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Roasting a Whole Lamb on a Spit
Posted 05-31-2008 at 06:53 AM by Nicko
A while back I posted picks from a pig roast I did with my family (photos here). Actually it was last year to be exact and it was a huge hit the pig came out perfectly. Not to mention the fact that my dad, brother and I had a blast cooking the pig. But first some history.
Over the years my family has tried numerous times to roast a lamb/pig from time to time. Always though with problems which were mainly keeping the darn thing on the spit. We used to use wire to keep the spine affixed to the spit shaft which in retrospect was a TERRIBLE idea. As you might guess the animal cooks and it shinks so the wire is pretty much useless and the meat starts flooping around. This puts tremendous stress on the spit shaft and the spit motor. In addition we often got an animal that was just too darn big for the spit.
Two summers ago was the the worst experience when we got a 100 pounder and put it on our little spit. First of all a 100 pounder will take all day (not fun) and second it bent the bar of the spit. We tried everything to keep it from flopping around since we didn't have spine bolts. My uncle even took some strapping and put a cinder block on the belly side of the pig. It was a disaster to say the least. We are actually very lucky no one got sick since the pig was not cooked all the way through.
After that I decided I would not let that happen again and would learn how to do it properly. Last year my Dad and I roasted a pig to perfection without any flopping and we had a blast just hanging out all day watching the pig cook. Did I mention the pig we roasted and the potatoes we cooked between the coals were outstanding?
So this time I decided to do a lamb (the Greek in me of course) for my friends. The lamb came from Pasture2plate.com and it was 37.5 pounds a perfect size. A little long but we trimmed the feet with hack saw. After getting it connected to the spit the whole thing took 5 hours. My spit has a really easy (idiot proof really) set up. There are three levels of notches. 2 hours on the top notches, 2 hours on the middle notches and 1 hour on the bottom notches for a 40 pound lamb.
In general I have found you really don't want to go much bigger than 40 pounds otherwise the cooking time is lengthy and also the animal is usually too big for the spit and needs to be trimmed. In the case of the 100 pound pig I mentioned we had to trim half the face off. It looked terrible and really ruined the mood of the roast to be honest.
So enough yapping here are some pics for you to enjoy:
Over the years my family has tried numerous times to roast a lamb/pig from time to time. Always though with problems which were mainly keeping the darn thing on the spit. We used to use wire to keep the spine affixed to the spit shaft which in retrospect was a TERRIBLE idea. As you might guess the animal cooks and it shinks so the wire is pretty much useless and the meat starts flooping around. This puts tremendous stress on the spit shaft and the spit motor. In addition we often got an animal that was just too darn big for the spit.
Two summers ago was the the worst experience when we got a 100 pounder and put it on our little spit. First of all a 100 pounder will take all day (not fun) and second it bent the bar of the spit. We tried everything to keep it from flopping around since we didn't have spine bolts. My uncle even took some strapping and put a cinder block on the belly side of the pig. It was a disaster to say the least. We are actually very lucky no one got sick since the pig was not cooked all the way through.
After that I decided I would not let that happen again and would learn how to do it properly. Last year my Dad and I roasted a pig to perfection without any flopping and we had a blast just hanging out all day watching the pig cook. Did I mention the pig we roasted and the potatoes we cooked between the coals were outstanding?
So this time I decided to do a lamb (the Greek in me of course) for my friends. The lamb came from Pasture2plate.com and it was 37.5 pounds a perfect size. A little long but we trimmed the feet with hack saw. After getting it connected to the spit the whole thing took 5 hours. My spit has a really easy (idiot proof really) set up. There are three levels of notches. 2 hours on the top notches, 2 hours on the middle notches and 1 hour on the bottom notches for a 40 pound lamb.
In general I have found you really don't want to go much bigger than 40 pounds otherwise the cooking time is lengthy and also the animal is usually too big for the spit and needs to be trimmed. In the case of the 100 pound pig I mentioned we had to trim half the face off. It looked terrible and really ruined the mood of the roast to be honest.
So enough yapping here are some pics for you to enjoy:
Total Comments 5
Comments
 |  And you did not even invite us!!!... My Armenian blood does like lamb also you know... I'll forgive you... this time! Be well... Ara & Spirit |
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| |  Wow, what a great idea putting the potatoes were the pigs juices would fall on them. they must of tasted out of this world. Never done a pig roast. You got me thinking of doing one for friends and I. Good stuff |
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| |  This is actually a lamb in the photo and the potatoes were good not great. We did the same potatoes but with a pig and it was as you said OUT OF THIS WORLD. Welcome to CT. |
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| | We would like to purchase a rotisserie like the one in the photo to cook lamb for our family and friends for Greek Easter. Any idea where we can find one? We are located in Brookfield, WI. Thanks! Dino |
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| | I have been looking everywhere for a grill like yours! Who is the person that makes this one. The price is also right. bonjo in northern calif |
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