Fire pit rotisserie spit

[Bill in Oregon]

I've tried searching for this topic under various combinations of words and came up empty, so apologize if it is a "dead horse."
I'm trying to visualize a simple roasting spit for cooking poultry, roasts and maybe small pigs over a fire pit. I'm thinking a pair of uprights of half-inch mild steel with pigtails on the upper ends for the spit/turner to go through. Two right angle bends in one end will form the cranking handle. The other end of the spit, sharpened, pierces the meat. But there needs to be a barb or tine of some sort coming off the spit that the meat is also pierced by to keep the meet from spinning on the axis of the spit. I DON'T WELD, so am trying to think of a simple but elegant solution to this problem. Perhaps a wrap of 1/4 round with forks then bent and sharpened?
I am also guessing that the image of a suckling pig being slow turned over a roasting fire is much less romantic in real life -- kind of like turning the ice cream maker crank, but for two or three hours if you can find someone to do it. Also, unless the meat is perfectly centered on the skewer, it is going to want to return to heaviest-side-down position unless the spit/skewer can be held in position. Don't want to make this a power affair, so motors are out.
Any and all comments, advice, ideas welcome.

[dablacksmith]

you can make the meat stabbers from 1/4 square like you said or from 3/4 by 1/8 and punch drift a square hole in the center taper bolth ends to a point. for smaller items (roast chickens ,duck ect) you can make a smaller version of the spit that hangs down lower on 2 s hooks . ide make that one from 1/4 or 5/26 sq you could also use it for roasts . . ive sold a few of these but they dont get used much .... people arnt that ambitious to use them after the novelty of first use... have fun!

[ThomasPowers]

As he said: punch a sq hole in a couple of pieces of stock, draw out the ends and bend back to engage the meat.

As for the "heavy side down" issue: I do a combo fix of the support and the shaft. make the support a fairly tight fix on the sq shaft and then *round* a section of the shaft for turning in the support and then at one end of the round section have the sq shaft twisted 45 deg out of phase with the other end. So: you turn with the rounded section in the support fork then you can lock it in by shifting it slightly to one or the other sq sections and so have 8 different positions the meat can have over the fire without rotating on it's own.

Moxon's Mechanics Exercises has plans for a spit jack if you get tired of turning it on your own.

Edited June 24, 2009 by ThomasPowers

[divermike]

You can also punch holes in your uprights and bend stops to fit in the holes, which will hold the crank, but you might also want a cross bar where the pig is mounted to prevent slippage.

[Charlotte]

Roast pig is a big thing in this area. There are several different ways it is done but the usual way is to lay the whole pig spread eagle flat on a rectangular grided frame and hangs it verticaly. It is slow turned by hand or counter weight or pulley.
Roast suckling pig is couchon d'lait. Big time Cajun party food.
John Folse,(internationaly known chef) does it in his restaurant by roasting in reflected heat in a brick fire place. The cook just flops the pig on the frame front to back from time to time.

[Mike Ameling]

A square spit and two flat plates with square punched holes in them to slide onto that spit work well. Some people drill/punch extra matching holes in those end plates. They then use small spits to poke through those holes and whatever you are trying to hold onto the spit. This works better with those small game hens.

When you spit roast a pig, the skin will usually hold things together pretty well. But sometimes you have to skin the pig, or the meat cooks thoroughly enough to start falling off the bones. So some people will use some wire screening or "chicken wire" to wrap around their roast and hold things together. There's nothing worse than getting that meat roasted up to perfection and then have it fall apart and drop in the fire! You only need ... so much ... charcoal in your diet.

Mikey

[CurlyGeorge]

Hey Bill. I make and sell a set of rotisserie prongs that fit the 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch square fire sets. I use 1/8 in or 3/16 inch square stock, depending on how heavy you want them. Just heat in the middle and bend around the square cross rod. That keeps it from slipping and when you are done, just slide them off the end and lay them aside.

[jimbob]

here's one I made (flat grill and pit)...made from 1/2 inch black pipe(make two) one for each side ;put pig on one put the grill down and wire together) only has handle on one end and the middle to pivot right or left then use a short stick of re-bar to hold the bottom up ...one person can turn the whol pig with no problem put a piece of cardboard on top to hold the heat in and its Miller time!

Edited June 26, 2009 by jimbob
found some more pictures

[Bill in Oregon]

Jim Bob: Can I come over if bring some Miller?

[jimbob]

let me get a pig

[CurlyGeorge]

jimbo, I like it. That is a pretty slick outfit. Thanks for the pix.

[Charlotte]

Jimbo, That is a great set up. Takes a Southren boy to show how its done. :)

[ThomasPowers]

Well last time we roasted a whole pig in AR we used a rotating spit and the pig wasn't flattened any. I got to do the honours as the pig cook had over indulged the night before at the bachelor party...used hickory wood, also did 160# of steak---wedding party AR style!

Down south there is more than one way to roast a hog! Last one I went to above the mason-dixon line they cooked it in a pit luau style...

making myself hungry now...

[GNJC]

Hello,

Providing you don't want to roast anything larger than, say, a piglet / ham / goose or turkey, why not consider a dangle spit?

I have recently finished making a copy of one I found illustrated in an old book ('Iron and Brass Implements', look in book reviews). It works really well and the meat comes off very tender.

As always, the old-timers knew what they were doing. Some modern copies have the three hooks on the same level - mistake! With the hooks as shown in the illustration, the main joint of meat on the lower hook can be 'self-basted' by fat hooked on to the two upper hooks, it really works a treat.

The only advice I think worth passing on with regard to the forging is this, draw down the long part of the hook arm BEFORE you split and work on the three hooks; first try, I did the small hooks first and lost them with all the heat needed to do the main drawing down.

Oh yes, for ease of transport my top weighted-arm comes off (square hole goes on to squared neck of trammel) allows secure fit and good turning. The weights are lead, can be cast onto the end of the arms or forged to fit. Best thing I have found to suspend the spit and allow good turning from minimal twists is a leather thong (maybe 1/8" diameter), other twines really suffer from fire heat and cause panic when the spit falls into the fire. Put a tray underneath to allow you to baste the meat with its own juices.

I hope I have successfully attached a scan of the illustration I copied and aa couple of pic's of my dangle spit.

G.

[Charlotte]

GNJC, That is a nice set up you have there but a little small.

Actually most of the commercial catering Pig Roasters use a frame like JimBo's and hang the pig vertically. They have a steel box that is open on the front side and tapered up on the back side to a peak from which the pig hangs in its frame.

The charcoal fire is built at the back. The pig is rotated as the cook's experience dictates.
There are some that have a smoker built along the lines of Jimbo's except that it is all steel and protable. Then they also throw chicken and beef on toward the end for those that don't care for smoked pork. They are pretty good sized trailer rigs but small when compaired to the professional Shrimp/Crab/Crawfish boilers that Carry 200 gal or more of propane on their trailers.

[jimbob]

heck Charlotte, you take a dozen chickens split in half put hot sauce on them then sprinkle some Tony Chachere's and a touch of Curry powder put them on the grill and wire it shut so they don fall out put on the fire about 30 minutes your into some good eating!

[Charlotte]

Jimbob you can cook my chicken any time. You stole my recipie.

[rockstar.esq]

A couple of tips from a cooks point of view. If you make the prongs adjustable along the length of the spit do so with thumb screws that will fit inside the handle side opening of a pair of spring loaded tongs. Turning fussy little parts that are 400 degrees is better done with a culinary implement in this case. Otherwise use screws with a largish handle on them so you can operate them with a potholder. Also, bear in mind that lifting a full spit out of a hot grille requires two hands. If you don't make the spit handle long enough you'll throw out your back before you get any bacon.

[Sam Falzone]

Here's the spit set I made for camping events.
No welding involved. The spit itself is square stock and the tines have matching square holes so that they don't spin as the spit turns. This spit will hold a whole young pig.
The cradles are tall because they are also meant to act as a crane over the fire for hanging pots. If you want to get closer to the fire you could pound the cradles deeper into the ground (if it's soft) or hang the spit from s-hooks. Works really well and only took me an afternoon to make it. Hope this gives you some ideas.
Sam

[jimbob]

who do you get to keep it turning so you don't burn whatever your cooking?

[GNJC]

Hello again,

Something came to mind while I was looking at this thread again.

The common way to stop the spit going 'heavy side down' over here (UK) is to forge four, six or - most common - eight sides onto the stock near the cranking handle. As long as a) the meat is skewered on to the main stock well, & the support near the cranking end has a flat surface, the meat won't turn unless you want it too. Just rotate it onto the next face every few minutes or so... thirsty work.

Hope this may be of help.

G.

[Sam Falzone]

Isn't that what kids are for ?

Actually you don't have to keep turning the spit continuously. If you keep a careful eye on your coals, you just need to rotate your spit a 1/4 turn at regular intervals (every 20 mins, 30 mins, etc.)
Works great.
Sam

[jimbob]

I'll to get on to my sons for some grandkids...I do like the idea about the flats!

[ChrisB]

Having watched many a good pig be ruined by the fire or over indulgence of the "operator" things like this really interest me. Get out the sheet metal break and pop rivet gun.
https://www.lacajachina.com/Articles.asp?ID=156

[jimbob]

Having watched many a good pig be ruined by the fire or over indulgence of the "operator" things like this really interest me. Get out the sheet metal break and pop rivet gun.
https://www.lacajachina.com/Articles.asp?ID=156

thats the same as the pit and rack that I showed above...somebody made a commercial model of the classic southern pit