Ritz Black Angus Broiler

[tomturbomatic]

At a reasonable starting bid and it's clean. Only two days left to make it yours.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1950s-RITZ-BLAC...843?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2560ee6fab

 

[rp2813]

That looks a lot more well-made than the Roto-Broils of the same vintage, which aren't the best for fit & finish.

I like the GE's that had the entire hood/lid that opened back. It's way easier to access whatever you have spinning with that lifted out of the way. I've only seen them in a copper & chrome motif. I would ditch my Roto-Broil 400 for one of those, unless locating the heating element on the bottom is a flawed design.

Here's a picture of one:

 

[tomturbomatic]

Ralph, that GE had a heating element in the hood for broiling and rotissing. It is barely visible in your picture. The bottom elements were for baking and roasting. It is an incredibly bulky appliance with not a shred of insulation to hold the heat in while baking or roasting. Look at the hood and imagine trying to keep all of that lift assembly that's right in the splatter zone clean. It was replaced in the early mid 60s with a very squared-off rotisserie broiler with a glass door on the front that was open at the top and bottom to give a flow of air to help make sure the cooking was done by the infrared rays and not by hot air. The design prevented it from being used for baking, but increasingly that function was not needed in a large counter top appliance. Soon, toaster ovens would take over that duty.

 

[rp2813]

Hey Tom, thanks for the info. I did recognize the cleaning nightmare with the lid assembly, but the lack of insulation hadn't occurred to me. Even the Roto-Broils do better in that regard.

I've heard before that leaving a gap above the door (as in the Roto-Broil Riviera model) helps with the roasting. My Custom 400 has a full glass door but I still get great results from it.

Here's a shot of a Riviera. The door comes barely more than halfway up the front.

 

[rp2813]

Here's my Custom 400. The window covers the entire opening.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Yes, but isn't there a hook at the top of the door frame that allows it to be held open a bit for broiling, like the "broil" position of the door on an electric oven?

 

[rp2813]

Tom, the answer is no.  The hook on the Custom 400's door only holds it completely closed.  It's all or nothing.

 

It's interesting that the Riviera seems to be the BOL model, yet has the partial door system for superior roasting.  It also has the coil that cycles on and off depending on the heat setting.  The 400's have coils that remain constantly lit, but with less intensity depending on the heat setting selected.

 

The Riviera also doesn't offer the baking tray option.  Thus, the term "Bakes" is missing from the verbiage across the bottom of the window.  On the 400's it reads, "Barbeques, Bakes, Broils, Roasts, Grills, Fries, Boils, Toasts"