Everything You Need To Know About Spit Roasters
Spit Roasters - The Pro's, Con's And Whether They're Right For You
I love a good spit roast and it's a great feature (read: excuse) to have a party around. People will congregate around it with a couple of drinks and the conversation will flow. On top of that, it's very hard to bugger it up as it's such a slow cooking technique.
Most meat will spit roast really well and I've tried many of them myself - kangaroo, sheep, goat, pig and even one that had a dozen chickens speared onto the main shaft !
Pros:
- Having one of these babies at a party, you will become the social centre of the event. People love gathering around a spit-roast (unless it's stinking hot) and helping out in some small way. Not to mention taking the odd sample or two.
- The meat is beautifully tender and the taste is fantastic and unlike any other technique/style.
- Obviously there's a lot of meat - that's always good.
- It's not quite a case of "set it and forget it", but it's pretty close.
Cons:
- Has to be done outside, or at least in a very open, covered area - therefore it's not normally suitable in poor weather.
- They do take several hours to cook, depending on the size and type of the animal - if you don't have that sort of time, this is not for you.
- They usually require more than one person to setup. Handling a full carcass, setting it on the spear and getting the balance right is all really a two-person job.
- You need to alloow 2-3 hours before your cooking time begins to allow the wood to burn down to charcoal (see shortcut below in comments). You can't cook over a raging flame, despite what you see in a number of movies.
- They can be expensive unless you are able to build it yourself. Stainless steel ones in Australia currently retail for $1,000 - $1200.
Comments:
- I want one. I've used them many times but don't own one. However, given that I already have 4 different types of BBQ, I'm not arguing from a position of strength, in the family budget.
- If you are interested in one, I strongly suggest you rent or borrow one for your first couple efforts - just to make sure before you lay out that sort of cash.
- If you are a little short on time, you can avoid the wait of burning your wood down to coals by using a 50:50 mixture of heat-beads and pre-made charcoal (bbq and hardware/camping stores usually stock this). It'll cost a more but probably save you 2-3 hours - your cooking time will remain the same however.
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