Tell me about spit-roasting

Cafe Society
1

As a corollary to my thread on the legalities of spit-roasting an ox in my back yard, I figure I should also see if anyone has any tips, recipe-wise. I’m not dead-set on it being an ox, though, so if you have general spit-roasting tips, or recipes for smaller animals (larger would be interesting, but probably impractical), I’d love those too.

The main issues I can think of are the actual spit/rotisserie set up, cooking temp/time, and how to season/prepare the meat.

For the spit, I’m thinking the easy solution would be a couple of sawhorses or similar, with a pole between them over the fire. Maybe a couple of poles? I’m not really sure what sort of material is best - I mean, presumably if the pole is inside an animal, there’s not too much danger of ignition, so you could probably get away with wood or bamboo or something, but I’d prefer not to have it break, dumping my ox in the fire. I’ve got a couple motors and some bicycle chains and gears lying around which I figure I could hook up to keep the thing turning.

Now, with anything really big, I’d imagine you’d want to do low-temp, long-term roasting, to avoid completely charring the outside by the time the insides are ready, but I’m not sure about specifics, so any advice would be welcome.

As for recipes, well, brining is probably right-out (although, if I did a smallish pig, I might be able to use the bathtub… ), so I’m a little concerned about tenderness/moistness. I suppose I could lard the thing (I’ve already got the larding needle and everything), or maybe just prodigious basting? Maybe I could rig up an old shower head to sprinkle the whole thing from time to time… On the other hand, maybe just having a big enough piece of meat, cooked slowly, will be enough to keep it tender and moist.

In any case, if anyone has experience or recipes, please share!

2

I’ve not been on a float trip in many years, but some float outfitters had a BBQ at the end of the trip. They usually had a steel pipe spit that rested on roller bearings set in a post at each end of the spit. The spit was maybe 4’ off the ground as I recall. The spit had a rather large diameter pulley, about the size of a bicycle wheel on one end. This was driven via a belt and electric motor. As I said, it’s been years, but I’d guess the spit rotated about 4 or 5 RPM.

The spit had forks made of steel that went into the meat and kept it from slipping around on the spit. You might want to have a rod set at 90 degrees to the spit with an adjustable weight. This would be used to balance the load as the spit might not go through the CG of the animal.

They used wood and charcoal for heat.

Have fun.

3

Well, that’s a start - metal pipe, use weights to get it balanced. I might actually have to buy the pipe (gasp!) but I think I can rig up the rest. Anyone else have any ideas? I’m especially interested in the culinary side - exactly how long do you roast an ox, anyways?

4

Well, first you and your buddy have to get her pretty drunk …

5

I’d recommend a google image search…

6

Given your request, I know the Germans roast whole steer often and it is quite tasty. In Germany it is known as Ochs am Spiess, traditionally and they use large Electric Rotisserie apparatuses designed specifically to handle the large carcass.

Here is a tongue in cheek recipe for the Ochs am Spiess that was roasted for the Ebenalmfesttranslated.

Recipe for Spit Roast Ox

Ingredients for 600 servings:
1 Ox (steer), approrixamately 1500 lbs. and 25 months old
11-13 lbs. Ox seasoning
2-3 Butchers and some strong men

The Ox should be be brought to the Ebenalm and have seen a happy 25 months of Ox life.
After slaughtering, let the carcass hang for a good 10 days.
The Ox should be professionally dressed and skewered.
Rub in 11-13 lbs. of Ox Seasoning and then Roast on a Rottisserie Grill, in its own juices, for around 6-7 hours or longer at 425-575 Degrees Fahrenheit.

7

Oh, they also call it Ochsenbratereiand there is a eponymous Restaurant/Tent at the Oktoberfest. It seems like they use a very special skewer block for support of such a large animal, judging from the pictures. It seems to have four point metal straps for the front and back of the beast., You might do well, to do similarly in any spit construction.

8

Just out of curiosity (and a healthy dose of cluelessness), how does one deal with the fur and the inedible parts of an animal when spit roasting it? Do these oxen come already skinned, yet still in perfect ox shape?

9

Yep, one uses a dressed, whole ox. Ever seen those beef sides hanging from hooks in Rocky or at Butchers in the cooler? It’s just like those except they aren’t split into “sides”.

10

I have helped roast a whole pig. You are not going to be able to use wood for the pole. When you steam wood it gets soft and bends, that’s how curved wooden things like boats are built, they steam the wood and bend it, you need a metal rod through the animal. The supports on each side also need to be metal, it is going to cook longer and hotter than you imagine. The animal will need to be held on the spit with forks so it turns with the spit instead of flopping on it’s own. Tying it won’t do, you can have it tied tight but that will change once cooking starts and the spit will turn but not the animal. You do not want to have to take the animal off half way through the process and redo things.

We rented a contraption that came on it’s own trailer with motor. A portable BBQ. Might see if there is one available in your area, would save a lot of effort. But if you think you can rig something up go ahead. A metal pole with a bicycle gear on the end an a couple of metal stakes to support it should be fine.

Use a dry rub of spices inside and out, the juices from the fat will keep things moist as the meat rotates. Dry yellow mustard, chili powder (cheat and just use chili powder or taco mix from a packet), garlic, pepper, salt, brown sugar, couple packages of dry Au Jus mix. Or use one of the dry rubs you can buy.

And you are going to need a meat thermometer to check the progress after a few hours. Tape it to a stick so you can get a reading without burning yourself. Get set up the day before and have the cook start early, it’s going to take all day, start at daybreak if you expect to eat in the afternoon. Need to get the temp up inside without burning the outside, so don’t get impatient.

A long handled sauce brush, a water spray bottle filled with apple juice. You will be golden.

We also tried a pig buried in a pit covered in burlap bags and hot stones we had heated for hours. Put it all in the ground and covered it in dirt so no steam could escape. Dug it up the next afternoon. It just fell apart and was very tender, but had little flavor, more like steamed or boiled meat. So the second attempt was with a above ground spit. Much better.

11

Of course, you would have to know a “direct source” butcher to get a whole dressed steer. It’s a specialty item, because they usually come in sides or quarters. A whole steer is a bit of a logistical problem because of its size and weight as well.

12

Professional dress is not required, jeans are fine.

13

This picture of beef sides/rib sections smoking/roasting at an Italian beach looks like a supremely easy and ideal alternative set-up in lieu of a spit. I have also seen them prepare beef similarly in Argentina on an episode of Bourdain’s No Reservations. Sort of Flayed, Racked, and Propped Verically next to a fire.

14

I’m sure that carving and maintaing the cuts on a SpitOx is a whole other art unto itself. I imagine you would adjust the heat during serving time whilst carving the appropriate cuts of the animal as you go, so as to prevent drying out certain areas of the meat. Although one advantage of the "carving as you go approach is that each cut of the roast sort of “heals” and gets a nice bark as it continues to slowly rotisserie. You might also be able to get some different temps out of it as well, maybe some rarer and more well done cuts?

15

If he prepares it in a turkey cooker it could be casual fry day.

16

Now where’s the fun in that? I want my basting shower!

I think it’s looking more feasible to do a pig, or lamb or something, rather than a whole ox. Which is sad, because answering the inevitable “what did you do last weekend” question with “oh, spit-roasted an ox” is much more badass. Plus, I don’t think my backyard is big enough to fit as many people as you’d need to eat an ox.

Incidentally, when I was a kid, my parents did the buried-roast-turkey thing, and I’ve always had a hankering after that, too. There’s something about absurdly complicated meats that just gets to me, you know?