spit roasted Lamb

lathrop · May 22, 2012

I just read the thread on stuffed leg of lamb. yummy. I love all the references to Italy as I lived there for a few months several times. My question has to do with spit roasting a whole 18Lb [dressed weight] lamb. We did this with baby goat on a Greek Isl. at Easter 2 years running and it came out delicious. I am looking for any suggestions or references to spit roasting over a pit. I did sort of manage the roasting pit / trench in Greece but I had lots of help and advise. and the kid came on a spit from the butcher and the ladies prepted it. anyway how far above the coals for how long. etc. I will try to make my upright spit supports adjustable for 3 elevations. Pictures would help.

George

moikel · May 22, 2012

Half your luck living in Italy,its all about way of life over there .Under a bit of pressure now.

Lamb spit roasts get done here a lot,the one I did over charcoal in a trough sort of thing I simplified by sticking a probe in the thickest part. Lamb is way fattier than kid.I am a bit wary of having it to close to charcoal early & wouldnt move it up & down much unless I felt I was under time pressure.

Its just me BUT I make up a big basting mop out of bunches of parsley & sticks of rosemary tied up at the base. Dip it in a brew of white wine ,lemon,garlic ,EVO & mop whole deal every whatever suits you.A rub over with salt cbp will help. Thats a pretty small lamb you dont want it to dry out. Good luck.MICK

lathrop · May 23, 2012

Moikel said:
Half your luck living in Italy,its all about way of life over there .Under a bit of pressure now.

Lamb spit roasts get done here a lot,the one I did over charcoal in a trough sort of thing I simplified by sticking a probe in the thickest part. Lamb is way fattier than kid.I am a bit wary of having it to close to charcoal early & wouldnt move it up & down much unless I felt I was under time pressure.

Its just me BUT I make up a big basting mop out of bunches of parsley & sticks of rosemary tied up at the base. Dip it in a brew of white wine ,lemon,garlic ,EVO & mop whole deal every whatever suits you.A rub over with salt cbp will help. Thats a pretty small lamb you dont want it to dry out. Good luck.MICK

Thanks for the Reply. I enjoyed your thread on the stuffed leg o lamb.. I recently picked up 2, 10' long by 19" wide. SS counter tops with angle iron framing. at an archetectural salvage store. My plan is to use a 5' section as a fire tray. and another as a reflector/ wind break. I plan to dig a shallow trench fill it with gravel and put the fire tray in that.. How far above the coals did you hang your spit? I have to build the spit and "andirons" [uprights]. You are right the lamb is small, I plan to protect the ribs with foil for most of the roast. But I am not sure how long it will take. I think the kid we did in Greece took about 5 hours. I hope I am not over complicating the process. I have fresh herbs in the garden but I am ignorant of your references" EVO & CBP..

George

chef jimmyj · May 23, 2012

EVOO...Extra Virgin Olive Oil and CBP...Coarse Black Pepper...Sorry I can't help otherwise, I never spit roasted a Lamb...JJ

lathrop · May 23, 2012

Thanks, I figured it was some sort of cooking contraction. I like his idea of using a bunch of herb as a basting mop.

Mick is obviously a good cook.

George

smokinhusker · May 23, 2012

Sounds interesting and good. Please keep us updated with q-view!

moikel · May 23, 2012

I love salvage stuff,but am not a metal fabricator. The spit roast I did was going to be a mess until the guy who delivered the kids jumping castle gave us a quick lesson in fire starting 101. He was from Argentina. Its about an even bed of coals, I put the lamb a good 2 feet above coals to cut chances of charring early. I see greek people here go 3 feet,its about even heat & you are only really cooking the side facing the fire.I can do a pig in my woodfired in half the time of spit roast.

I assume you are hand cranking this?

The herbs brush I learnt from Sicilians ,oregano,parsley ,rosemary plenty of it tied up like a witches broom.

Can you stick a photo on here of your setup.

The most common mistake is to go too hot to early,thats why I put it higher early then lower it if thats what it needs.

Simple works best ,next most common mistake wrestling hot lamb spit from one height to another after drinking beer in hot environment then being frowned at for using bad language at a kids party

The old fashioned bench press bench with pins to adjust is an idea worth looking at.

moikel · May 23, 2012

The reason I dont do spit roasts much anymore .Cooking space 1m x 1.2 20lb lamb 3 hours give or take.

diggingdogfarm · May 23, 2012

I've done them string turned.....the "Poor Man's" rotisserie.

Much the same as how this chicken is done......

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

~Martin

lathrop · May 23, 2012

Moikel said:
The reason I dont do spit roasts much anymore .Cooking space 1m x 1.2 20lb lamb 3 hours give or take.

Lovely smoke house / oven. I have plans to build an outdoor oven. But it keeps slipping down the list. A friend has volunteered to help build it and I have a big pile of hand made bricks from early times. [ By NW USA standards.} He has constructed earth ovens in the past. But I am not sure when or if this will actually happen. I have no hope it will be this beautiful. as to roasting time..Let me ask? 3 hrs at ? above to coals. .

moikel · May 23, 2012

lathrop said:
Lovely smoke house / oven. I have plans to build an outdoor oven. But it keeps slipping down the list. A friend has volunteered to help build it and I have a big pile of hand made bricks from early times. [ By NW USA standards.} He has constructed earth ovens in the past. But I am not sure when or if this will actually happen. I have no hope it will be this beautiful. as to roasting time..Let me ask? 3 hrs at ? above to coals. .

Its beautiful from a distance some of my masonry is a bit rough.Its oven only I can help you build one even from this distance but thats not for now.My building contractor friends hooting with laughter at this point.I have plans for a second one .

I a little lamb like yours isn't going to take long.I dont want to attempt a conversion of oven time to spit time.Ovens cook from every direction,spit only the part facing the heat.

I would stick a probe in the thickest part of leg & work off that. Bear in mind you can carve from cooked areas to expose more area to heat.

Do you have a time line?

You have to think about what parts cook faster.You can make your coals hotter at butt end but I may be making making it to complicated.

You have to make sure you have the lamb firmly attached to the spit.

Theres been a great thread with a spit roasted pig really well executed have a look at that.

I would start at 3 feet with a view to carving some of it then lowering it to 2 feet to finish BUT get other opinions I am sure there are other members with valuable experience.Some people dont change height at all.

Buy a set of welding gloves that go up your arm a bit,dont manhandle it if you dont have to you dont want it it break in 2 or worse.

lathrop · May 24, 2012

Thanks. that is helpful. As to pictures. So far nothing has been constructed. I am collecting materials. I did look at the string roasted chicken video. That is a nice presentation. I have looked at some Information on spit roasting pigs and will take a look on this forum.

George

the wife · Jun 5, 2012

Hi gang, I'm lathrop's wife and thought I'd muscle my way into this conversation. Thanks for the advice and suggestions.I have a new nifty smart phone and will take photos of the spit rg ooasting contraption lathrop's welding out back and post them here as it develops. A friend just gave me a big bunch of fresh mint so I whirred it up in the food processor with fresh rosemary from our yard, EVO and a head of beautiful purple garlic and stuck in in the freezer in anticipation of the midsummer night feast. I'll mix it w/ stone ground mustard and I'm not sure what all else yet and use it as a shmeer for the lamb (inside and out). Other than that, I'm thinking a pretty basic wine and oil baste with a nice mix of greek oregano, marjoram, rosemary and lemon balm from the herb garden as the basting brush . Here's a photo of lathrop, our friend Hatto and the goat, although sadly, it's being brushed with an enormous bbq utensil instead of a bunch of herbs, which were growing wild all around them at the bottom of our friends' yard on the island of Spetses. lathrop is the one sitting down with a drink in his hand. It was a seriously great meal, btw, eaten al fresco at the top of the yard. We started the meal with the Greek custom of whacking at each other's Easter egg shells and finished it with shots of raki.

moikel · Jun 10, 2012

I did the Italian version of this in a little village called Castelnuovo Easter 2000 .Unfortunately devastated by the earthquake a few years back.

All you really need to do is replicate the pit as a trough . Its just a vehicle for the charcoal & the spit above it. A 44 gallon drum/barrell cut in half will do it.

Good luck.

lathrop · Jun 11, 2012

Moikel said:
I did the Italian version of this in a little village called Castelnuovo Easter 2000 .Unfortunately devastated by the earthquake a few years back.

All you really need to do is replicate the pit as a trough . Its just a vehicle for the charcoal & the spit above it. A 44 gallon drum/barrell cut in half will do it.

Good luck.

Which New Castle? There are many. Abbruzzi ? I think the " fire tray" [ 1/2 of a 10' long SS counter top] Will serve much the same function as the traditional 1/2 barrel. The other half will serve as a reflector. At this point I have too much invested in time and materials to go to back to the simple trench. Oh well fun is where you find it. Mara Has instructed me to invite you to come for a visit. I concur. We have a spare bedroom. Port Townsend is an old failed Victorian Seaport which has a second life as a tourist town and an artist colony. I will attempt to upload some pictures. However I seem to have misplaced the Battery charger for the new camera. So I may have to use the one in my phone. Or I can just t Mara do it with her 3/4G phone / browser.

moikel · Jun 11, 2012

Castel nouvo that was my non tourist experience was about 20 minutes south of L'Aquila.10 minutes if an Italian was driving. My friends family migrated from there to Australia in the 50s but the family house was passed on to ultimately my friend. I have been there in 92,2000,& 05 .Locals remember me because by their standards I am tall & speak bad Italian.They are used to Aussies.

Earthquake flattened it although my friends house survived.He now lives in Rumania(long story) but gets back there regularly.

Lot of good cooks from there.

Thanks for the invite.I will get my maps out. I have spent a lot of time in Canada but none in USA.

Good luck with build.

spit roasted Lamb

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