Spit Roasting Charcoal

Hey Steven,

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to hangout with us. I love your show and watch it regularly. I am an avid griller and do a lot of whole animal spit roasting. Growing up Greek I was exposed to spit roasting lambs on a pretty regular basis. As I got older I took to learning the skill. Here is a shot of my Father and I spit roasting a pig for the family a few years back:

My question is about charcoal and what types of fuels you have experimenting with. Do you have a particular brand of charcoal that you prefer? Have you ever made your own charcoal and if so is it worth the effort or are there enough quality commercial brands available that make that unnecessary.

If you are interested I have two photo galleries that show how I roasted a whole pig and lamb in my photo galleries here: 

http://www.cheftalk.com/gallery/album/index/id/7889

P.S. Notice the potatoes underneath the pig. ;)

Wow, $2 a piece is pretty pricey but I think it is something I will have to give a try. The danger there is once you become hooked on the quality it would be hard to come back. Maybe something I can use for special occasions. I will also take a look at wicked good charcoal thanks for the tip.

As for my spit oddly enough it is designed and manufactured by a Greek gentleman in downtown Chicago. His main business is upright vertical broilers that are used for gyros and he started making rotisseries since there was a demand from the Greek community in Chicago (that is my theory anyway). He has a few different flavors of his spit but the design works really well. It can handle around no more than a 65 pound animal but I usually never go that high. I prefer the 40-45 pound range myself. The spit has three tiers and for a 40-45 pound animal you put it on the top rung for 2 hours, the middle is next for 2 more hours and the bottom is between 1/2 hour to an hour depending on how crispy you like the skin.

His website is: http://www.xlmanufacturing.net/Rotisseries.asp