SC - Plastic Ware (change to Forks??)

[Elaine Koogler]

Greetings Aengus MacBain!

Welcome to the world of pit/coal cookery!  I have done more and more roasting over coals recently and offer a little more to what Sieggy has already given.  The key, IMHO, to sucessful cooking over coals/fire is temperature control.  Once you have mastered that, you can do most anything you need to do.  You can vary the temperature you are cooking at by banking your coals to one place or another.

For example, the meat to be cooked on a whole lamb carcasse is mostly on the legs.  So, you would want to pile your coals so as to direct the heat mostly to those areas so they cook before the ribs become charcoal.  You can use a rake or stick to maneuver the coals (in this example, I put them in a wedge at the head and tail of the beast with the open end toward the center like this <-> so that the point is under the very end of the animal).  If you decide the heat is to high or cooking too fast, you simply move the coals a little further away, and closer to intensify the heat.  Maintaining constant heat source is aslo useful, so add fresh coals occasionally as they begin to burn out.

The same principals can be used with cauldrons/pots.  You can use adjustable chains to raise and lower the pot, and bank the coals into a big circle to manage the heat: smaller circle for more intense heat and expand to draw heat lower.  It takes some finesse and practice to get comforatble with it, but it is incredibly enriching in the process.  Cooking this way requires an intimacy with your fire and your food to know what is does and doesn't do or like.  

I hope this helps, and have fun!!


niccolo difrancesco
(wish I knew more of this stuff back when I was in Scouts! :o)

sca-cooks at ansteorra.org wrote:
>     Use your hand - literally. Place your spit at about the height whereyour hand can't stand the heat. TURN the spit at least every 5 minutes, and even that's pushing it. Use a meat thermometer; if the outside is charring and the inside is cold, raise the spit and go longer. DON'T pull the meat off the spit until it's 160 degrees (varies with the meat, but that's a good guideline) AT A JOINT.
    Sieggy

> Unto all who read these words does Aengus MacBain bid good greetings.
>
> I have a bit of a delimma I was hoping you good folk could help me with. Milady wife and I have taken an interest in cooking over an open fire. We recently bought a spit however, we have no real idea how to cook with the bloody thing. How does one gauge the height at which the food should be kept from the fire? How do you interpret temperature on something as variable as an open fire? Are there any books available on the subject or is this one of those trial and error things?  Any assistance you could offer to pave our way in the venue would be gratefully accepted.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Aengus MacBain






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