[Sca-cooks] Spit-Roasted Venison

[Stefan li Rous]

Aodh said in his blog article:
<<< I could probably have done both haunches on the same spit, but each one only had one built-in staple, >>>

I had to reread this to understand you were talking about the staple being on the spit, rather than something holding the meat together. You did later say that the legs were boned.

<<< This seemed, broadly, like asking for trouble, when I had two fireboxes and plenty of firewood available >>>

This also sounds like good insurance, just in case something happens to one spit or fire area. It breaks, someone knocks it down, the fire flares up too much and burns the meat, etc.

<<< Since venison is generally pretty lean – and this was no exception, I opted to baste it with butter. I gave some consideration to other fats – beef, mutton, or pork fat >>>

I was wondering how you handled that.

<<< I turned the meat 180 degrees every fifteen minutes or so (guessing at the time, not using a timepiece) for the first half of the cooking time, and then 90 degrees every ten minutes for the remainder. >>>

I had imagined the spit turning continuously, but I guess I’m thinking of mechanical gadgets, or at meat spit turning dogs. This makes sense, though. I’d first wondered how you put on the butter and let it melt if the spit was turning continuously. 

<<< moved on to beech for the mid part (an anachronism in and of itself; beech arrived in Ireland with the Normans) >>>

Really? Why would they have wanted to import beech trees?

<<< have the spit on the other side of the fire for a while to get a little bit more smoke into it (possibly early in the process), and Baroness Caitriona made the interesting suggestion of burning juniper wood for that purpose >>>

Juniper, here, burns hot and I’m not sure it is the taste you want. I’d suggest a fruit tree or pecan.

Might I add your story to the FOOD-MEATS section in the Florilegium?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****