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Lathe Roasted Whole Lamb — Parallax Forums

Lathe Roasted Whole Lamb

TymkrsTymkrs Posts: 539
edited 2015-06-01 10:20 in General Discussion
Hey everyone!

Thought you guys might enjoy one of our latest projects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63FTmUu8jnM
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Lathe-Roasted-Whole-Lamb/

It was done on a whim but turned out great :D We entered it into the Meat contest on Instructables - if you feel inclined to vote, we'd greatly appreciate it! http://www.instructables.com/contest/meat/

We'll be posting our latest Parallax chip based product soon as well but we had to get this one done first :D

Comments

  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,105
    edited 2015-05-27 15:43
    Now I'm hungry....
  • TymkrsTymkrs Posts: 539
    edited 2015-05-27 15:56
    Hehe :D It was delicious! We highly recommend the process ;) (And for those cringing, the lathe's bed was warped so it was relatively unusable)
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,451
    edited 2015-05-27 16:47
    OK dead metal-cutting lathe, check, sawz-all, check, leaf blower, check. Dessert needs to be prepared with a circular saw and router.
  • TymkrsTymkrs Posts: 539
    edited 2015-05-27 17:03
    Haha, we did have some waterjetted pineapple! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbCJf4IblDg

    does that count?
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2015-05-28 07:34
    Utterly fantastic, you guys are my gyros!
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-05-28 09:50
    I pity the lathe.
    This is actually the first time I have even felt pity for a piece of hardware, but becoming a barbecue rotisserie is so degrading.

    Roast lamb I like. Cooking with a sawsall....so American.
  • jonesjones Posts: 281
    edited 2015-05-28 09:52
    FWIW, a "warped" lathe is usually a straight lathe sitting on an uneven surface. Even a new lathe won't be straight until it's been carefully leveled using a precision level.

    Fun idea, however. Just be careful with the spindle speeds! Makes me wonder, if you did a ham instead, maybe you could use the carriage and power feed to spiral cut it?
  • mindrobotsmindrobots Posts: 6,506
    edited 2015-05-28 11:50
    erco wrote: »
    Utterly fantastic, you guys are my gyros!
    That's so baaaaaaaaaaahd it's good!!
  • TymkrsTymkrs Posts: 539
    edited 2015-05-28 14:45
    From what I understand

    Loopy - edit: apparently the lathe had been hit by a forklift and therefore unusable for fine machining

    erco - LOL

    jones - it was about 100 RPM, which I believe was the slowest it could go. We were afraid we'd have meat pieces flying off all over the place, but we didn't! And due to a combination of the speed of rotation and distance from coals, we cut down the cooking time from 5-6 hours to 2-3!
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-05-28 16:10
    Poor lathe...
    First it gets hit by a fork lift. And then it becomes a barbecue.
    I'm so.... sad.

    (of course, this is all nonsense... I just envy that I don't have a nice big junk yard to play with.)
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2015-05-28 16:49
    My brother in NC just got a Clausing. Tymkrs, just let me know when you want to film the sequel "Meatloaf Mill".
  • TymkrsTymkrs Posts: 539
    edited 2015-05-29 11:37
    @Loopy - Lol I feel ya, it was going to be donated to our hackerspace but we didn't have three phase set up.

    @erco Meatloaf Mill!!!!!! Dooo ittttt
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-06-01 08:39
    Ever since I visited Mexico in 1969, I have had a desire to create and own a tortilla production line.

    It seemed that every small town in Mexico had one operating out of a small store front.
    http://www.21food.com/products/tortilla,-chapatti-and-lavash-bread-production-line-773298.html

    It still seems like a mom and pop's type of business model that could survive and do well.
  • PublisonPublison Posts: 12,366
    edited 2015-06-01 09:06
    Loopy Byteloose wrote: »
    Ever since I visited Mexico in 1969, I have had a desire to create and own a tortilla production line.

    It seemed that every small town in Mexico had one operating out of a small store front.
    http://www.21food.com/products/tortilla,-chapatti-and-lavash-bread-production-line-773298.html

    It still seems like a mom and pop's type of business model that could survive and do well.

    Of course you have seen:
    Over the past two and a half years, we've been building a tortilla factory in our shop building. Marco (the guy heating them on the grill in the pictures from the OPC) and Francisco and I made those here on Friday morning. Marco's family made all the food and brought it down on Saturday morning. You can see Marco's dad and brother in the pictures.

    Here is a video of the corn tortilla line in operation. There was a Propeller chip in a counter/stacker we rebuilt, but that counter/stacker was not mechanically adequate for the line, so we had to get another machine that you'll see at the end. We scrounged around and bought all this stuff for about 20% the cost of new equipment. Much of it we refurbished ourselves. I've learned to TIG weld and form up sheets of stainless. It took several months of experimentation to get a handle on just cooking and grinding the corn. The best corn we've found is an organic yellow type that a guy up the road grows:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVaa0iJij1A

    These tortillas smell and taste like corn, as that's all they are. The stuff in the stores is so loaded with acidifying preservatives that people have come to think that corn tortillas are supposed to taste like acid.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2015-06-01 10:20
    The freshness of made today may be a niche market, but it is also a very stable model for a small business. You get a lot of restaurants and retail customers that are very loyal just because people do taste the difference.

    Of course, a good recipe is important as well. Submarine Sandwiches make their own bread everyday here, but they don't seem to quite understand how much can be done with bread... a bit uninspired.
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