All orders are filled in
the order they were
received.
RK
Pictorial
Assembly Guide
While this page is not meant to be a step-by-step guide to
building your own RK Roaster, (This may come in the future as
time and compilation permits-This can be difficult as every
grill is different.) It is a collection of documents
and images that give close-up or additional detailed information that may
make the assembly of your RK Roaster easier. Since every
setup is unique, a little ingenuity and forethought is necessary
to completing your setup.
This is the
recommended Rotisserie available for around $50-$60 at Lowe's,
Home Depot and many other major hardware stores. RK does
not sell these and you will need to acquire this on your own.
The picture
below is a picture of all or most of the hardware you will need
to get your roaster going. The "Ove Glove" is a
kevlar/nomex glove that permits handling of the
400-600 degree drum. This is absolutely necessary and you
should not skimp on this purchase as these hot parts will burn
you instantly and severely if not careful. Also
available at Home Depot.
inks
If you should have trouble
finding one of these mentioned products, the Char-Broil
Rotisserie and the Ove Glove can be ordered and shipped online.
You of course don't have to use these brands but it is what I
have found to work best. Try these links while they last!
Also as a side note, be sure to
pull the glove all the way up as far as you can covering your
wrist as it is very easy to burn the inside of your arm or wrist
while working with the coupler end of the rotisserie rod while hot. I have
plenty of scars to prove that even I, the designer, am
susceptible to getting burned.
The 6 RPM
rotisserie motor for light duty roasting only, rotisserie rod,
handle, support bracket, thermometer, bearings, and mounting
hardware. All of this sits in a flour-sifter type
restaurant sifting tray which can be used for cooling your
beans.
Lets first make
sure that we get the motor and mount setup on the side of the
grill that you prefer.
I recommend installing this on
the side of your un-favored hand. Meaning, if you are
right-handed, put this on the left, and vice versa. This
will make sense when you are unloading the hot drum from the
grill.
One of the below
pictures also shows the 6 RPM rotisserie motor.
The rotisserie motor should only
be used for the occasional small roast. Works best around
1-2 pound loads. Actually I would really consider this the
budget motor. You should really upgrade to the higher RPM
motors sold here to get your best roasts. It will provide
for better mixing, but you CAN roast with this.
This is a picture of the 6 RPM rotisserie motor.
You can
mount your motor to the grill's plastic tray. (note the plastic
grill tray below the motor bracket)
Here is an
illustration of the setup of the 50 RPM motor, and the optional
mounting hardware. Gives a bit of a cleaner look and
mounts directly to the tray bars of the grill.
You can bolt it down to
the side tray bars with two 1-1/2" muffler clamps and four
5/16" X 2 1/2" long bolts. You can use the washers and nuts
supplied with the hardware kit. The muffler U-bolts are
readily available at Advance, Autozone and other auto parts
stores. You may find them as well in hardware stores.
Keep them loose
for the time being as we line everything up.
Bolt
You will want to
place the bearing support bracket on your grill to where it
lines up with the rotisserie slot in your grill.
Please note that your wooden
handle will also go on this end, therefore you will want to be
careful to install this bracket on the side of the grill where
your most adept hand is located. For example, if you are
right-handed, most people will prefer this on the right side of
the grill.
The reason for this, is that
when you pull the beans and dump them, you are holding 2-6
pounds of extremely hot metal and beans that will need to be controllably
dumped onto the cooling tray without accidentally burning
yourself. For this reason you will
want as much control as possible when handling the drum and rod
to prevent burns. Therefore put your handle on the side of
your strongest most coordinated hand.
Next the locking
collar should be installed at the position of your drum, this is
to prevent it from sliding up or down the rotisserie rod.
Next, slide your
drum on to where it mates up right next to the collar already
installed and then install the opposing collar to secure the
drum in place on the rod. We really don't want any
free-play here.
Now lets slide
on our bearing, and lock it down. Make sure the Lovejoy
coupler is firmly mounted into your motor. Make sure the
bearing now lines up and sits centered in your bracket.
On the bracket
end, lets go ahead now and install the wooden handle as far away
as possible from the grill. You can even put another
locking collar at the far end to make sure the wooden handle
stays put.
We prefer this handle
farther away from the grill as you will likely be
handling this with your bare hand and we want to
minimize its heat absorption. It can get pretty
warm after a few consecutive roasts.
Now would be a
great time for one final check. Make sure everything is
lined up and centered, then tighten your bolts on the motor
mount, or adjust as necessary, tighten all your collars and
bearing and handle. Everything should sit comfortably
tight, centered and without much free movement.
Put a level on
your drum and make sure it sits level so that you get an even
roast. You don't want beans piling up on one end.
If it is
un-level, you may need to adjust your bracket vertically, or
laterally.
A heat shield
installed between your motor and the side of the grill is not
mandatory but will prolong the life of your motor and coupler.
The coupler's rubber cushion can become hard from the heat over
time.
If you take a
thin piece of flashing cut to fit and put a few bolts in the
side of the hood, it will work perfectly.
Finally we want
to install our thermometer. We need the probe as close to
the center of the chamber as possible. Ideally we'd love
to have this in the center of the bean mass, but currently this
is not convenient, so we'll get it as close as possible.
You can see my approximate location of the probe which should
let it sit fairly close to the drum while in operation.
Drill an
appropriate hole to fit, you may need to use a file to fine tune
it. Be careful to make sure it fits snug.
This is the
picture of the probe on the inside of the hood with the hood
open. It lies a couple of inches from the hood lip.
Well, there you
go, that's a quick visual guide to getting it all set up.
Note that some grills have
high domes in the hood and you can loose a lot of heat
in the top. Some folks have installed flashing in
the top half of the hood to help concentrate heat on the
drum, provide for less area to heat, quicker warm ups
and more efficient use of propane, but each setup is
different and this is certainly not recommended for all
setups. But feel free to experiment, with the goal
of concentrating as much heat as possible onto the drum
itself.
Many grills come with an
aluminum flame diffuser at the bottom over the burners.
I have found that removing this and installing a steel
plate perhaps 1/8" thick onto the supports above the
burner will even out the heat throughout the grill.
This may prevent hot spots and allow more even heating.
You should leave about a 1 inch gap between the plate
and the wall of the grill, all the way around for air.
You may get better results this way.
Further
documentation can be found on the Drum/Motor setup page
by clicking here.
inks 
Bolt 
