Ronco 5500 Series Rotisserie Oven, Stainless Steel Countertop Rotisserie Oven, 3 Cooking Functions: Rotisserie, Sear and No Heat Rotation, 15-Pound Capacity

My parents gave me an old Ronco rotisserie years ago. I believe it was one of the very early models when they were sold via Infomercials on late night TV. It was one of the best Ronco inventions that was ever sold on those infomercials! The plastic base finally cracked to the point where I couldn't use it anywhere. I had fixed it once, but the glass door would no longer stay on and was unfixable.This is one of those kitchen appliances that you think, "Do I really need this?" The first one was given to me so when it couldn't be used any longer I had to make a decision as to whether I should spend $100 to replace it. The answer was 'yes'!This rotisserie makes cooking a chicken so delicious, so juicy and so easy that I couldn't imagine just roasting a chicken in the oven, again. The spits are sharp and easily fit into the chicken and onto the gears which rotate the chicken. There is a rotisserie function or just a rotate function (without heat). My model has a dial to set the temperature (figure 15 min/lb for the chicken). The instructions say that the spits can hold two chickens but the one time I tried two chickens they were too big and didn't rotate properly.I also cooked a boneless beef roast that was around 5lbs and it came out incredible and medium rare. You can also rotisserie a small turkey. I had done that once and it was also amazingly juicy.The product comes with a base on which to put the spits after cooking so you can slice beef, but I have never used it. The pan and pan top (onto which the grease drips) is easy to clean if you line the pan with aluminum foil, first. When my food is finished cooking and I've taken it out of the rotisserie, I clean the rotisserie right away, as it's much easier when everything is hot. As the unit cools down a bit, I take glass cleaner to clean the inside of the glass that usually has grease spatters. The product also comes with rubber/vinyl heatproof gloves to use to remove the spits from the rotisserie after the food is done cooking.I think the original was built a bit better than this, but that's usually the case as years go on, companies design products to be made less expensively.Even with this being slightly less impressive than the original model, I will continue to use on a regular basis. If you like rotisserie chicken from Costco, imagine having the chicken come out JUST as juicy at home with your own concoction of rub ingredients!!

The media could not be loaded. My first rotisserie chicken ever and it came out great. Super easy too! The chicken was 4lbs, 13 ounces (I used a food scale), then set it to 72 min (per manual instructions - 15 min p/lb for chicken) and the final temp before resting was 166 (should be 165 for chicken). As you can see still very juicy. The unit doesn't have a temp gauge btw, but it does have a light, timer, option for roasting, spinning without heat, and sear. There’s also a heat shield which slides easily behind the heating coils and it did come with ties, gloves and everything mentioned online.The manual doesn’t have many recipes (maybe six - nothing worth being excited about) and I didn't see anything for fries (one could hope). The cleanup is very easy and yes you can use tinfoil (per the manual). There’s also an A and B setting which allows the food to be placed further or closer to the coils. I placed my chicken at A per the manual.The unit did smoke slightly at first which was normal according to the manual. The manual also suggests, when in use not to have it near a wall or under a cabinet. The unit is lightweight and well worth in my opinion, if you use it. It’s also very very quiet (as in almost no noise). Hope this helps. Happy cooking.

The media could not be loaded. The Good. Not much can top a rotesserie roasted chicken and this gem makes them perfectly. I received this rotesserie about 2 weeks ago and I'm already on my third organic fryer. Each one came out mouth watering good! I always brine first overnight and do a rub before roasting. The chickens are tender, juicey, full of flavor, and a mouth watering smell. This is the path to the most perfectly and evenly cooked, roasted whole chicken indeed.Clean up is easy as everything is non-stick. The instructions are "okay," but I had to rely on "You-Tube" to understand how to properly use the basket.The Bad. It gets really hot on top so you can't put it on a counter with overhead cabinets when in use. The instructions for the Accessorie "Basket" were not explicit enough and the basket is too small for un-shucked corn on the cob, but I understand that there is a larger basket available on "eBay". It does not come with the food warmer tray that sits on top of the oven - another eBay find. Most accessories are no longer available on the "Ronco" website, so it's eBay, Amazon, etc. The included recipes are very minimal, but older, "Ronco" rotesserie recipe books are available here on Amazon and are well worth the minimal cost.

Makes great rotisserie chicken. Easy to clean as well. It would be 5 stars if the digital settings window was backlit. Annoying to set it up since the power cord is ridiculously short, forcing the unit to face away from my overhead lighting. I have to get my headlamp out to be able to see the settings/controls. An extra 24 inches of power cord would have helped so I could position the unit in proper lighting. I have a tiny kitchen and zero free counter space, so I can only use this unit while it's on my dining room table, and that makes overhead lighting pretty much useless. Besides that, I'm enjoying it.