I thought of this question today while at the local thrift store because there were 3 different used rotisserie ovens there marked from 9.99-19.99. They each appeared to be missing different accessories so I didn't make the plunge. I think I may just keep checking back and hopefully one that suits my needs will pop up. Or maybe enough of them will continue to join the crockpots, lean mean grilling machines and bread machines of the world at every thrift store and I can buy a bunch and turn my apartment into a 24-7 gyros wonderland.

Kamal,

I would think a real rotisserie oven would be pretty expensive and huge. I definitely do not have room for that in my kitchen. However an awesome and less expensive approach to this would be the rotisserie toaster oven. Now that you posted this question I totally want one. Roasting meats... mmmmmm.

If you haven't seen one before here's a link to a newegg search: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=rotisserie

They seem to be in the 70-$100 range. Now I'm totally rethinking my christmas wish list!

I don't have a rotisserie oven at the moment. I used to have a propane grill with a rotisserie attachment, and it was awesome. At the moment my wish list has on it the rotisserie attachment for my Weber charcoal grill. I expect that will create some rather fabulous roasts. I've never used a rotisserie toaster oven, but if you have the counter space it would probably cook great roasts. When I've seen them in the store, they seem a bit small, which is why I tend to prefer having a rotisserie attachment for an outdoor grill.

For my birthday several years ago, my parents took me to a dinner package at Old Sturbridge Village, an 1830s living history museum in Massachusetts. A group of us gathered in the kitchen of one of the houses and cooked an 1830s meal using period ingredients and techniques. A full description of the event is a blog post for another day, but we used what at the time was a brand new technology for roasting the chicken, a tin oven (more technically known as a reflector oven - these days one may see solar cookers).

I can't find any pictures of one right now. It was essentially a tin box with one side, in which a chicken was hung suspended. It was placed on the hearth with the open side facing the fire and a pan of vegetables placed underneath, both to cook by the fire and catch the chicken drippings. This little device cooked some of the most delicious chicken I've ever tasted.

Anyway, not especially relevant to the question at hand, but I wanted to share. I guess if I had a point, it's that real roasted (not baked) meat is totally worth the time, effort, and equipment.

I have one. In Europe the rotisserie attachment comes as standard in most ovens, my mother cooked a roast chicken on it every Sunday, but you do not see them being used so much nowadays. The electrician who installed my oven showed me how to cook meat on the rotisserie attachment and waxed lyrical for half an hour about what can be done with it.

In my humble opinion, I would say that it cooks meat perfectly and more thoroughly, hence more safely and in a shorter amount of time than just putting the meat in a roasting dish, the fat drips onto any vegetables that you may have in a tray underneath and the skin gets very crisp indeed. I would not say that you need to buy a separate rotisserie oven though, look for an attachment to your regular oven instead. Not sure how this works in the U.S but in Europe the majority of ovens still have a slot for a rotisserie attachment even if you have to buy the actual bits separately.

If you want to impress guests, then well, regardless of cost, you should go for the whole thing......

I have a Waring Pro convection oven, which has a rotisserie built in, and I do like it. But, all I cook with it is poultry, and using the rotisserie is more hassle than just plunking the bird in a roasting pan. Plus, I think convection cooking crisps the skin better than the rotisserie mode's radiant cooking.