Anyone made a rotiss ring?

[timothy]

I'm pretty sure I seen mention of one, but doing a search I couldn't find anything.
I have a rotiss from my old SS gasser, its fairly heavy duty with a one piece rod.
I'm thinking on rolling and seaming some SS or Aluminum flat stock and setting it on the upper grate tabs on my OTG. But I'm not sure of the height ( maybe 12"?)
And what would be a good number for the rod location, half the distance, or closer to the coals?
Any guidance will be much appreciated.

Tim

 

[Chris Stanek]

My Weber ring is only 6 inches... maybe a fraction more. I think it could be just a bit taller and I was told that the older ones were. I talked to someone who had a ribolator and there's spun freely in the ring if you plopped on a table. Mine does not...the ring isn't quite tall enough.

The notch for the rod is about 2 inches from the top of mine. I don't think if it was much higher it would matter much, but I think having it closer would since it'd be closer to the hot coals.

 

[timothy]

Ahh good info Chris!
How does your ring mount on your kettle?
Does it slide inside and rest on the grate straps, or does it have a rolled edge like a lid?

Tim

 

[Corey S]

Hey Timothy,

I have the rotisserie made by C&C Grilling Co. The Cajun Bandit people.

They designed it to fit on both a 22.5" kettle, or, when flipped over it fits on a 22.5" WSM. That is why I bought it.

I recently discovered another very convienient use for this ring by virtue of that convertable nature.
I now store it on my Stainless Steel Performer, with the lid removed, another kettle bowl, upside down, sits securely on it, , which is real convienient for working on, or Anal Obsessive cleaning operations...
Also when using that Rotisserie ring on the performer, or a kettle, the 22.5" WSM lid fits nicely on it, which looks really cool!

 

[timothy]

Hey right back at ya Corey.

I know I can buy a Weber or aftermarket ring, but I have the materials to make one on my own and save some money.
What did your ring cost, and are your numbers similar to Chris's ? > height of ring and depth of slot?

Tim

 

[Corey S]

Tim,
By all means, If I had the materials, tools, and the ability, I would make my own also.
I bought mine as a package with the rotisserie motor, spit rod, etc..
I just checked their web site and they sell just the Stainless Steel Ring by itself for $119.00 (OUCH), I don't remember it being that much back when I purchased my package from them, a year or so ago.
This ring is only a little over 5" (Maybe 5.125") tall overall.
From the top of the Kettle lip to the top of the roti ring, is just shy of 5" by an 8th" or so
The hole that the spit rod passes through, is only 2 & 7/8" (2.875")from the top of the kettle lip, to the hole on center.
I recently saw a post from the guy that makes that Rib-O-Lator, ferris wheel contraption, he said that if the spit rod location is at least 6" above cooking grate level, in a kettle, then you could use the Rib-O-Lator, with a standard grill grate in place.
So that could be something you may want to consider in your Roti-Ring design
If I were to design and build my own, as you intend to, I would make the ring tall enough to accomidate a Rib-O-Lator, just in case I decide I have to have one at some point in time!
I can see the advantage of having it tall enough that you can have your cooking grate in place, and not interfere with something big on the spit rod, say a roti basket for example. That way I could place things to cook on the sides of the cook grate, as well as having the roti going...

Here is a picture of the ring in standard kettle mode, kettle lid on

Kettle mode lid off

Kettle mode (cleaning configuration, WSM lid fits like on it securely this way also)

This is flipped over (WSM Mode)(fits onto a Kettle bowl either way, but a Kettle lid would not sit on it this way)

I hope these dimensions and photos help you decide what is right for your particular needs, keep us posted, I am sure others will be interested to see what you come up with.... Photos Required

Corey

 

[timothy]

Thanks for takin the time for you're response Corey. The pics and info will be very helpful.
Much appreciated.

Tim

 

[Chris Stanek]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by timothy:
Ahh good info Chris!
How does your ring mount on your kettle?
Does it slide inside and rest on the grate straps, or does it have a rolled edge like a lid?

Tim </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey Tim, sorry for the delay. The Weber ring has tabs on the outside of the ring and fits inside the kettle with about an 1/8 inch gap all around. It would have been much nicer to a rolled lip like the lid... odd that they didn't as I'd expect that from an aftermarket provider vs the manufacturer and as it turns out it's the exact opposite... but anyway... it works just fine.

I think the heigth could be just a bit taller. I think 7.5 or 8 inches would be ideal. It would allow for baskets and add-ons like the rib-o-lator to spin freely within the expansion ring itself.

Also, since you're fabbing this from scratch, I'd also mount some tabs in there to mount a grill grate. With the expansion ring and the lid on, the kettle sorda looks like a midget WSM. You could probably enhance it's performance as a smoker,or just the overall verssatility by having that expansion ring grate option.

 

[Corey S]

Tim

That is a very good idea that Chris suggested, of making provisions for a cooking grate to be placed on, or in your rotisserie ring! you could make it a multi-purpose accessorie, not just for rotisserie use!

Reading that part of his post reminded me of the following:

I occasionally cook pizzas on one of my kettles. And so far the best method that I have found to do this, without having to buy any thing special, and just using the accessories that I already have, is as follows:

With a cooking grate in the kettle, in its normal position, and my roti ring in place, I then place my charcoal ring from my WSM right on top of the kettle cooking grate, then an extra cooking grate on top of the charcoal ring. I then put a pizza stone on that top grate. (in the case of my 5" tall roti ring) this places the top cooking grate just about level with the top of my rotisserie ring.
With this configueration, the bottom of my pizzas are about 6"-7" further away from the fire, and the top of my pies are an inch or two closer to the bottom of the lid dome.
With this (Rube Goldberg) arrangement, I can get as hot a fire as possible going, and not burn the bottom of my pizza pie, before the heat reflected from the bottom of the lid dome, has a chance to melt the cheese, and heat the other topping adaquately. It sounds goofy, but it works for me !

So if you like to, or want to do Pizzas on your grill, this is just one way of doing it that works reasonably well.

To expand on Chris's suggestion of provisions for a cooking grate mounted on the roti ring, to aid in kettle smoking ! (darn good idea in my opinion) If you place these new grill mount tabs near the very top of your roti ring, you can also do the pizza thing with it, if you want...

Corey

 

[timothy]

Chris.
I think the extra height is the way to go. With me using a rolled up piece of flat stock.. I'll have to add some type of cross brace at the bottom to keep the shape round.
Thanks for the input!

Tim

 

[timothy]

Corey.
That was weird. I just responded to Chris's post. and your post popped up when I hit Post Now ( and you posted a little over an hour ago )
Anyhew LOL, I agree with both of you that there are a lot of different ways that we could use one of these contraptions.
Great ideas, keep em comin.

Tim

 

[Chris Stanek]

I'm glad the suggestions help.

One other thing I can think of from my experience with the Weber ring is a slight mod to the hole where the rod goes through. On one side, there's an open notch for the rod to just drop in. On the other side is a hole for the rod to slide through into the motor.

If you're roter-ing something large or in my case, use a Rib-O-Lator, it's an extremely tight fit, nearly impossible really, to angle the rod into the hole opposite the notch and clear the trays of the R-O-L over the edge of the ring. It's just not easy to do and brings some frustration into what is otherwise a joyous occasion.

Do yourself a favor. Instead of just a hole on the opposite side of the notch, make about an inch or so oval to give you some play while inserting the rod. I just used a dremel tool on my ring and did just that and it's amazing how much easier that little extra play made getting the contraption in an out. The thing is, espcially with the R-O-L, you want to affix it to the rod with two of the trays flat on a table. That way, it's all squared up and not all caddywhompus as it spins... the first lesson I learned the hard way with the R-O-L.

 

[Corey S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">That was weird. I just responded to Chris's post. and your post popped up when I hit Post Now ( and you posted a little over an hour ago ) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I hate it when that happens !

If you happened to have this discussion thread open in your browser, at the same time as I posted, and your browser had not "refreshed" the page, my post would not automatically show up for you, when you posted, or otherwise refreshed the page, then my post showed up!..

That is a possible reason for the delayed receipt of that post ?
I do stuff like that all the time, and wonder what just happened ?

Anyway, I think I am fresh out of ideas on how to further over complicate a simple rotisserie project for you !.. Let me know if I can cause any more confusion.

and all you wanted to do was Rotisserrie !, now its a roti, smoker, grill extender, pizza oven, contraption

 

[Bob Garnache]

i have the cajun bandit ring and it works great. the one thing i don't like about it is that it is to short and the rib-o-lator will not spin freely if i set the whole thing on a table, whereas the weber ring will.

i remove ring and all if i have to add more charcoal.

i made a 9" ring out of flat stock but without a rolled edge at the top the lid doesn't fit properly but the height was just right because it allowed me to cook on the bottom grate and rib-O-late at the same time, plus it gives you more indirect heat when you rotisserie.

if you are able to cannibalize the top lip of a kettle and weld it to your ring then it would work great.

keep us posted on what you do.

 

[Brian Moriarty]

I had the Weber rotis ring before I got an EZ-Que, and the first thing I noticed on the EZ-Que ring was that both ends of the spit rod cutouts were U shaped. After using the cradle spit, I modified the Weber ring and when I got the Cajun Bandit reversible ring I did the same.
Ease of use is what we're after, most threads I've seen people seem to be concerned with temp or smoke issues from the spit rod holes-its never been a problem for me and I get great rotissserie results. I also modified the center section of an out of round 22" WSM for a dedicated smoker rotisserie and notched out both sides.

I have seen where people will cut the top and bottom thirds of a 55 gallon closed drum with rolled ribs, remove the tops inside the rolled edge and made rotis rings. The ribbed end fits into the kettle, the top(or bottom) accepts the Weber lid. All drums are not created equal, so measure twice & cut once!