Vertical Spit

Again not a tool for the garage, but it was made in the garage and it allows me more time in the garage.:evil: but it is a tool to help you cook and give wifie an evening off.

Attachment 23820

At first I must say it does not look like much. An old 20L steel paint drum. But if you look closer you will see the side is cut open and with the aid of 3 hinges it can open and close.

Attachment 23821

Next clue is a battery powered rotisery (again a word I spell so badly wrong not even the spell checker can find the correct spelling) motor on the lid and a few extra holes in the lid.

Attachment 23822

And that is it. Inside is 3 trays for coals, made by cutting up one extra lid I had and pop riveting it to the side on 3 levels. Here I have 2 deboned chickens cut up into equal sized pieces. that takes about 90 minutes to cook. So 90 minutes longer I can be in the garage as this method of braai-ing does not require any supervision. Place the coals on the shelves, stick the chicken inside, switch the motor on and set your timer for 90 minutes and back into the garage, or open a frosty four you and a nice bottle of red wine and enjoy a beautiful South Africa Autumn evening with wifie.

The few holes in the lid is so you can move the chicken closer to the coals for the last 10 minutes to give it a nice browning.Attachment 23823

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Why even debone the chickens? They'll roast just fine with bone support.

I did a few chickens whole initially but,
1) We get specials where deboned chickens are cheaper than chickens with all their bones, so I wait for these. I do not debone the chicken myself.
2) It is nice to slice the outer browned meat off and leave the rotisery going and brown the next layer. This does not work very nice if the bones are still in and you slice into a bone.

This is very nice if you have friends over with kids that has to eat an hour or so before the grown ups. The outer layer is done and ready for them and the grown ups can sip on a glass of matured grape juice.

I now even debone a leg of lamb before I do it on the spit.

I debone the leg the night before, then marinate it while it is a nice flat thin piece of meat. Then I roll it around the skewer with streaks of bacon and garlic and onion inside and then secure the whole thing with some string and tooth picks. Once the outer layer is done the tooth picks are enough to keep it together if you want to have a few tasters and wait for the next layer to brown.

Bones or no bones the nice thing is no fat keeps dripping in the fire and keeps making flames and smoke and because it is enclosed you need a very small fire. I have been using this drum for 5 years and the paint is not even burnt off.

Thank you for the further explanation garage nut, very interesting. Sounds delicious, and makes my mouth water!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by garage nut

It is nice to slice the outer browned meat off and leave the rotisery going and brown the next layer.

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This is a similar concept to a Rotisserie cake, but with a subtractive instead of additive strategy.

Do you cook the chicken with the door closed or open?

Also how do you marinate the chicken?

Door is always closed to keep the heat in.

For the chicken I buy a honey and lemon marinade that is sold commercially. Pour it into a zip lock bag the day before the time and add the chicken. Keep it in the refrigerator and turn it when I need to open the fridge for some reason.

For the meat I use a cream and soya sauce. Again marinate for a day. This marinade has to be discarded and can not be used as basting.