15.5 What Equipment Do You Need?

·         oven or slow roasting

·         spit roasting

·         pot roasting.

First of all, you need an oven and you need to be able to regulate the oven’s temperature. That sounds pretty standard, but not all ovens deliver heat accurately. You should check your oven to make sure you are cooking at the right temperature.
You need a roasting pan. The roasting pan should be shallow—1 ½-2 inches deep—and plenty large enough for your food. The best roasting pans have heavy, flat bottoms so that you can put them on a burner to deglaze the drippings after you take the roast out.
You may want to use a roasting rack inside the pan to hold the meat up out of the drippings.
You need a meat thermometer. Most cookbooks contain some kind of chart telling you how long to roast things. You have to find a different chart for each kind of meat, calculate how big the cut of meat is, and the chart tells you how long to roast it and at what temperature. This is an inaccurate—and potentially dangerous—way to determine how long to roast something. Use a meat thermometer. That way you will know that the meat is done through to the center and that it is safe to eat.

Spit roasting

Spit roasting is an ancient method of cooking. It involves rotating foods over a heat source. Depending on the appliance, controlling the temperature of a spit roast is more difficult than roasting in an oven.

Points to note for spit roasting:

·         Use larger joints or whole animals.

·         Secure the meat securely on the spit

·         Seal the meat using a high temperature first.

·         Reduce the temperature by removing the food further away from the heat source.

·         Baste frequently, taking care the fat doesn't drip onto the heat source.

·         Ensure the spit can rotate freely

·         The cooking time will depend on how large the joint is and how close the joint is to the heat source.

·         The heat source is best located at the side of the joint as juices that drip can be collected in a drip tray.

 

Pot roasting (Poêler)

Pot roasting is a moist method of roasting that involves placing the food in a roasting pot with a lid. This method requires a slightly higher temperature and a longer cooking time than other roasting.

Pot roasting is suitable for tender cuts of meat both large and small in size, poultry, game and offal products.

The following are some helpful tips for pot roasting:

1.     The food needs to be placed in an appropriate sized container with a tight fitting lid.

2.     No liquid should be used in the container though the cooking item is usually placed on a bed of root vegetables and herbs.

3.     Bacon trimmings can be added to improve the flavour.

4.     Butter is used as a basting agent to provide colour and add flavour.

5.     Baste the food regularly.

6.     A small amount of wine or spirit can be added at a later stage to add flavour and/or colour..

7.     The lid should be removed towards the end of the cooking process to colour the food. The cooking temperature should also be lowered at this point to prevent overcolouring.

8.     The residue collected from the cooking process is deglazed and made into a sauce.