Rotisserie revival - includes related articles

Sunset, July, 1994 by Linda Lau Anusasananan

All you need to know to spit-roast meats with professional flair

RESTAURANTS HAVE TURNED SPIT roasting into theater. Meats rotate slowly, grow browner, promise more succulence with each turn, and flood the air with rich aromas. Inside the turning meat, flavorful juices fight gravity. Instead of rapidly draining down and out of the meat, they flow through it, lubricating the interior and basting the surface automatically. It's a show that wakes up appetites in-house and has patrons wanting more of the same at home. And it's as easy as it looks.

"Far and away, it's the best way to cook large pieces of meat; [it's] more flavorful....Our customers are highly enthusiastic," claims Reed Hearon of Restaurant LuLu in San Francisco. "Rotisserie cooking has the things people want these days--no added fat, crisp skin, moist meat, and lots of flavor," adds Michael Roberts of Twin Palms in Pasadena.

Spit roasting is one of the hottest trends on the restaurant scene. Rotisseries are ensconced in some of the glitziest kitchens in the West: Twin Palms in Pasadena, Restaurant LuLu and Bistro Roti in San Francisco, Wolfgang Puck Cafe in Universal City near Los Angeles and in Las Vegas, and Il Fornaios up and down California.

Some chains, such as Grand Roaster & Ale House in Washington, and San Francisco's California Roastery and Gira Polli, serve spit-roasted meats almost exclusively.

Even KFC has supplemented its buckets of Kentucky fried with--you guessed it.

SCIENCE AND HISTORY OF SPIT ROASTING

Spit-roasting and rotisserie cooking gear is hardly new. Giant fireplaces in kitchens of many historical houses and European castles have hand-turned or spring-wound spit-roasting gear. Sunset, in the late 1930s and early '40s, often reported on rotisseries in lavishly equipped outdoor kitchens. And now both the rotisserie and outdoor kitchens are popular again (see "Ultimate Grills," page 124 of the May issue).

The spit--a metal rod with flattened sides (probably a smooth stick in the beginning)--is pushed through the meat and balanced so the rod will turn with little effort. Spit forks, poked into each end of the meat, are tightened onto the spit to keep the meat from slipping as it rotates. The heat is parallel to but never directly beneath the cooking foods. Many deli rotisseries have a wall of heat. Similar vertical gas burners are available on outdoor grills made by Dynamic Cooking Systems, Ducane, Pacific Gas Specialties, Onward Multi-Corp (Broil King), and Circle W Manufacturing Company (The Cooking Machine).

You can buy spit-roasting gear for many models of gas and some charcoal-fueled home barbecues. If you can't find equipment that matches your model, contact the manufacturer or ask your local dealer to order it for you. Or adapt your barbecue with a universal spit-roasting kit, from about $30.

SETTING UP TO SPIT-ROAST

You can control the heat and cooking time in several ways. First, decide what level of heat you need. If the diameter of the meat is 4 inches or less, use high heat so it will be well browned when cooked. For larger cuts, such as a turkey or thick roasts, use medium heat so meat will be cooked through by the time it is well browned. Also, be sure the turning meat will clear the heat source by 1 to 4 inches, as the manufacturer suggests.

To start, remove barbecue grill. If rotisserie is a separate unit, position spit supports and motor.

To cook with hot coals. For a standard 22-inch-diameter round, covered barbecue, mound and ignite on firegrate 50 to 60 charcoal briquets (use minimum for medium heat, maximum for high heat). For a rectangular barbecue with lid, measure out enough briquets to make 2 rows, each 2 briquets wide, that extend the length of firegrate; mound and ignite.

Let briquets burn until dotted with gray ash, about 30 minutes. Then, in a round barbecue, bank coals equally on opposite sides of firegrate. Add 5 or 6 briquets to each side now and at 30-minute intervals during cooking.

In a rectangular barbecue, bank coals equally on opposite sides of the spit down the length of the firegrate. Space the beds of coals (with spit in center) 6 to 8 inches apart. Set 1 briquet on hot coals every 3 to 4 inches now and at 30-minute intervals during cooking.

Place a metal or foil drip pan between coals. Fit loaded spit into motor and spit support; turn motor on. Move drip pan so it is directly beneath the meat. If you can adjust firegrate, position it 4 to 6 inches from surface of meat. Cover barbecue, open vents, and cook until meat is done to your taste. Maintain heat by adding briquets as specified. To reduce heat, add fewer briquets, partially close vents, or drop firegrate a few inches from the food.

To cook with gas. On barbecues with heat source below spit, turn burners on high and cover with lid. Preheat as manufacturer recommends (usually 10 minutes). Turn off center burner. If there is no control for heat in center of barbecue, set a foil drip pan with about 1/2 inch water in center of burners. Fit loaded spit into motor and spit support; turn motor on. Move drip pan so it is directly beneath the meat. Maintain high heat, or reduce to medium, as food requires. Cover barbecue.