Authentic Pizza Ovens Maximus Prime Rotisserie Spit

Description

The Maximus Prime rotisserie spit is the Authentic Pizza Ovens Maximus Prime spit, a free standing stainless frame with its own drip pan that sits on the tile floor of the Maximus Prime and turns a whole bird or a roast by hand from a wooden handle outside the mouth. An 84 centimeter rod, a 60 by 36 centimeter pan, and the rod 18.5 centimeters above the pan: sized for the Prime's 12.5 inch ceiling and 20 inch door, and not for anything smaller.

Nothing mounts to the oven. The Maximus Prime rotisserie spit goes in through the door, the fire burns beside it, the handle sticks out of the mouth, and you turn it. When the roast is done the whole frame lifts out with the drippings in the pan. It is the simplest rotisserie for portable pizza oven cooking there is, a wood fired rotisserie spit in an oven built for pizza, with room on the Prime for a fire alongside.

The Maximus Prime rotisserie spit is made to order in Portugal in limited runs, so lead times run three to four weeks and are confirmed when you order. Ordered with the oven it ships free on the same delivery; on its own it ships by parcel at the rate shown at checkout. This page covers the dimensions and what fits on the rod, how the frame works door off, where it sits on the 35 inch floor, how to cook on it, and how it differs from the smaller Maximus Mobile rotisserie spit and the traditional spit for the brick domes.

Sized for the Prime: The Numbers

APO's drawing gives the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit its shape. The rod is 84 centimeters, 33 inches, and 1.5 centimeters thick, which is the diameter that does not bow under a six pound bird. The pan is 60 by 36 centimeters, 23.6 by 14.2 inches, with a turned up lip and a carry handle at each end. The rod rides 18.5 centimeters, 7.3 inches, above the pan floor on two triangular end supports, each 20 centimeters across the base.

Put those numbers against the oven and the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit's roast envelope falls out. The Prime's false ceiling is 12.5 inches above the floor; the pan sits on the floor and the rod 7.3 inches above it, so there is about 5 inches from the rod to the ceiling and 7 from the rod to the pan. A roast up to roughly 10 inches across turns clear, and the rod carries about 20 inches of length between the supports: a five to six pound chicken, a duck, a pork loin, a rolled leg of lamb, or two chickens end to end.

The whole Maximus Prime rotisserie spit is 14 inches wide and 7.3 inches tall at the supports, so it passes through the Prime's 20 by 11 inch mouth without tilting. The rod runs long at the handle end on purpose: with the frame all the way in, about 8 inches of rod and the handle sit outside the door where your hand is. The Mobile spit is the same design scaled down, with a 73.5 centimeter rod and a 50 by 30 pan for the 9.5 inch ceiling of the smaller oven; a Maximus Prime rotisserie spit does not fit through the Mobile's 15.5 inch door.

How It Works: Door Off, Fire Beside It, Hand Turned

Two stainless forks slide along the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit's rod and lock with wing nuts, as above, so the roast is skewered, centered between the end supports, and clamped from both sides before it goes anywhere near the fire. The forks stop a chicken spinning loose on the rod as the skin shrinks; tighten them once the bird is trussed and check them after the first quarter hour. The rod turns in an open notch at the top of each support, so it lifts out without tools.

The Maximus Prime rotisserie spit works with the Prime's door off. The Prime's door is a lift off plate rather than a hinged one, so there is no port for the rod to pass through and no way to turn the handle with the door in place. Take the door off, slide the frame in with the handle toward you, and cook through the open mouth with the coals at the back and one side, the way you would for pizza. The 12.5 inch ceiling holds enough heat over the roast that the open door does not cost you the cook.

Turning a Maximus Prime rotisserie spit is by hand, a quarter turn every few minutes, and that is a feature as much as a limit. There is no motor to run a cord to, nothing to fail at 400°C, and a wooden handle that stays cool because it is outside the oven. The rod itself is hot from the mouth inward, so the habit is glove on, handle only, and the roast comes to the table on the rod with the handle as the carry.

Where It Sits on the 35 Inch Floor

From above, the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit is a pan with a rod down its centerline, and it takes a 24 by 14 inch footprint on the floor. The Prime's floor is 35.4 inches square, so with the frame in and the handle toward the door there is 11 inches of floor at the back and, if you set the frame to one side, 20 inches beside it. That is the reason a large pizza oven rotisserie works in this oven and struggles in smaller ones: there is room for a proper fire next to the roast, not just coals under it.

Set the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit off center toward the cold side, build the fire at the back and the other side, and the roast turns in radiant heat from the flame while the pan keeps the drippings off the tiles. The pan matters for two reasons. It catches the fat that would otherwise smoke on the floor and flare against the bird, and it gives you the base of a gravy or a tray of potatoes: put quartered potatoes and onions in the pan under a chicken for the last 40 minutes and they roast in the drippings as the bird turns.

Because the Prime's floor tiles lift out, an owner who roasts often can lift the two tiles under the pan to check for grease after a season, but in practice the pan keeps the floor clean. Lift the frame out by the pan handles, not the rod, once the roast is off, and let it cool on the cart shelf before it goes anywhere near water.

Cooking on the Prime Spit

For Maximus Prime pizza oven rotisserie cooking the oven wants to be lower than pizza temperature. Let the dial fall to 250 to 300°C, 480 to 570°F, where the fire has settled to a steady flame over coals, and set the frame in. Our post on pizza oven temperature explains what the dial is reading at each point. A five pound chicken takes 60 to 75 minutes at that heat with a quarter turn every five minutes, and it is done when the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F.

Use a probe, not the clock. On a Maximus Prime rotisserie spit the surface browns early and the inside catches up later, so color tells you nothing about the thigh. The USDA FSIS food thermometer guidance is to check a whole bird in three places, the innermost thigh, the innermost wing, and the thickest part of the breast, and to read the lowest of them. Pull the roast when all three are there, rest it on the rod for ten minutes, and carve.

Beyond chicken on the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit: a pork loin at the same heat takes about an hour to 145°F and a rest; a duck a little longer with the fat scored so it renders into the pan; a boned and rolled leg of lamb 75 to 90 minutes to medium. Two smaller chickens end to end on the rod feed eight and take no longer than one. Anything over about 10 inches across, a turkey, a whole shoulder, does not clear the ceiling, and that is what the Prime's ceramic dish and the tile floor are for.

The wood side of the cook is the same as for pizza: dry hardwood in 8 to 10 inch splits, one or two on the coals at a time, fed every 15 to 20 minutes to hold the dial steady. The difference is patience. A Maximus Prime rotisserie spit is an hour of turning and tending with a drink in the other hand, and most owners say that is the point of it.

Prime Spit, Mobile Spit, and the Traditional Spit

APO makes three spits, and each is built for a different door; the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit is the largest. The traditional rotisserie spit for the brick domes is a plain rod that passes through a port in the Dutch door of the Lisboa, the Ventura, and the Lume Alto, so it cooks door closed. The two Maximus spits are free standing frames with drip pans for the portable ovens' lift off doors, one sized for each oven. The table sorts it out.

The three do not swap. The traditional spit has no supports and needs the door port, which the Maximus ovens do not have. The Maximus Mobile spit's pan fits the Prime's floor but its rod is too short to reach the handle outside the Prime's deeper mouth, and the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit's 14 inch frame does not pass the Mobile's door. Buy the spit for the oven you own, and check the woven label on the box if you are not sure which oven that is: a 39 inch base plate is a Prime.

Care

The Maximus Prime rotisserie spit's frame, pan, rod, and forks are stainless steel. Wash them by hand in hot soapy water once they are cool, dry them, and store the frame in the oven under the cover or on the cart's lower deck. The pan takes a scrub after a duck; the rod and forks wipe clean. Heat colors the stainless a straw tone near the fire end, which is normal. The wooden handle wants to stay out of the dishwasher and out of standing water; a wipe with a damp cloth is enough, and a rub of mineral oil once a season keeps it from drying.

Store the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit dry. Drippings left in the pan overnight are the only thing that will mark it, and a pan left wet in a covered oven puts moisture against the tiles, which the cover is there to prevent.

Lead Time, and What to Order With It

APO has the Prime spit made in small runs in Portugal, and its own listing carries an on order note with a three to four week lead time and limited supply. We confirm the date when you order and tell you before your card is charged. If the oven is on order too, the two ship together; if the oven is already in your yard, the spit comes by parcel when it lands in Texas. Ordering the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit with the Maximus Prime is the way to get both on one free delivery.

Two things pair with a Maximus Prime rotisserie spit. A probe thermometer, since the dial on the oven reads the air and the spit cook lives on the thigh temperature; our pizza oven accessories collection has the infrared gun for the tiles and the five piece starter pack for the tools. And the Bello stand, whose lower deck is where the frame lives between roasts, under the Prime cover with the oven. The full APO range is on our Authentic Pizza Ovens brand page.

Buying the Prime Spit From Crustify

With the oven, the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit ships free on the oven's freight delivery from the brand's Texas warehouse. On its own it is a 10 pound parcel and ships by ground at the rate shown at checkout. Inspect the box on arrival; the frame is stainless and travels well, but a bent end support is worth noting on the delivery receipt and reporting within five days. An unused spit can be returned within 14 days, with the return shipping paid by the buyer.

Questions before you order, including whether a particular roast will clear the ceiling, go straight to the owner by chat or email and get a real answer, usually the same day. Or contact us directly.

The Maximus Prime rotisserie spit ships free with the oven on the same delivery. Lead time is three to four weeks and is confirmed at order.

KEY FEATURES

• Authentic Pizza Ovens Maximus Prime rotisserie spit, made for the Maximus Prime large portable pizza oven, in stainless steel with a wooden handle, made to order in Portugal
• Free standing frame: two triangular end supports on a 60 x 36 cm (23.6 x 14.2 in) stainless drip pan with carry handles; nothing mounts to the oven
• 84 cm (33 in) rod, 1.5 cm diameter, riding 18.5 cm (7.3 in) above the pan in open notches; lifts out without tools
• Two stainless forks with wing nut clamps to center and lock the roast on the rod
• Roast envelope under the Prime's 12.5 in ceiling of about 10 in across and 20 in long: a 5 to 6 lb chicken, a duck, a pork loin, a rolled leg of lamb, or two chickens end to end
• Frame is 14 in wide and 7.3 in tall, so it passes the Prime's 20 x 11 in mouth; about 8 in of rod and the handle sit outside the door
• Cooks door off with the fire at the back and one side; turned by hand, a quarter turn every few minutes
• Drip pan catches the fat off the tiles and takes potatoes and onions under the roast for the last 40 minutes
• Cook at 250 to 300°C; a 5 lb chicken in 60 to 75 minutes to 165°F in the thigh, checked with a probe
• Sized for the Prime only; the Maximus Mobile has its own smaller spit and the brick domes use the traditional spit
• About 10 lb; hand wash, dry, store in the oven or on the cart deck
• Lead time three to four weeks, limited supply, confirmed at order; ships free with the oven, parcel rate on its own

SPECIFICATIONS

APO's drawing is in centimeters: an 84 cm (33 in) rod at 1.5 cm (0.6 in) diameter, a 60 cm (23.6 in) by 36 cm (14.2 in) drip pan, and the rod 18.5 cm (7.3 in) above the pan on end supports 20 cm (7.9 in) across the base and 18.5 cm tall. The roast envelope in the table is our figure, worked from those dimensions and the Prime's 12.5 inch ceiling.

INSTALLATION GUIDE & USER MANUAL

Loading the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit. Truss the bird or tie the roast so nothing hangs. Slide one fork onto the rod, run the rod through the roast along its length, keeping it centered, then the second fork. Push both forks into the meat until it is held from both sides and tighten the wing nuts. Set the rod in the notches with the handle end toward you and spin it once by hand; a roast that flops on the rod needs the forks tightened or the rod re centered.

Into the oven. Fire the Prime as for pizza, then let the dial fall to 250 to 300°C and rake the coals to the back and one side with one split burning for flame. Lift the door off. Carry the frame by the pan handles, set it on the floor off center toward the cold side with the handle out of the mouth, and check the roast turns clear of the ceiling and the fire. Leave the door off for the cook.

Turning and feeding. Glove on, handle only. A quarter turn every five minutes; add a split every 15 to 20 to hold the dial. Potatoes and onions go into the pan under the roast for the last 40 minutes. Check the forks after the first quarter hour as the skin tightens.

Done. Probe the thickest part of the thigh, the wing, and the breast on a bird, or the center of a roast; pull at 165°F for poultry and 145°F plus a rest for pork, beef, and lamb. Lift the frame out by the pan handles onto a board or the cart shelf, rest the roast on the rod for ten minutes, loosen the forks, and slide it off.

After. Let the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit cool completely. Hand wash the pan, rod, forks, and supports, dry them, wipe the handle, and store the spit dry in the oven under the cover or on the cart deck. Never leave drippings in the pan overnight.

WARRANTY INFORMATION

Coverage. Authentic Pizza Ovens covers the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit against defects in materials and workmanship, to the original purchaser, on the same basis as its other accessories.

Exclusions. Heat coloring of the stainless, a bent rod from an overloaded or off center roast, damage from the dishwasher or from standing water on the wooden handle, and use in any oven other than the Maximus Prime are outside the warranty.

Claims. Contact us first with photos and your order number. We handle the claim with APO on your behalf. Shipping damage is separate: note it on the delivery receipt or report concealed damage within five days.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - FAQ'S

Your Questions Answered Before You Buy

The questions we get most often about the Maximus Prime rotisserie spit, answered straight. If yours is not here, chat or email goes to the owner and you will usually hear back the same day.