Clockwork Spring Spit Turner
Display: A Tasting Menu
Culinary Technique: roasting
Date: 1860–1880
Location: France
To prepare a delicious roast with a caramelized exterior and flavorful interior, meat must turn slowly before a fire. Cranking the handle wound the spring inside this mechanism, which then turned the skewer as it unwound. The bell inside rang to alert the cook when the spring needed rewinding. The stand at the opposite end held skewers inserted in the clips at two heights on the rotisserie's tower. Known in French as a tourne broche, this portable spit features the emblem of its retailer, BIROS Quincaillier, located in Langon, a village in the Bordeaux region.