SPit Roast Chicken with Salsa

Spit Roast Chicken

This, and the making of the battery operated spit (see menu item on the left), were inspired by those roast chickens you can buy in the markets that smell so superb. It appears to create great interest from our guests and has the benefit that it doesn't require much attention while it is cooking.
We always try to have the chicken cooking for around an hour before guests arrive - I think they may not prefer to see a totally raw chicken when they arrive!

Method

Start the fire in the hearth about an hour before you want to start cooking.

Wash the chicken through as you would normally prepare a chicken for roasting.
Place on the spit, held in place by the meat spikes clamped to the spit rod.

Wash the pointed end of the spit as this have some raw meat on it which will not cooked.

Tie the two legs together loosely with a piece of string as they may otherwise flop around too much at first. Occasionally it has also been necessary to use string to keep the wings in place.

Place the spit on the hearth, connect the motor unit and switch on.

Place a loaf tin beneath the chicken containing approximately 600ml of water, a chicken stock cube, and a table spoon of Herbes Provencal or Mixed Herbs.

Baste the chicken occasionally (doesn't appear to need a great deal, so plenty of time to sit and enjoy a drink), and maintain a fire hot enough to cook the chicken slowly.

After an hour of cooking you can cut the string on the legs allowing more heat into the area of meat inside of the legs.

We normally allow at least 2 hours for 2 Kg chickens and probably more like 3hrs. After three hours the legs may fall off but they usually land in the loaf tin so that isn't a problem.
You are going to have to be confident that chicken is thoroughly cooked through when you serve it up.
By the time you have finished cooking the chicken, the liquid in the loaf tin will have been reduced and should be a tasty salsa, incorporating any fat that has dripped off the bird.

When ready to serve, place the loaf tin of salsa directly on the fire if you feel that it needs reducing further or if you are not confident that it has been thoroughly heated through.
Remove the motor assembly from the spit.
Wipe the end of the spit that you are going to slide the chicken off.
Carry the chicken and spit to the table, unclamp one of the meat spike brackets, and slide the chicken on to a wooden board.
Cut the chicken into quarters using heavy "Chicken Scissors" and serve together with the salsa.