Preparing a party for about 60 people, this is what we came up with:
Most parts for this piglet-grill can be found in a metal-worker´s scrap metal bin.
You do want to buy new stainless steel parts for anything that actually does have contact with food, though, just as it is done with your normal barbeque grill.
The framework is made of two matching sizes of ordinary steel pipes with square cross-section, so one size will fit exactly over the smaller size to faciliate height- and length adjustments.
The rod connecting the two stands is set off so it won´t be in the way of anything dripping off the meat.
I chose quite large ball bearings to support the weight of the stake and make sure it can rotate easily.
Bearings from an old washing machine might do the trick as well, but these were more convenient.
Hydraulic fittings with 30 mm thread are used to connect the stake to the drive train.
On a first attempt I tried out an old bike´s drivetrain (as not really visible on the first picture), but a gear ratio of about 3:1 proved to put too much strain on the motor which resulted in a high and uneven rotating speed.
So on a second attempt I ordered a matching set of gears that provides a ratio of almost 9:1 in one single step.
So a wheel with 70 teeth is screwed to the stake, while the one with 8 teeth is connected to an old motor of a Peugeot´s windshield wiper. A 0.3 kW transformer was taken from an old computer and supplies the juice that keeps this thing going.
To save energy (this needs 2 pounds of charcoal per pound of meat!!) I made a deflector out of ordinary steel sheet metal. That also helps when you want to approach the blazing hot fire to tend to the meat.
You´d burn your feet within seconds without it.
It´s made of two parts bent at an angle of about 15° so it will stand on its own. Small triangular bends at the deflector´s wings inclines it a little so it´ll stand more secure and won´t sink into the soil.
Don´t use zinc-galvanized material here (and, for that matter, for any other parts of the grill). With the considerable heat, the zinc will produce poisonous substances that you don´t want in the meat!!
Setting this thing up requires a little work, but once the piglets are rotating the whole arrangement needs little tending and does the work by itself. You might want to dissolve lots of salt in a piture of beer and rinse it occasionally. This provides a tasty crust.
When it´s about done (piglets of the shown size will take about 6-7 hours to be ready) just reduce the fire and let it wait for your guests.
