Larry mentions. I don’t want the thing looking like a red eyed cinder.
I love rotisserie cooking but, I don’t use it all the time.
 
Still direct negates the use of spinning. For the effects you note, simply using more or less heat wil do the trick. The whole point of rotisserie is to be able to use that high heat without setting the food on fire or having it over done on one side or the other. And the bullseye effect is not good eats. Not a fan

How is it negated? You'd actuallbe making full use of spinning because even while directly over the coals the meat would be constantly moving.

Here's a vid I shot of some picanha on a direct cook.

https://youtu.be/I0V1PTTG1k4


The outside of the meat is browning up quickly, the fat is getting crispy. I'm not seeing how anything is negated on this cook
 
Larry, I think you and I must have been related in a previous life! We think way too much alike when it comes to this stuff!
I agree, Picanha is not required to be rotisserie cooked, simply turned, slice off the outside and turn again. For a standing rib roast, indirect but, very hot method is my preferred method for the “Bulls eye” issue that Larry mentions. I don’t want the thing looking like a red eyed cinder.
I love rotisserie cooking but, I don’t use it all the time.


Sure, picanha can be grilled without a roti, but it's not the same. Does spatchcocking a chicken and flipping it around on a grate every few minutes give you the same end product as spinning the bird on a roti?
 
Never had the urge to spin food, and most things I cook come out pretty tasty. Please don't convince me to try it - wife will make my life miserable if I buy more cooking stuff. Btw, I have no experience but I vote indirect because that's how my dad did it 60 years ago.
 
Dave, I see your point and maybe “negating” is a bit strong. Superfluous might be better. The flareup with drippings will provide more charring. But, if you look at the next you tube video he does his indirect and it looks equally delightful.
It’s just a different take, I don’t see a hard line on either side. Both are valid methods.

And no, spatchcocking and flipping is not going to provide the same result as rotisserie method. I see your thought process but, I think it’s erroneous. The steak is flat on its faces providing more surface for the maillard effect to develop its brown seared deliciousness, a chicken is basically more cylindrical lending itself to spinning and the self basting that it entails.
When you spatchcock the idea is that it will cook more quickly, I do them indirect.
This isn’t really a big issue, just a point of discussion.
I just posted a query to Jamie Purviance for his opinion, then we will have probably a third (or fifth) opinion on this.
BTW, I want your Picanha!
 
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Dave, I see your point and maybe “negating” is a bit strong. Superfluous might be better. The flareup with drippings will provide more charring. But, if you look at the next you tube video he does his indirect and it looks equally delightful.
It’s just a different take, I don’t see a hard line on either side. Both are valid methods.

And no, spatchcocking and flipping is not going to provide the same result as rotisserie method. I see your thought process but, I think it’s erroneous. The steak is flat on its faces providing more surface for the maillard effect to develop its brown seared deliciousness, a chicken is basically more cylindrical lending itself to spinning and the self basting that it entails.
When you spatchcock the idea is that it will cook more quickly, I do them indirect.
This isn’t really a big issue, just a point of discussion.
I just posted a query to Jamie Purviance for his opinion, then we will have probably a third (or fifth) opinion on this.
BTW, I want your Picanha!


Tim,

A little housekeeping first. Thank you! (and you too Larry). I appreciate the discussion.

To be clear, I'm definitely not saying that there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. I'm just explaining why I think that in some cases, direct heat would be preferred by some. When I do Picanha with direct heat on the roti, I can't recall ever getting any actual charring. The ring elevates the meat higher up than it would be on the grate of course. If for some reason the flame did come up that high, I'd dome it to snuff it out. The purpose of being directly over the flames really is go get the direct heat that's rising, to give a faster maiilard reaction to the meat. The way I do it, I'm actually quite happy if the meat is almost raw 1/4 of an inch in, while the outside is nicely browned and the fat is nice and crispy. I'll slice 1/4inch off the surface, exposing the raw meat underneatw, I'll salt the meat again and put it back over the flame for that raw part to brown. Rinse/repeat until I've made my way through the whole piece. To me, in this particular application, direct works quite well and even better that indirect. That said, If I was going to take all the pieces to a desired finished temp, so that I could plate entire pieces, then I'd go indirect so that the outside didn't get burnt to a crisp while waiting for the inside center of the meat to get to temp.

I guess another way to explain it would be to use a different example. Say we had 2 ribeyes. One was 1/4 inch thick and the other was 1 1/2 inch thick. Would you cook them the same? I wouldn't. On the 1 1/2 inch ribeye, I'd do a direct sear then finish indirect, or I'd start indirect and finish with a reverse sear. The reason for the 2 stage cooking is that while the inside of the steak will take time to get to temp, the outside would burn if you tried to go direct the whole way. However, on a 1/4inch little snack steak, I'd go hot and fast all the way. By the time the center got to mid rare, the outside would be browned nicely, not burnt. There would be no reason to sear first then go indirect as the steak would already be to temp in the center by the time the surfaces are nicely seared. Similar reasons against the reverse sear. If you slow cook indirect, the steak will be done in the center and you won't have any browning on the surfaces. If you did sear, you'd over cook it.

So basically, I'm taking the what is discussed above and applying it to Picanha on a roti.


WRT the chicken, it seems that the point I was trying to make didn't come through clearly. I chose spatchcock, but the chicken could be whole. Or it could be bone in breasts, or whatever. My point is that chicken cooked on a roti tastes different than if you put that same chicken down on the grate and grilled it via whatever manner you chose. There's a reason why places like Costco, Sams, and other places go through the trouble of cooking their chickens on a rotisserie instead of just throwing them onto a rack in the oven. The self basting aspect of it is one huge part. If you look closely in the vid I posted, you can see that wonderfully delicious liquid gold fat running down the surface of the meat and falling into the flames. I'd guess that there's also some impact of the meat itself turning and going through a kind of thermocycling where it's facing the direct heat one minute, away from the heat the next, then back to the heat. Can't say that I understand the specifics of it, or maybe it has no bearing on the discussion at all,?


BTW, I'm not sure what the "next video" is exactly, as I'm seeing something about "a Poor Man's filet" :) I did see your thread to Jamie about this topic and look forward to reading his answer. As for my Picanha, thanks. You're welcome to come over any time and get some. Heck, when I shot that video, it was 19 degrees outside and there was snow and ice on the ground. In one of my other vids of that cook, you can hear the ice crunching as I walked around filming. I'm down for doing Picanha ANY time. It ranks up at the top as one of my favorites, along with hickory smoked PR.
 

 

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