Weber Summit 470 rotisserie/IR burner question


 
K

Kevin_K

TVWBB Member
I cooked my first rotisserie chicken on the E470 with the outside 2 burners on for the entire duration of the 70-minute cook and the IR burner on for the last 10 minutes only. The outside 2 burners had to be turned up to medium-high heat in order to hold the grill's temperature at 350 degrees. This prevented me from cooking any vegetables on the outer 2 burners while the chicken was cooking because the vegetables need to be cooked at low to medium-low heat. I only turned the IR burner on for the last 10 minutes because that's what all the recipes I read suggested.

Can I turn the IR burner on for the duration of the cook and use that as the main heat source for the chicken, which would then presumably allow me to turn the side burners down to a low enough setting to cook vegetables at the same time, or would that result in burning the chicken? A lot of what I've read about IR burners say they are intended for searing/finishing.
 
I think if you used that the entire cook it'll almost certainly burn it before it's cooked in the middle. I actually use my IR burner for the first 25 minutes and then use just the outside burners to finish cooking. Comes out fantastic1000007679.jpg
 
Eric-NH said:
I think if you used that the entire cook it'll almost certainly burn it before it's cooked in the middle. I actually use my IR burner for the first 25 minutes and then use just the outside burners to finish cooking. Comes out fantasticView attachment 98429
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What grill temperature do you maintain with just the side burners on and what setting do you have them turned to?
 
When I spin on my Wolf I NEVER turn off the IR. I might throttle it down a hair but it never turns off. I only use the outer burners for smoke addition
 
Kevin_K said:
What grill temperature do you maintain with just the side burners on and what setting do you have them turned to?
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With mine being the 6 burner I will have the outside ones on low and maintain about 350 or so. The smoker box is also on low. Yours may be different with it being the 4 burner
 
LMichaels said:
When I spin on my Wolf I NEVER turn off the IR. I might throttle it down a hair but it never turns off. I only use the outer burners for smoke addition
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Man, I'm certain mine would totally burn. Look at my skin with just 25 minutes of run time with the IR burner
 
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Eric-NH said:
With mine being the 6 burner I will have the outside ones on low and maintain about 350 or so. The smoker box is also on low. Yours may be different with it being the 4 burner
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Yeah, having 2 burners on each side would mean you could set each one lower to reach the same temperature as I would be able to reach with only 1 burner on each side.
 
Eric-NH said:
Man, I'm certain none would totally burn. Look at my skin with just 25 minutes of run time with the IR burner
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"none would totally burn" -> is this a typo? Earlier you said it probably would burn if the IR burner was used for the entire cook.
 
I've not looked that closely at a Summit. I know a Summit is MUCH smaller than my Wolf is. Maybe the IR is simply too close to the food to work as it should? Or does it not "regulate" up or down?. I can regulate mine. Wolf has a variable control on it. So I can turn it down if needed. Though the only time I've had an "issue" like that is spinning something really large like a giant (yuk turkey). But doing a chicken or 2, a prime rib or other types of roasts i.e. leg of lamb, top sirloin, etc. I just let it rock. Have no need for outside burners (except to add smoke) otherwise I don't bother.
Sounds like a totally poor design to me. Mitigates the advantage of having it in the first place IMO
 
Eric-NH said:
I think if you used that the entire cook it'll almost certainly burn it before it's cooked in the middle. I actually use my IR burner for the first 25 minutes and then use just the outside burners to finish cooking. Comes out fantasticView attachment 98429
Click to expand...
Is there any difference in using the IR burner for the first 25 minutes as opposed to the last 25 minutes?
 
LMichaels said:
I've not looked that closely at a Summit. I know a Summit is MUCH smaller than my Wolf is. Maybe the IR is simply too close to the food to work as it should? Or does it not "regulate" up or down?. I can regulate mine. Wolf has a variable control on it. So I can turn it down if needed. Though the only time I've had an "issue" like that is spinning something really large like a giant (yuk turkey). But doing a chicken or 2, a prime rib or other types of roasts i.e. leg of lamb, top sirloin, etc. I just let it rock. Have no need for outside burners (except to add smoke) otherwise I don't bother.
Sounds like a totally poor design to me. Mitigates the advantage of having it in the first place IMO
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The IR on a Summit does have a control knob to regulate the flame intensity (just like all the other burners). I haven't seen the Wolf so I don't know how the positioning of the IR burner relative to whatever is mounted on the spit varies as compared to the Summit.
 
This is my experience and that has formed this opinion. If you want to do rotisserie, the best rotisserie machine(s) I've ever used or found are the older "true" Genesis grills. Second best, my Wolf. The burner puts out fierce heat, but the unit is large enough and able to regulate well enough to never burn the food, and to where I never have to shut it off and then negate the advantage of having it in the first place.
If a grill with rotisserie burner needs the burner shut off to prevent burning than a, either something is very wrong with the unit, and or b, it's poorly designed and implemented from the start.
Last, after trying my old Summit with a rotisserie, I know for sure N/S burners are NOT good for rotisserie work at all. Not even worth the expense of the motor and rod.
This is not just "opinion" it's fact based on past experiences with a non-IR equipped Summit along side the OG Genesis 2 I owned. Then having bought a Summit (ostensibly to replace the Genesis) but there was no way it could.
Then owning the Genesis, along side the Wolf and the Summit.
So, I'm not puling opinion out of the air. This is experience actually owning and using them all extensively.
Admittedly I don't know a lot about the later generation Summits. So from an experience standpoint I cannot comment. But, from a "knowledge" standpoint I have to think the design intent was to be able to actually have the IR burner perform the full on job
 
Kevin_K said:
Is there any difference in using the IR burner for the first 25 minutes as opposed to the last 25 minutes?
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I use it to put a nice crust in in the beginning and lock in the juices. I've used it at the end of I didn't have quite enough of a crispy skin and wanted to do a "touch up"
 
Depends on what I am cooking and how close it is IOW the diameter of the food. I will modulate it depending on that
 
Eric-NH said:
With mine being the 6 burner I will have the outside ones on low and maintain about 350 or so. The smoker box is also on low. Yours may be different with it being the 4 burner
Click to expand...

Do you actually get much of a smoke flavor with wood chips added to the smoker box? I found the smoke seems to just float out the side hole of the grill but then I've never tried it with anything that cooks for a relatively long time like a rotisserie chicken.
 
Kevin_K said:
Do you actually get much of a smoke flavor with wood chips added to the smoker box? I found the smoke seems to just float out the side hole of the grill but then I've never tried it with anything that cooks for a relatively long time like a rotisserie chicken.
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Yes. Not as much as I would get in the performer, but it does give a nice little flavor boost. I start the smoker box about 10 minutes before throwing the chicken on, then refill it once it stops smoking. It's been working well for me
 
Kevin_K said:
Do you actually get much of a smoke flavor with wood chips added to the smoker box? I found the smoke seems to just float out the side hole of the grill but then I've never tried it with anything that cooks for a relatively long time like a rotisserie chicken.
Click to expand...
My main gripe with those boxes Weber makes that mount in the side of the grills. Mostly for show. I always got better results (at least with my Genesis), with a foil packet of chips, under the grate toward the front so the smoke came up, around the food, and then to exit the back. Using the natural flow
 
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