Joetisserie question

EzraBrooks

New to the joetisserie and going to try my first chicken tonight.  I thought it would be good to put a pan of veggies underneath to be basted in the fat.  I thought maybe the spider would work for this but I was afraid of the bottom burning due to proximity to fire.  Has anyone else done this and what was your setup?

cookingdude555

Following this. 

EzraBrooks

Anybody?  Wife wanted fried rice so delayed till tomorrow.

jdMyers

my 02.  theres not enuff drippings that ive seen.  You could put the fire on "1/2" the grill left to right say the back half and put the veggies on the front half using a half pan.  you could double up on the foil pan.  Personally I would rotisserie the meat, then pull out the rod, throw the grill grid on and grill the veggies while it rests.  Ive done many things on the jotisserie and never saw much drip on the lump below.  I again personally put lump on both sides leaving the center open with a foil pain and fluid directly beneath the food.  if that helps

jtcBoynton

I thought the whole idea of rotisserie cooking was to expose the meat to direct radiant heat.  Putting a pan between the meat and the heat creates an indirect setup that negates to need for the spinning.  Might as well just go with a standard indirect setup.

SaltySam

I agree on the direct heat with a rotisserie statement.

However, you can get killer veggies on an indirect setup. I dice up yellow squash, Vidalia onion, and green peppers, then toss in a small bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Put that in an aluminum pan under a spatchcocked chicken.  Typically at 350 it goes about 90 minutes for the breasts to get to 155-160. 

It works great with thinly sliced yukon gold potatoes too. 

KiterTodd

jtcBoynton said:

I thought the whole idea of rotisserie cooking was to expose the meat to direct radiant heat.  Putting a pan between the meat and the heat creates an indirect setup that negates to need for the spinning.  Might as well just go with a standard indirect setup.

Agreed. The benefit of the rotisserie, is you have direct contact to the coals as it turns around and self bastes.   I don't see any way to put a pan underneath and not lose this effect.

When I set up my egg for a roti cook, I put the normal amount of lump in the egg, and then push it up mostly on two sides parallel with the rotisserie bar.  So there is very little coal directly underneath, and most angled up the sides. There isn't much pace between the bottom of the chicken and the coal to put a pan anyway, without torching the contents, but it would also shield the bird from the lump.

brentm

I think you'd want to have the spider upside down and a half moon on it.  

https://ceramicgrillstore.com/collections/big-green-egg-large-accessories-by-ceramic-grill-store/products/half-ceramic-stones-dual-zones-deflector-set-up

I haven't tried potatoes, but I did do my first Joetisserie chicken this weekend.  It was quickly a family favorite.

I opted to keep the pan filled with water for a more humid heat and to prevent the drippings from turning into magic smoke.

But I don't see why you couldn't get a little lift with a half moon and a spider and do the potato thing.

Or heck, I'd just try it on the bottom and see what happens.  Worst case, you're out some taters.

eggnewtoy

I’m always counter on these issues.  I spin all of the time—IMHO, the biggest advantage of the joe is that juices distribute and the bird is juicier.  I do prefer a pan under my cooks.  The results are better to me, my family, friends.   Regarding veggies under the cook, I’ll try it next week and get back to you.  It seems like they’d be overcooked.  Unless you put them in later, not for the entire cook.