Spiedo Bresciano (Italian BBQ)

It’s been a long winter and I can’t wait for it to end so I can try my new rotisserie grill. The grill has no lid, so it does not work well while it’s cold out.
While I’m waiting for thing to defrost, I’ve researching different methods of BBQ and collecting interesting pictures and information.

I came across an old method of BBQ from an Italian town called Brescia. The dish is called “Spiedo Bresciano” Spiedo in Italian means “Spit” or rotisserie and Bresciano refers to the city where it came from.
Here is a couple of links with some description: http://italianfood.about.com/od/italian ... 120507.htm
http://garda2o.wordpress.com/2008/02/12 ... lo-spiedo/

The dish is basically made from a verity of meats that are skewered together with Sage and potatoes in between and cooked slowly- up to 5 hours. So it does meet a low and slow definition. Traditionally it was cooked on a spit rotating over open fire or in front of a fireplace.
Here are some pix:



In modern time, people developed a BBQ grill that is very unique that could achieve the same job in less time.


This grill has an offset firebox and two drip pans.
The first drip pan sits on top of the grill and has multiple holes in it.

It’s used for basting the meat without opening the grill…is that unique or what!!!
Some times they load it with butter and bacon and let the grease bath the meat

Here is the meat getting a shower of butter

The second drip pan sits in the bottom of the grill and collects all the drippings.

They initially use oil for basting for the first hour and discard all the dripping from the raw meat. After the first hour they use butter or bacon and the drippings are caught from the bottom of the grill and recycled- How genius!!!


They use a verity of meat at the same time. Historically wild birds where used, but not limited to one type. Birds are still used to include chicken, quails..etc. They also use rabbit, pork (shoulder and ribs), and what ever is available.

Pork ribs cut up

They slice the pork shoulder thinly, place fresh sage in them and roll them.


The meat is then placed on skewers alternating with potatoes, fresh sage and the different types of meat.





Here are the spits used for this process.

The spits loaded


As far as seasoning, I only found that salt is being used, in addition to the sage. The salt for some reason is applied towards the end of cooking- not sure why?
As I mentioned, the cooking time is about 4-5 hours, so the temp must about around 225-250?? And charcoal and wood is usually used for fuel and flavor. So you see this really qualifies a real BBQ. You got Low and slow cooking method, charcoal and wood are used and the meat gets a generous amount of basting.
Look how perfectly this meat is browned

Not one hint of burned end!!

I’m really fascinated by this and can’t wait to try it. After all, it is BBQ and it’s made out of meat and potatoes
I’ve added 8 spits to my new grill (4 to each rotisserie) to duplicate this process. Of course I don’t have a special grill like the one above, so I’ll use the open fire method. My grill already has the drip pans to collect the dripping from the bottom and I just have to hand baste.

Now I just have to wait until it gets warm



What’s also good about this system, it requires very little tending too. Since the rotisseries are doing most of the work, I just kick back and enjoy the aroma

Here is a link from Youtube with a video of Spiedo Bresciano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTvcsansDNI

Absolutely fascinating.

Can't wait to hear how it works!

Once that thing is set up, you're going to have no choice but to invite us all over.

The in-the-lid basting pan is a great idea! I wonder if Weber would have any interest in designing a 2-piece WSM lid with that feature.

Brad

Whoa. That looks awesome. It reminds me of the Brazilian steakhouses but it's clearly different with the variety of the meats and the basting.

That's awesome. It's quite impressive how much meat fits on those skewers. Yep, you'd definitely be able to feed us all, so just let us know the date/time. kthx.

Great pics, Z! 11:30 AM and I'm already in BBQ overload....

Great looking stuff Z! Glad to see you back around here lately.

Thanks Kenny13, it’s good to be back
I’m glad you guys think the stuff is interesting!!
I’m so fascinated by this process and can’t wait to try.

Yes, it does hold a lot of meat. It’s a very sufficient system. The concept of one spit carrying 3 or 4 other spits maximize the smallest space.
That’s what I tried to do when I added 8 spits to my 2 rotisseries. Each spit measures 43 inches, but after hooking them onto the plate, I get about 40 inches of usable space per spit.
That’s 40 inches X 8 = 320 inches or approx 26.6 feet of rotisserie space
And you all are welcome to join us; you just have to come to Atlanta


What’s also good about this system, it requires very little tending too. Since the rotisseries are doing most of the work, I just kick back and enjoy the aroma

Here is a link from Youtube with a video of Spiedo Bresciano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTvcsansDNI

WOW...totally awesome. That would really work well for parties and get togethers for sure. Are you going to try various cuts of pork and meat also ?

You might just go broke trying to fill those skewers though....

Heebzman wrote:

WOW...totally awesome. That would really work well for parties and get togethers for sure. Are you going to try various cuts of pork and meat also ?

You might just go broke trying to fill those skewers though....

Yes, I’m going to use it mostly for big parties and such. I go camping with a big group and do all the cooking for them, this going to be very handy for those events. I also have the option of using one rotisserie with one or two spits for smaller parties.

I will definitely use verity of cuts and meats. For large party, I always cook more than one type of meat to give people options. I may have to take out a loan to fill up this thing

I've had this. It's spectacular. Thanks for the great photos.

SR

That looks amazing. let us know when you are gonna have that huge party. I'm in.

Amazing post Z!!! I had to keep scrolling up and looking at those pictures for a while. I was at a loss for words. I wish you the best of luck when you make your inaugural run.

Jim

That's just awesome. I think I'm moving back to Atlanta, lol. I'll be waiting for my invite.