Remember the Aussie Porta Spit will be very hot and could cause injury if not properly stable and used in a safe manner. It is also your responsibility to check for fire restrictions before using your Aussie Porta Spit in parks and forests.

Decide what heat source you will use to cook your food, being either charcoal or barbeque heat briquettes. Traditionally rotisserie cooking is done using charcoal but if this is not available or you prefer barbeque heat briquettes, such as Heatbeads, you can still expect excellent results. When camping, using the coals straight from the fire is a quick and easy option.

As a rough guide of how much fuel is required is to use approximately a kilogram of fuel to every kilogram of food to be cooked, with a maximum of 5kg. If it is too much you can always remove some with extreme care. A bag of heatbeads or a bucket of charcoal would be enough to cook most spits adequately. If you do not have enough heat you can always add some more. If a smell is emitted just remove the shaft with meat until the added heat has caught. We suggest trying both and deciding on your preference, as barbequing is individual.

Charcoal

For large cuts of meat up to 5kg in weight you require approximately 4-5kg of good quality charcoal. Larger pieces of charcoal, say the size of a clenched fist are ideal as they will burn a little hotter and longer than small pieces. When the charcoal is of a smaller size then more will be required and it may take longer to cook. Mallee stump is ideal if available. The quality of your charcoal will effect your cooking times

Mound ¾ of your charcoal in the centre of the Aussie Porta Spit with 6 firelighters. Keep the remainder of your charcoal at hand to add progressively as the meat cooks and the original coals burn down. The firelighters will take 10 minutes to burn whilst emitting a kerosene smell. Use this time to secure and balance meat on rotisserie shaft, (refer to next section). Wait a further 5 minutes after the firelighters have extinguished to be sure no kerosene fumes will spoil your meat and also to give all the charcoal time to catch alight.

When all charcoal has lit and meat has been secured onto rotisserie shaft, adjust coals to the right hand side of the Aussie Porta Spit if you are standing at the motor end. Try to stack or place the coals along the right side. Then give the coals a further several minutes to allow the intense heat that was just exposed to settle. You are now ready to cook.

Barbeque Heat Briquettes

For large cuts of meat up to 5kg in weight you require approximately a 4kg bag of barbeque heat briquettes. Again it pays to go for a quality product that burns cleanly and doesn’t emit an odour or smoke.

Mound all of your barbeque heat briquettes in the centre of the Aussie Porta Spit with 6 firelighters and ignite. Do not keep any aside for later. Barbeque heat bricks take 10 minutes to get started in which time the fire will emit a kerosene smell from the firelighters.

The barbeque heat briquettes will take a further 25-30 minutes to turn from black to being covered in ash and totally ignited. Use this time to secure and balance meat on rotisserie shaft, refer to next section. Make sure that all the barbeque heat briquettes are lit before you start cooking so you have an even heat and will avoid burning.

When all the barbeque heat briquettes are lit and meat has been secured on rotisserie shaft, adjust coals to the right hand side of the Aussie Porta Spit if you are standing at the motor end. Try to stack or place the barbeque heat briquettes along this side. Give the barbeque heat briquettes a further several minutes to allow the intense heat that was just exposed to settle. You are now ready to cook.