BobBrisket
Moderator
I had a question about shipping. When a ROL is sent out for the 30 day trial, is return shipping covered or at the expense of the customer if they decide to send it back?
Bob
Bob
Benefits of Ribolator
- Thread starter motoeric
- Start date
motoeric
Babbling Farker
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2006
- Location
- huntingt...
I feel like my thread has been rode hard and put up wet.
So, everything else aside and just getting down to the bare bones, would it be safe to say that:
The pluses are:
being able to maximize full cooking space
creating a venue for indirect cooking where it doesn't currently exist
avoiding steady cooking in an area with heat variations (up or down)
The negatives are:
cleaning the baskets
For those that have used the ribolator, I've read about a problem keeping the baskets balanced so the food doesn't topple out. Is that an old problem that no longer applies, an exaggerated problem or not a problem?
Thanks!
Eric
So, everything else aside and just getting down to the bare bones, would it be safe to say that:
The pluses are:
being able to maximize full cooking space
creating a venue for indirect cooking where it doesn't currently exist
avoiding steady cooking in an area with heat variations (up or down)
The negatives are:
cleaning the baskets
For those that have used the ribolator, I've read about a problem keeping the baskets balanced so the food doesn't topple out. Is that an old problem that no longer applies, an exaggerated problem or not a problem?
Thanks!
Eric
Sometimes I have trouble keeping things balanced when loading. I think there might be a trick to it. :becky: But I've not had a problem after the thing is balanced and while it's cooking.
I've not tried a large variety of meat on it yet, maybe some foods are prone to move around more? I do not know....
nope to you. It doesnt say anywhere not to credit a source unless its a recipe. You're splitting hairs. If you send someone to another location, we will know who the author is when we get there. A cut and paste should have a credit or a link.
NorthwestBBQ
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2009
- Location
- Everett, WA
Actually Phil, my comment came from this post in another thread where people and mods got hysterical for absolutely no reason.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1302930&postcount=104
By the time I realized I has not put in the link I could no longer edit my post.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1302930&postcount=104
By the time I realized I has not put in the link I could no longer edit my post.
jestridge
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2007
- Location
- annville ky
Does these things ever hang up ? I work on rotating industrial ovens for many years and seen many hang up
KnucklHed BBQ
Babbling Farker
Just cuz I'm a complete nut, I'm gonna make a completely on topic post... :crazy: :becky:
I just talked to the ol' man, he says he will happily pay for the return shipping, the only catch is that the person must have actually used it before returning it... seems fair.
I agree, cleaning the trays can be a bit tedious if your sink isn't large enough to allow the trays to soak.
A couple of pointers:
A 5 gal bucket works well to soak them
Oven cleaner works great
I've heard of some folks cutting frog mats to fit in the trays too
As for trays balancing, items that like to roll can present a problem...
I have yet to dump anything in the fire, but I have had a few close calls, potatoes weren't a great idea :tsk:
I set a pork tenderloin on one tray and hasselbeck'd potatoes on another and the loin plumped and rolled to one side and the potatoes rolled to the other... :doh:
I simply readjusted the loin so it sat diagonally and drove a couple of toothpicks thru the taters to hold them, no more issues.
IMO, the balance thing has a small learning curve with some items, I compare it to getting a new grill and then blaming the grill for burning the food... it's inexperience with the tool, once you learn it's strengths and weaknesses, you adjust for it.
As for the question about the trays "hanging up?" Well, no, the tray has enough room to be able to swing on the pivot 360* without hitting anything else (another tray, spit rod end brackets...) the only way 2 trays could connect is that if they were both swinging wildly in opposite directions and were timed correctly so that they collided OR if you had really tall items that could catch the bottom of another tray.
Could it happen? yes, I haven't had it happen to me yet (not saying that it won't ever happen, but I'm doubtful).
Thanks!!
I just talked to the ol' man, he says he will happily pay for the return shipping, the only catch is that the person must have actually used it before returning it... seems fair.
I agree, cleaning the trays can be a bit tedious if your sink isn't large enough to allow the trays to soak.
A couple of pointers:
A 5 gal bucket works well to soak them
Oven cleaner works great
I've heard of some folks cutting frog mats to fit in the trays too
As for trays balancing, items that like to roll can present a problem...
I have yet to dump anything in the fire, but I have had a few close calls, potatoes weren't a great idea :tsk:
I set a pork tenderloin on one tray and hasselbeck'd potatoes on another and the loin plumped and rolled to one side and the potatoes rolled to the other... :doh:
I simply readjusted the loin so it sat diagonally and drove a couple of toothpicks thru the taters to hold them, no more issues.
IMO, the balance thing has a small learning curve with some items, I compare it to getting a new grill and then blaming the grill for burning the food... it's inexperience with the tool, once you learn it's strengths and weaknesses, you adjust for it.
As for the question about the trays "hanging up?" Well, no, the tray has enough room to be able to swing on the pivot 360* without hitting anything else (another tray, spit rod end brackets...) the only way 2 trays could connect is that if they were both swinging wildly in opposite directions and were timed correctly so that they collided OR if you had really tall items that could catch the bottom of another tray.
Could it happen? yes, I haven't had it happen to me yet (not saying that it won't ever happen, but I'm doubtful).
Thanks!!
Ron,
My wife's firm specializes in these areas, and I was able to get her opinion without having to pay the $750 per hour.
Here's what she said:
If it's a publiclly available article, we're probably okay if we post the link and the textural explanation of the link.
Example:
I found this article written by Joe Schmoe in the NY Times:
http://nytimes/joeschmoe/whybillisabetterbbqcookthanmichael.html
Article text here
As long as the article is a piece that does not require subscription, we should be okay. I appreciate you clearing that up, as that isn't what the stickey said, and of course, I am sure we will all adhere.
BobBrisket
Moderator
THE BURNER THEORY!
If you take your hand and put it on a stove burner you will burn your hand. (and yes the burner is on). If you hover your hand above the burner, it will be warm or hot depending how far your hand is away from the burner, but you won't have searing flesh.
So, one way burns, and the other doesn't. So, if you where going to cook something without burning it would you put the food directly on the burner or would you hold it above the burner and let it cook slowly without burning?
THE ROL SECRET REVEALED!
The secret to the rol is to cook with indirect heat. That's it!... forget the self basting theory, even though it will do that if you have the trays filled with dripping meat, but it boils down to cooking with indirect heat.
And speaking of boiling, if you lay any food on a hot grill without watching it you will boil the juices out and have dry tough food, but if you have the food rotating in the heat the food basically just sweats, eliminating very little of that flavorful juice, Thereby your food is juicier. you just set it and forget it.
That's why everyone foils their ribs isn't it? Because if they left them on the grill for the full cook they would be burnt, dry, or tough, or all of the above. So, is foiling Q'ing? Might as well throw it in the oven.
And when you boil your food in your foil it changes the texture of the meat, and you boil away allot of your seasoning and some of the smoke flavor. So do you want to eat yummy, swollen, bloated boiled ribs or jump up and down, slap your daddy BBQ ribs? (sorry harry soo)(who has an rol by the way) there's no foiling on the rol, so your Q'ing right to the end. Just like the caveman.
You can ask any Q'er who cooks in comps if he would rather cook with direct or indirect heat. And to further prove the point, why do web heads move all the charcoal to one side of the grill and the food on the other. (INDIRECT HEAT)
So the question is, how are you going to BBQ any quantity of food with indirect heat on your weber or gasser. You can't, that little warming rack on your gasser wouldn't hold a small squirrel, and cooking on half your weber...well... you could get the whole squirrel on that, but that's about it.....
ENTER THE ROL...
So quit trying to figure out how or why it works, it just does. Did you have to understand how your car engine makes the car move before you got in it? You just know it does...do you have to know why all the voices in your head tell you to burn things or eat boogers? Of course not, you leave that to the professionals.....how did these matches get in my hand? Doh!
Just remember, the Rib-O-Lator will love you when no one else will.
And now the award wining Rib-O-Lator:
Michael was was using BOB's words to answer Eric's questions. Unless BOB has issue with him using his words, then I think this part of the thread can be put to rest. He got the text from this thread which also was inquiring about the ROL.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1302930#post1302930
From here on out, let's drop the topic of spelling, capitalization, punctuation and proper citation of sources and get back to answering Eric's questions about the ROL. Any future off topic material will be scrubbed from the thread.
Bob
jestridge
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2007
- Location
- annville ky
Way to go Bob, we don't need any gramma police on here (especially me)
Hunterman95
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2011
- Location
- Springfi...
A caveman never ate this good.......
swamprb
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2006
- Location
- Bothell WA
I tried to resist another response to a post about the Rib-O-Lator without doing the Hard Sell on it, but I just can't let it go.
There is always going to be the skeptics, the purist snobs that will thumb their nose at it and call it a gimmick and write it off, thats a fact. I know, because I WAS ONE OF THEM!
When I first saw it at a local backyard BBQ contest and Bob and Ryan cooking all kinds of samples for the public on GAS GRILLS! I blew them off and went about my business, but when the judging time came around and the First Place call for Ribs went to Team Rib-O-Lator and GC to boot, I took a brochure and my Second Place Rib ribbon on home!
I called Bob and ordered a R-O-L because it was supposed to fit 99% of the grills on the market, I was totally bummed when it did not fit my Weber and EZ-Que kettle rotisserie rings. I was going to return it because I figured I'd NEVER use it on my Genesis.
But I was able to persuade Bob to shorten a set of trays for me to use on my kettle, and I think the rest is history. I used it indirect on the Cajun Bandit kettle conversion, direct on my Drum Smokers, indirect banked coals on the Performer and even made a dedicated 22" WSM rotisserie before the Cajun Bandit ring hit the market- I just enjoyed using it on all my cookers that I'd previously used my EZ-Que cradle on, with great results.
I'm very proud of this cook from the Skewered Apple BBQ Championship, Yakima, WA 2010 "Anything on a Skewer" side category 70 teams, First Place entry using the Rib-O-Lator!
So, I'm a gadget guy and like to mix things up and not get stuck cooking on one particular brand of grill, they all have their place and all do their own thing, look at my sig- I never get bored cooking on the toys I use, I ENJOY cooking outdoors- it soothes me!
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The Rib-O-Lator is probably not for everyone, and there will be those that don't or can't get the hang of it, but I believe those that don't have not given it a chance, and those that have failed with it brought it on themselves by expecting more than it is. Here are some of the pitfalls that can avoided IMO.
YES - you will lose your meats to the fire gods if the trays are not set up on a flat even surface and checked for proper balance.
I don't recommend using a round spit rod unless you grind a flat spot on the rod for the X bracket set screws to secure to.
Just go with a square stock spit rod.
Likewise, I would also not recommend drilling into a drum and hard mounting the R-O-L. I know some have and it works for them, but for ease of use and balance sake, a rotisserie ring setup is the way to go! You can lift the whole assembly off a drum and remove your cuts and keep the drum temps stable. How people do it on a mounted drum is beyond me? And burns hurt.
YES - you must evenly distribute the meat in the trays to prevent them from tipping. This must also be done during the cook at times too. Use common sense and put a grate under the R-O-L to prevent loss.
YES - The trays can be a PITA to keep clean. But I have found spraying them with PAM before cooking and removing the R-O-L from the cooker immediately after the meats are done will keep the grease from burning even more and making them easier to keep clean.
My cleaning tip: Get a 6" full size hotel pan (or plastic tub) and soak them in water and Oxi-Clean powdered bleach. Hose them off - and if you really wanna get anal, run them through the dishwasher, they will SHINE!
I still have the first generation set of trays that Bob shortened to fit my kettles and pull them out when I'm cooking for a crowd.
Eric is on a fact finding mission and he seems to be having a hard time finding info or people that have negative issues with the R-O-L. I hope that the issues that I have brought up can help others avoid some of the mishaps I've encountered, other than that - I'm not on the Rib-O-Lator payroll, and I think they are great!
Spell Check was not used in this post!
There is always going to be the skeptics, the purist snobs that will thumb their nose at it and call it a gimmick and write it off, thats a fact. I know, because I WAS ONE OF THEM!
When I first saw it at a local backyard BBQ contest and Bob and Ryan cooking all kinds of samples for the public on GAS GRILLS! I blew them off and went about my business, but when the judging time came around and the First Place call for Ribs went to Team Rib-O-Lator and GC to boot, I took a brochure and my Second Place Rib ribbon on home!
I called Bob and ordered a R-O-L because it was supposed to fit 99% of the grills on the market, I was totally bummed when it did not fit my Weber and EZ-Que kettle rotisserie rings. I was going to return it because I figured I'd NEVER use it on my Genesis.
But I was able to persuade Bob to shorten a set of trays for me to use on my kettle, and I think the rest is history. I used it indirect on the Cajun Bandit kettle conversion, direct on my Drum Smokers, indirect banked coals on the Performer and even made a dedicated 22" WSM rotisserie before the Cajun Bandit ring hit the market- I just enjoyed using it on all my cookers that I'd previously used my EZ-Que cradle on, with great results.
I'm very proud of this cook from the Skewered Apple BBQ Championship, Yakima, WA 2010 "Anything on a Skewer" side category 70 teams, First Place entry using the Rib-O-Lator!
So, I'm a gadget guy and like to mix things up and not get stuck cooking on one particular brand of grill, they all have their place and all do their own thing, look at my sig- I never get bored cooking on the toys I use, I ENJOY cooking outdoors- it soothes me!
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The Rib-O-Lator is probably not for everyone, and there will be those that don't or can't get the hang of it, but I believe those that don't have not given it a chance, and those that have failed with it brought it on themselves by expecting more than it is. Here are some of the pitfalls that can avoided IMO.
YES - you will lose your meats to the fire gods if the trays are not set up on a flat even surface and checked for proper balance.
I don't recommend using a round spit rod unless you grind a flat spot on the rod for the X bracket set screws to secure to.
Just go with a square stock spit rod.
Likewise, I would also not recommend drilling into a drum and hard mounting the R-O-L. I know some have and it works for them, but for ease of use and balance sake, a rotisserie ring setup is the way to go! You can lift the whole assembly off a drum and remove your cuts and keep the drum temps stable. How people do it on a mounted drum is beyond me? And burns hurt.
YES - you must evenly distribute the meat in the trays to prevent them from tipping. This must also be done during the cook at times too. Use common sense and put a grate under the R-O-L to prevent loss.
YES - The trays can be a PITA to keep clean. But I have found spraying them with PAM before cooking and removing the R-O-L from the cooker immediately after the meats are done will keep the grease from burning even more and making them easier to keep clean.
My cleaning tip: Get a 6" full size hotel pan (or plastic tub) and soak them in water and Oxi-Clean powdered bleach. Hose them off - and if you really wanna get anal, run them through the dishwasher, they will SHINE!
I still have the first generation set of trays that Bob shortened to fit my kettles and pull them out when I'm cooking for a crowd.
Eric is on a fact finding mission and he seems to be having a hard time finding info or people that have negative issues with the R-O-L. I hope that the issues that I have brought up can help others avoid some of the mishaps I've encountered, other than that - I'm not on the Rib-O-Lator payroll, and I think they are great!
Spell Check was not used in this post!
swamprb
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2006
- Location
- Bothell WA
bump
Great post Brian!
I was generously given one by one of my good friends (and one of the best cooks on this site, along with yourself), and although I did not have occasion to use it this weekend (my kid chose brisket as his choice of meat for gameday here [NE vs Ravens]), I do have some experience with rotiserie's, being a Cajun Bandit owner.
I put the ROL together, and it looks solidly built. Given the extra metal involved as opposed to the CB, I think the advantage I like best is the ability to build a full fire, as opposed to having to use the Minion method, as I do with the CB. This will get the cook going faster, and allow me to finish faster as well: Huge advantage over the CB, IMHO.
Anyway, that you for the great post!
I was generously given one by one of my good friends (and one of the best cooks on this site, along with yourself), and although I did not have occasion to use it this weekend (my kid chose brisket as his choice of meat for gameday here [NE vs Ravens]), I do have some experience with rotiserie's, being a Cajun Bandit owner.
I put the ROL together, and it looks solidly built. Given the extra metal involved as opposed to the CB, I think the advantage I like best is the ability to build a full fire, as opposed to having to use the Minion method, as I do with the CB. This will get the cook going faster, and allow me to finish faster as well: Huge advantage over the CB, IMHO.
Anyway, that you for the great post!
Thank you Bob! I agree totally.
And in addition to dropping the picyune spelling nonsense, I think we need to all behave better to one another, in general.
You're all pretty good folk here, and we're lucky to have this place, and one another, to share our experiences with.
Gonna stop this before I start singing Cumbaya, or something. :becky:
