[Sca-cooks] A Question of Spit Roasting...

[Ciorstan]

  Marion writes:

> I must admit that I'm somewhat of a wuss (Australian coll. translation
> afraid... scaredy-cat...) about cooking over a fire. Luckily we'll have gas
> burners for 90% of the cooking or I'd be doing a "Drakey" a day in humourous
> near-death by fire adventures :-p.

'Wuss' is also slang in my part of 'mainland' Caid for squeamish
cowardice... ;) There's usually a nice sibilant trailing hiss on the
double ss...

> I've looked up some of the various web articles on Fire- spit roasting but
> am still a bit confused.
>
> Can anyone advise me on -
> *how to gauge & maintain the fire coals heat
> *how long the roasts are likely to need cooking (they're for serving at
> dinner at about 6-7 pm)
> *what type of basting sauce is best (recipes anyone??)
> *and does using a long sprig of rosemary to bast on the sauce help add to
> the flavour or is it just something that looked good on the recently
> screened "dining with Henry the 8th"??

I have done leg of lamb for years for Saturday night dinners at
wars/camping events.  I bag the joint in a red wine/balsamic
vinegar/garlic and pepper marinade and let it sit in the marinade until
ready to go on the fire-- after the obligatory insertion of peeled
cloves of garlic into the meat with a small, sharp knife.

I don't have the patience to play spit-boy, so what I've done has been
to dangle the joint from the chains of the firepit's tripod, and since
I'm usually busy with the prep for the rest of dinner, I've cheated and
wrapped the joint in foil to both self-baste and keep the exterior from
scorching or picking up ashes. I believe the period equivalent would
have been to seal the joint in a flour/water paste coffin-- which is
something I personally haven't tried yet.

The meat is scrumptiously juicy, yummy and delightful with mint jelly. I
agree with Lorenz' commentary regarding marinade, timing, resting and so
on-- unfortunately, cooking with an open fire is not necessarily
something you can time exactly; to some extent the meat will be done
when it's done. And, make sure to turn it often if you don't have a
reliable spit creature; it's all too easy to achieve unevenly done meat.
What you'll find if you decide to spit-roast an uncovered roast is that
constant turning will cause fats to precipitate out of the roast and
pretty much self-baste the joint-- which makes an awesomely crunchy,
uniform, _tasty_ crust all by itself.

Roasting meat over a fire is an absolutely sure-fire way to attract
crowds of smellfeasts. :)

ciorstan