DIY Rotisserie

[dcarch]

Inspired by a member here, Franci about cooking in a fireplace and the recent thread on Shawarma, I decided to make this gadget which can be used to roast in front of a fire place, inside my oven's broiler and also can be used for Shawarma.

The parts are from my workshop's junck pile, and the video is just cellphone video.

I will have some photos at some point. I have some issues with Photobucket currrently.

dcarch

[Plantes Vertes]

I was hoping to see a dirty-faced scullion or performing rodents turning the spit, but whatever

[dcarch]

I was hoping to see a dirty-faced scullion or performing rodents turning the spit, but whatever

LOL! I like the rodent idea.

A rotisserie does the best roasting, but a good oven with rotisserie can be very expensive, besides, all rotisseries are not adjustable in their distance to the fire, which makes it less than ideal.

So I made my own. This rotisserie is portable. It can be used on a grill also. Or vertically for Shawarma.

A fireplace hearth roasted chicken with wild rice, wild rice stems and golden cauliflower.

dcarch

Edited January 15, 2014 by dcarch (log)

[djyee100]

Nice! How long did it take to cook the chicken? How well did the chicken cook compared to a conventional rotisserie?

I thought little dogs were supposed to turn the medieval spits. This article says dogs and geese. (Geese? wha-at??) The article also says that smart dogs tried to hide when the cook prepped a roast. http://www.historicfood.com/roast2.htm

If rodents turned those spits, no wonder bubonic plague was endemic.

Edited January 15, 2014 by djyee100 (log)

[Paul Bacino]

Very Nice!!

Production

[Franci]

Oh, wow, I'm so glad I gave you such a nice inspiration. You are really full of resources!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

We do something similar. My husband cut one long side off a Farber grill so that food on the spit had more exposure to the radiant heat of the fireplace. We cover the motor with heavy duty foil, secure the meat (chicken or leg of lamb) on the spit andplace the grill in front of the fireplace coals. Absolutely fabulous results. You can play with the kinds of woods you use, such as peach or almond or use vine cuttings.

Of course, you can buy these fireplace "roasting jacke", but as the OP suggests it's fun to "do it for free".

[Smithy]

That's excellent, dcarch...both the invention and the film. We have a rotisserie for our grill, but it isn't portable. I'd love to have something like that for our oven.

[dcarch]

Thank you everyone.

I figured this would be a worthwhile project, because this thing can be used basically anywhere, including with a camp fire.

Would be interesting for a fishing trip and roast some fresh catches.

"Nice! How long did it take to cook the chicken? How well did the chicken cook compared to a conventional rotisserie?"

Actually a little tricky there. About 20 minutes.

First the chciken was perfectly sous vided at 150F to make sure it was 100% cooked and still moist and tender, then it was put in a dehydrator to dry up the skin. Finally rotisseried to crispy up the skin, which took less than 20 minutes.

dcarch

[basquecook]

So cool.. That's great looking.

[lindag]

 

"I am using my new rotisserie a lot now."

 

dcarch

 

I'm curious about your rotisserie.  What kind do you have?

Edited May 22, 2014 by lindag (log)

[dcarch]

 

 

"I am using my new rotisserie a lot now."

 

dcarch

 

I'm curious about your rotisserie.  What kind do you have?

 

 

 

I made my own. The problem with ovens which come with rotisseries is that they are not adjustable in distance to the fire.

 

 

dcarch

[naguere]

I made my own. The problem with ovens which come with rotisseries is that they are not adjustable in distance to the fire.

 

 

dcarch

Dcarch, that is quite a common thing in France, when you might have an open fire, it might seem medieval but you get the proper roasting of the meat. you get a heat deflector a fat catcher and the rotary action.