The steer must be specially handled when butchered
and hung in one piece
Save the hide but have the hair
removed
After the steer has been properly aged, mount
it whole on a steel bar or pipe which will be the spit
The
spit should be twice as long as the animal
Lay the steer
on its back and place the spit down the abdominal cavity
making sure to find the center of balance so that turning
during roasting will not be difficult
Using wet rope or
flexible wire fasten the beef tight, close the abdomen and
rub a mixture of salt, lard, and pepper all over
Once
you have done that, sew the hide back around it.
The cookfire can be built on the ground, but long pans
for coals or grates for the wood are much better
Build
the fire with two long fire-pans on either side of a third
pan to catch the drippings
A bucket of water should be
kept nearby to fill the drip pan and extinguish flames
Some of the drippings and fat will fall into the fire, but
you want to avoid that because the smoke is unpleasant
and it will affect the quality of the meat
Go a dozen
steps away from your pit and put down a metal plate or
some sort of fireproof slab you can shovel from
Build
your fire
Be sure to have plenty of hardwood (as much
as a cord for a whole steer) or anthracite coal
Mount
the beef in your pit
When coals are formed, move them
a shovelful at a time to the fire-pans
Keep the heat
going without interruption
Barbequing a steer takes all
night and into the next day with constant attention
When the drippings collect they should be used to baste
the meat along with the special barbeque sauce (recipe
below)
Be sure to give it one complete revolution per
hour
When meat starts to pull back from the bones it's
approaching the eating stage
The hide will shrivel, curl
back and become very hard
To test make a deep cut in
the sirloin
The middle should be rare
Remove from fire
and cut away the hide
Place beef back down, remove
from spit, and cut in half down the spine with a meat
clever
Cut into the hindquarters and remove the
shanks
To carve, start with the lower round and prime
rib
Progress to the front quarter from the prime rib to
the shoulder and neck, while carving on the hindquarter
moves from the shank round to the T-bone, making sure
that the last person in line is equal to the first.
