Sheep on a spit: cooking whole

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Sheep on a spit can hardly be attributed to popular dishes. Its preparation is not an easy task. And if you were inspired to take such a step when you saw a delicious ram on a spit in the photo, then tune in to a serious mood and do not rule out an unsuccessful outcome. Perhaps it is worth trying to fry it for the sake of the ceremony itself of many hours of duty at the spit in nature with relatives and friends.

Lamb Choice

Aged ram obviously doesn't fit here. The best option for a skewer is a lamb up to a year old. Its meat is tasty, tender and juicy, and it cooks much faster. The age limit for a ram suitable for skewering is three years, but it will be noticeably tougher. The optimal carcass weight is 6-8 kg. Maximum - 20 kg. As experts advise, it is better to choose a “girl” for frying.

Preparation

First of all, the lamb must be properly cleaned of blood and wool residue, then prepared for frying. Kurdyuk, as a rule, is cut off almost completely, leaving only a small layer, otherwise the fat will melt and flow onto the coals. In addition, such a valuable part should not be wasted in vain, it will findapplication.

The carcass is treated in the same way as with any other meat that is planned to be roasted over coals. That is, it must be s alted or pickled, rubbed with s alt or marinade. Before that, cuts are made on the legs and back with a sharp knife, into which you need to try to push lumps of s alt. The prepared lamb is left to soak for four hours. Before frying, it is allowed to rub the carcass again with s alt.

If you can't find the right size dishes, you can take a large bag and put the carcass in it.

The simplest recipe for mutton on a spit:

• lamb carcass;
• tablespoon black peppercorns;
• about 500 grams of s alt;
• sprigs of thyme and rosemary.

The carcass can be rubbed with vegetable oil, lemon juice and zest, herbs, garlic, cumin, etc.

Do I need to fill

There is an opinion that it is better not to stuff the lamb, because the filling may simply not be fried. But there is another opinion that you can stuff, the main thing is to choose the right stuffing. For example, take cheese: even if it is not baked, the dish will not be spoiled. If cheese is taken for the filling, the amount of s alt should be reduced.

You can put a large amount of onion, garlic and rosemary inside - in this case, the meat will turn out very fragrant. Having stuffed the ram, you need to sew it up: make holes in the meat with a knife, thread the string and pull it off.

What's with the fire

The fire must be kindled in advance, immediatelyafter marinating the lamb. The coals should burn well and give a great heat. Distribute the coals so that the greatest heat is under the thick part of the carcass, and less where the layers of meat are thin.

How to thread the windmill

This is one of the most difficult tasks in the process of cooking lamb. The skewer must be threaded with great care so that it is parallel to the spine. It is more convenient to do it together. It enters at the back legs and exits in the middle of the head.

The ram must be well fixed so that during rotation not only the spit turns, but also the carcass. It is advisable to purchase a frying attachment with clamps for the spine, front and rear legs. If there are no such clamps on the skewer, you can secure the neck and legs with pliers and thick wire. If the spine is well pressed against the skewer, the motor will be less loaded.

It is believed that a ram should be put on a skewer before being rubbed and stuffed. You can marinate the prepared carcass all night, setting it upright and substituting some kind of container to drain the liquid.

How to fry

You need to set the carcass over the fire when the coals turn white. A lamb weighing 8-10 kg will be roasted for about three hours. For the first hour, the spit should be set to a high level and rotate quickly so that the meat does not burn, then rearrange to the lower level and slow down so that it is fried evenly on all sides.

While roasting a whole sheep on a spit, moisten it every 20 minutes. Suitable for thisoil, lemon juice, beer. As a result, the surface of the carcass will be covered with a ruddy crust.

Another secret: lamb is not uniform in thickness, so the ribs need to be wrapped in foil during the first hour of cooking.

You can wrap the carcass with oiled paper several times before frying and pull it with twine. You need to remove the paper towards the end of frying so that the meat is browned and acquires a delicious crust. When the lamb is baked in paper, it does not burn and you do not need to brush it with oil and lemon juice every 20 minutes. It is baked in its own juice.

The lamb is ready when the meat begins to separate from the bones. It turns out juicy, tender, soft. The crust is crispy, but not hard at all. There is almost no sebum - it is all melted. The meat is easy to separate from the bones: just hit the skewer and it will fall on the table by itself.

How to Serve

The lamb is placed on a large dish. It is served with tzatziki sauce, side dishes - rice or potatoes, fresh bread, fresh or baked vegetables. And, of course, alcoholic drinks will be appropriate.

In closing

There is an opinion that cooking a lamb on a spit is impractical because of too different meat in the carcass. It will not be easy to achieve uniform s alting and frying even for experienced grillers. No matter how hard you try, there will still be poorly heated areas in the depths, and eating meat with a low degree of roasting is unsafe. It turns out that you have to cut off the thickest pieces and fry them separately beforehow to put on a plate and serve. Or cut off the top baked layer and serve, while the ram on a spit will bake further. Only the loin and ribs can be fried until fully cooked.