Both machines cost the same -- $99.95 plus tax at a discount
store.
Physically, they are both about the same size. The Ronco Jr.
has a door that swings out, so it requires extra space in front
of the unit. The George Foreman is shaped like a horizontal
cylinder, with a curved door that slides up like a roll-top desk,
so it doesn't require extra space for the door.
I've had the Ronco Jr. for about 8 months, using it about
3 times a week on average, and it's performed very well.
It seems to be very solidly constructed. The George Foreman
seems more lightly constructed, but I've only had it two days,
so I don't know how durable it is.
The George Foreman is a nicer-looking unit. The Ronco Jr.
is very functional-looking, like it was designed by an
engineer.
The Ronco Jr. rotates at about 8 RPM, as compared to the
George Foreman at 4 RPM. The Ronco Jr. always rotates
in the same direction, while the George Foreman seems to
randomly pick a direction of rotation. You can unplug and
plug the unit to get the direction of rotation you want, which
doesn't matter for most purposes but does matter for mine.
(More about this later.)
Both units come with a flat basket. The Ronco Jr. basket
is about 8 x 8 x 1.5 inches. The George Foreman basket
is about 7 x 8 x 2 inches. Because I mainly do chicken
drumsticks in the Ronco Jr, and they fit well within 1.5 inches,
the Ronco Jr. is better in this regard. I usually have more
trouble fitting the chicken within the plane of the basket
rather than its thickness.
VERY IMPORTANT -- the Ronco Jr. has a non-stick
coating on the basket, spit rods, and drip pan cover.
The George Foreman doesn't have a non-stick coating
on any surfaces. Although the George Foreman has a
drip pan, it does not have a cover for the drip pan.
VERY IMPORTANT -- the George Foreman also comes
with a cylindrical basket for baking vegetables and french
fries. This is why I bought the George Foreman -- I thought
it could be used to roast nuts. It does this VERY WELL.
In about 15 minutes, it will roast a pound of almonds,
pecans, or hazelnuts very evenly. I am very pleased with
the machine for this reason. Unless it breaks down in the
near future, I consider it an excellent purchase just for this
purpose. I had been looking for a nut roaster, and all the
alternatives seemed to be much more expensive.
I was considering the Alpenro$t coffee bean roaster, but
its high price (minimum, $259, not including shipping) and
low capacity (max. 8 ounces) made it seem a poor choice
for my purpose. I think the George Foreman probably
could be used to roast coffee beans, but I'm not going to
try it because I don't want to deposit volatile oils from the
coffee beans in my machine.
All in all, I would say if you want to roast meat, the Ronco Jr.
is a better buy because of the non-stick coating and solid
construction. I'm pleased to own both units, because I plan
to roast a lot of nuts, and for the latter purpose only the
George Foreman will do.
Note that there is also a Baby George rotisserie which I saw
at $59.95. That is a much smaller unit, and does not appear
to come with a cylindrical basket.
Cool review Mark! I've seen a lot of posts about how pleased everyone
seems with their rotisseries.
Are you going to try to roast beans in the Ronco? Since you stated
virtually everything's non-stick it should make cleaning the oils
easy... I haven't made the plunge for a rotisserie yet and am
currently weighing the factors. IIRC, you can also roast beans in an
air popcorn popper.
Thanks again for posting your experiences with both...
Cyndi
> Are you going to try to roast beans in the Ronco? Since you stated
> virtually everything's non-stick it should make cleaning the oils
> easy... I haven't made the plunge for a rotisserie yet and am
> currently weighing the factors. IIRC, you can also roast beans in an
> air popcorn popper.
I can't. There is no cylindrical basket available for the Ronco.
Therefore, I can't use it to roast nuts or coffee beans.
Yes, you can roast small quantities of beans in a hot air popper.
See this web page (and the rest of their highly informative site):
http://www.sweetmarias.com/airpopmethod.html
I forgot to mention that the Ronco has both a no-heat rotation
mode and a heat-only, no-rotation mode. The George Foreman
only has heat+rotation. I have no use for heat without rotation,
but I use rotation without heat all the time, to allow my chicken
or ribs to cool down and rest after cooking.
Also, for what it's worth, the Ronco is made in Korea, and the
George Foreman is made in China.
The George Foreman has a heat reflector behind the heating
element which can be removed for cleaning. The Ronco
doesn't have anything behind the heating element, except
the back wall of the cooking chamber. In either case,
if you're cooking meat, it's probably hopeless to try to keep
the machine clean. I look at the Ronco commercials and
laugh -- they're using brand new, unseasoned machines,
totally unrealistic.
Although some Ronco machines come with kebab skewers,
my $99.95 (retail) unit did not. The George Foreman comes
with skewers and a big tong-like tool for removing the
spit rod or basket from the machine while it's still hot.
The spit rod device for the George Foreman is secured
by a setscrew, while the Ronco spit rods fit into holes on
the opposing plate. The Ronco device is much simpler,
and works fine, even after "seasoning" (i.e. after developing
a coat of brown crud).
The axis of the spit rod device for the Ronco rotates in
two depressions pressed into the sheet metal in the sides
of the cooking chamber. These areas must be lubricated
occasionally with fat, otherwise the machine makes a
groaning sound as the device rotates. The George Foreman
has two strips of metal bolted to the sides of the cooking
chamber to hold the rotating food holder, and seems to
require no lubrication at all. In this respect, the George
Foreman machine is a superior design. It can be annoying
when the Ronco starts groaning during the middle of
cooking something, when everything is too hot to remove
from the machine just so you can lubricate it.
I also use the basket for peanuts...works great. I've put about 350
chickens in my Ronco machine (digital) and can't believe I lived
without it.
On Wed, 18 Jun 2003 05:19:00 GMT, Mark Thorson <nos...@sonic.net>
wrote:
> Since you stated virtually everything's non-stick
> it should make cleaning the oils
> easy...
No, only the spit rods, flat basket, and drip-pan cover
are non-stick. The interior surfaces of the cooking chamber,
the drip pan, and the gear wheels on the ends of the spit
rods are all uncoated. That's not a problem for the drip
pan or the floor of the cooking chamber, but everything
else gets spattered with grease which gets burned on.
I suppose some obsessive-compulsive fanatic could
clean all of those surfaces after every use, but that
would be an incredible amount of labor. Unless your
time is almost worthless, it wouldn't make any sense
to spend so much time cleaning it. The way I figure it,
considering the value of my time, if I ever decide the
machine is too dirty to use, I'll just buy a new one.
I've probably used my machine over 100 times.
If I spent 1/2 hour each time to clean it, that would
be 50 hours of labor. My time would have to be
worth less than $2/hour for it to make sense to clean
the machine, rather than just buying a new one.
For sanitary purposes, the only important surfaces
are the ones which touch the food, and those are
non-stick in the Ronco. Even at that, it is a chore to
clean the basket, spit rods, and drip pan cover after
every use. I find that a big help is to use a bucket
to soak the basket and spit rods in hot water for
a while before cleaning off the crud with an old
toothbrush.
Unless you've got cheap illegal alien household help
to do the cleaning, you should assume your machine
will become encrusted with a brown coating of
burned-on grease. That's just in the nature of these
machines.