Pekin duck roasted on an Auspit spit over a fire pit

[Mark]

I used my newly built fire pit last weekend with my also new Auspit spit rotisserie to roast 3 of our pekin ducks over an open fire and I have to say I really love the fire pit I made and the Auspit rotisserie I purchased as both compliment each other perfectly.

We started the fire at about 8am using some wood from all the fallen trees we had around our property lately (no shortage of wood atm) and once the coals had formed with the fire dying down a little at about 10am I stuck the ducks on the spits and roasting had begun!

The Auspit post is driven into the ground and is capable of holding the main spit bar which is about 900mm long and also a shorter spit bar/kit (Spitmate kit) typically used to roast vegetables etc but I used both bars for ducks with the top longer bar taking two pekins easily.

Since we have oranges in season this formed the base of the sauce used for basting the ducks:

• 5 oranges juiced
• about a cup soy sauce
• about 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh ginger
• tablespoon crushed garlic
• about 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• about 1/3 cup honey
• some pepper
• sherry or port (1 x cup optional)

I also stuffed each duck with an orange (with slits cut in it to let the juice run out) and a whole peeled onion.

We slow roasted the ducks for about 3.5 hours ensuring they didn't burn whilst basting every 15 minutes or so. The Auspit worked a treat and the battery D cell motor operated quietly with even turning completely glitch free the whole time. Apparently, 2 x D cells give about 90 hours of spit operation.

Each spit bar can be swiveled, raised, or lowered, independently to maneuver the meat into the best cooking position throughout the roasting process - I thought this was an awesome feature and everyone thought the Auspit was an excellent piece of kit.

Overall, I have to be honest and say although the pekin ducks tasted great they were a little tough or chewy and this was probably due to two main factors: firstly, the ducks were a little old (about 12 months - ideally they should be between 9 - 14 weeks old at the time of processing); and I basically overcooked them... Nevermind, they still got eaten and were much enjoyed

Auspit pekin ducks roasting beginning over the fire pit

Pekin ducks ready to be removed from the spit and carved up

Our picnic area overlooking the poultry free ranging area with the fire pit etc

The Auspit main kit and the smaller supplementary kit

Auspit motor black painted (also comes in stainless cover)

Roasting marshmallows over the fire

I am really wrapped with how our fire pit works and it definitely was a feature of our BBQ giving the feel of camping (but in your own backyard) plus it was an excellent way to cook meat with the smoke flavour infusing the food.

You can Buy the Auspit and accessories here on eBay

Also here's the Auspit website https://www.auspit.com/

Thread on how I built my fire pit - just in case someone was wondering...

 

[stevo]

All looks great Mark. The Auspit looks like a good idea.

 

[Ash]

Fantastic. People pay big bucks to have non-woodfire BBQ roasts so that set up is indeed a winner.

 

[Mark]

Cheers guys! Yep, I'm pretty happy with how the day turned out but I still have a lot to learn and things to try with the pit and spit - we'll get there

 

[Steve]

Great write-up Mark. Yep, it's all a learning curve and you'll get better at it for sure.

Great set up and photo's too Mark.

Cheers,

 

[Mark]

Great write-up Mark. Yep, it's all a learning curve and you'll get better at it for sure.

Great set up and photo's too Mark.

Cheers,

Thanks Steve!

I haven't ever done much cooking over a fire like this but it's something I want to do more of now that we have a pit and spit cooking equipment - I enjoy it!

We have plenty of wood to use so instead of chipping it all up I'll be keeping a lot of it for burning.

It's a little tricky working with an open fire for cooking purposes but if I can master it there's no doubt we'll get some tasty cook ups in the future.

 

[Letsgokate]

Awesome, chef and a handy man

 

[Mark]

Awesome, chef and a handy man

Thanks Kate - I'm trying hard to improve at both