The Auspit Rotisserie - from Drifta

Camp cooking is not just frying up a couple of sausages on the pan and warming a tin of beans on the side, hell no! With so many great camp cooking accessories on the market, you can now easily cook a cracking meal that is convenient, quick and tastes awesome, so no excuses.
One of our ALL-TIME favourite pieces of cooking equipment is a battery-operated rotisserie, more often than not it’s in the back of one of the TURAS 4WD vehicles. Over the years we have been using an Auspit Rotisserie product, and we recently received from DRIFTA an upgraded, stainless steel version of the original product.

It’s interesting to note that this method of cooking has been around for a long time, in fact, it has been used for centuries with the name first emerging in France where it first appeared in Paris shops around 1450. In the first kitchens going back hundreds of years, a non-motorised spit was the preferred way of cooking meat, where someone was given the job to manually turn the meat over the fire/heat source. As time moved on, new methods of turning the meat were invented including the mechanical turnspits (“roasting jacks”), this contraption was, believe it or not, powered by dogs on treadmills and then later by steam power before mechanical mechanisms were introduced. And with the invention of batteries the whole process just became a lot simpler and now very popular amongst us campers. One of the great things about using a Rotisserie when camping is, first of all, you can cook your favourite roast outdoors but also, it’s great to sit around the fire at the same time, chug a beer to two and chat with your friends and family. There’s something very therapeutic about watching and smelling your food cook over an open fire. Sure it takes a while for the meat to be cooked evenly but that’s all part of the fun of it, who’s rushing mealtimes while they are camping anyhow?

When using a rotisserie you should always place the meat In the middle of the rotisserie skewer and fasten as firmly as you can. If you are cooking chicken or some type of bird remember to secure the wings and legs in as tightly as possible. If parts of the meat are loose to flop around as it turns this can affect the speed of the rotisserie, you can also burn the meat if it is not balanced correctly on the rod. Keeping your meat balanced on the skewer will provide perfect results, always try to make sure you don’t cook your meat on flames of fire as this can burn your meat, using charcoal is a great way to ensure that your meat is evenly cooked. Marinating the meat as it cooks slowly over the fire is a great way to bring flavour to your favourite meat.

Auspit

The stainless steel Auspit is basically a portable cordless rotisserie system that can be easily transported in the back of your 4WD, camper trailer, boat or caravan. One of the great things about this product is that it pretty much flat packs and fits neatly into the supplied bag. Having used the older Auspit rotisserie for over ten years this stainless steel version definitely looks the part and it’s also very durable and strong. In fact, the rotisserie can hold an impressive 18lbs worth of food, now that’s a big lump of meat. It is also very simple to assemble and use, simply hammer the main rod into the ground, then place the spit bar into the motor, the weight of the motor will hold it in place, add your food and away you go. The clamp easily lets you adjust the height of the Auspit over your heat source, also the single post design allows for a swing-away action should you wish to move your food from your heat source without adjusting the clamp.

The All-Stainless Auspit Kit comes with one Long Squeezeloc Spike.

The Motor

The improved motor also seems to be quite efficient allowing you to run for between 90 hours depending on the quality of your batteries, it’s also pretty quiet. (Note the motor takes 2 D batteries.

Accessories

You can also get optional accessories for your Stainless Steel Auspit, some of these include the Auspit Fire Tray. This simple solution allows you to have your fire raised above the ground, which is a great option for places where you cannot have an open fire on the ground. For those of you who like to have vegetables with your camp meals, the Spitmate accessory is a unique Auspit cooking tool that will allow you to roast your favourite vegetables, nuts, chicken wings, drumsticks and even heat up your bread rolls. It weighs just 0.85Kg and sits securely beside your favourite roast turning a great camp feast into a super one. For more information on other accessories for the Stainless Steel Auspit click here.