Genesis rotisserie advice

[Alan M]

so i now have a onegrill rotisserie spit for my Weber Genesis 330, and last night made a turkey which came out great. I used a turbotrusser which worked mostly but i needed to supplement with some cooking twine.
Unfortunately due to the large size of a 12 pounder, and the small vertical distance from the spit to the grate, i had to remove both the grates and the flavorer bars. the drip pan had to balance on the burners. In a picture from Meatheads book he shows a corning ware pan as a drip pan. How much weight can go on the burners ? do I give up on roasting vegetables in a drip pan under turkey?
any advice please.

[jfmorris]

I can’t help, but wonder if you are using a Genesis, or a Genesis II? I bought a rotisserie for my Genesis II E-420 and used it exactly ONE time. Even a 5 pound chicken was hitting the flavorizer bars, and I refuse to remove those and clog the burners up with chicken grease. I had trouble putting anything in a drip pan. Now I only rotisserie on my Weber kettle. All in all the worst purchase ever, and the sad part is my kids got it for me for Father’s Day in 2019 - the year I got the grill.

The newest Genesis, since the 2021 or so redesign, seems to have more vertical clearance for the rotisserie mounting points.

My other thought is that if you remove the flavorizer bars, you can’t turn those burners on at all, and even with the 4 burner grill, I had trouble crisping skin on the rotisserie chicken with just the two outer burners.

[Alan M]

Thanks,
it’s a genesis ep330. I also have an onlyfire rotisserie for my Weber 22 inch kettle. I often use both grills simultaneously when we have company because of the amount I need to cook. When I purchased both rotisserie kits I assumed I’d cook heavier things on the genesis, but now I realize larger things like a turkey will have to go on charcoal and baskets and chickens on the gas grill. I’m disappointed that I’m limited on the genesis . I mean the turkey came out nice but I could only have a thin pan on top of the burner bar that wasn’t well balanced. I’m glad I didn’t purchase a corningware pan as per Meatheads suggestion. The weight might damage the burners.
i wonder if I were handier if I could build something to elevate the spit, but likely the hood would collide with the protein.

[jfmorris]

Elevating the spit isn't really possible, unless you plan on modifying both the lid and the side walls of the Genesis! . I pretty much only use my kettle rotisserie these days.

[Alan M]

I’m truly disappointed that Weber did not think of this when designing the grill

[TripleB]

Alan, not sure why you are disappointed. The Genesis ep330 is not a large grill. You managed to cook a 12 pound turkey on it which was great engineering on your part. Kudos to you. But being disappointed about the grill design for a turkey is like being disappointed that you can't load 2x4x16 lumber in your honda civic.

[Max Good]

Looks like Weber recommended limiting rotisserie turkey size to around 15 lbs. or less, however, the new Genesis models have a taller hood to accommodate larger hunks 'o meat. Resting a heavy pan directly on the burner tubes is surely not recommended.

[jfmorris]

Yeah - that taller sidewall on the body of the grill is the first thing I noticed when I saw the new Genesis design. It's now closer to Summit design I think. The Genesis II however that I have is even worse than my old 2002 Genesis as far as the rotisserie height goes.

[Alan M]

i guess that when i purchased my Genesis about seven years ago ( replacing my old rusted one) I thought it to be a large grill or maybe the largest in my budget at the time . Granted I now know much more and on the web you can see far more varieties than are in Home Depot or Lowes. There are also much smaller varieties than the Genesis, but were i to do it all over I might get a Summit or maybe a high end Traeger and a SnS kettle for when I want old fashioned charcoal.Fortunately for me I have a an only fire ring with much greater vertical depth to make my next Turkey on a spit. I'll use theOneGrill weber for baskets of fries, wings vegetables and smaller birds. And if I live long enough G-d willing will get a bigger grill someday.
As to the Civic analogy, yes you are right but if all the other grills are Yugos and Pintos one might think its big.
And Max the foil pan only rest on the burners that were off but yeah Id only put a very light pan on them.

[Alan Brice]

Alan M I have the only fire 22 assy roti w/pizza oven. extremely happy with it. I spatchcock my poultry n hang if poss. Or just put on the grill. Did a 26 pound bird on the new offset. Spatchcocked on the grill portion. I use the Roti for pork loin or similar cuts.

[Alan M]

i found a partial solution. My local Amazing Savings has these 17.75 x 12.5 inch drip pans that fit on the ledge where the flavorizer bars sit. so this pan is balanced and doesn't rest on the unused burners. it gives a few more inches of vertical distance and I can weigh it down with some water.

[Alan M]

"
fmorris commented
Today, 08:14 AM
Elevating the spit isn't really possible, unless you plan on modifying both the lid and the side walls of the Genesis! . I pretty much only use my kettle rotisserie these days."

Agreed, but there are times I want to use both my kettle and genesis. If Im making Turkey on the kettle spit, Id like to make wings and fries on the genesis. Also as it gets colder the convenience of gas grilling increases.

[jfmorris]

You misunderstand. I use my Genesis a good bit - and concurrent with the kettle - just not for rotisserie cooking. For wings and fries that you mention, you won’t be using a rotisserie anyway, or at least, I wouldn’t.

I’ll also use my Genesis a lot more during winter, to shorten the time I have to stand out in the cold…

I really feel the rotisserie notches in the Genesis before the 2021 redesign were an afterthought, and an epic fail by Weber

[Alan M]

JF
what's wrong with wings or fries in the basket? the best wings I ever had were made in the basket?

[jfmorris]

Hey - you do you! I like my wings direct grilled on a set of Grillgrates I have for my Genesis. Plus I don’t have a rotisserie basket. I am usually cooking 5 to 10 pounds of wings when I fire up the Genesis to do them… it fills the entire grill.

[Alan M]

sounds delicious. Grillgrates are a game changer for gas grills

[jfmorris]

Yes! I bought my first set after I had a grease fire in my old 2 burner Genesis flipping 30+ burgers for a July 4th cookout, in two batches. Eliminating flareups is a good thing!

I swap between the original cast iron grates and the grill grates depending on what I am doing. If I need indirect, I need to use the original grates. If I use my cast iron out there, same. Otherwise its mostly Grillgrates.

[Alan M]

I do the same thing!
Plus if I put any device like a pan or a cast iron pot I use the regular grates. Grillgrate doesn't recommend anything of weight on them,

[jfmorris]

Actually it’s more ann issue with different types of metal heating and cooling at different rates, and trapped heat under a pot or skillet warping or damaging the aluminum grilllgrates.

I had a grease fire destroy two of 7 GrillGrate panels and warp the body on my Genesis a couple years ago. I’m much more cautious with them now… a long story that’s somewhere on here.

[Alan M]

the other day i cooked hamburgers on my 22 inch weber kettle which has a slowmsear. I experimented by using cold grate technique on some and used the flat side of grill grate half-moon on others.
My wife clearly liked the cold grate technique. I couldn't decide. The grill grate had a better crusted the SnS had a cleaner drier taste while the GG in addition to the crust had a sauce like flavor to it. Im going to repeat tomorrow to see if I can decide.