The steer must be specially handled when butchered and hung in one piece

Save the hide but have the hair removed

After the steer has been properly aged, mount it whole on a steel bar or pipe which will be the spit

The spit should be twice as long as the animal

Lay the steer on its back and place the spit down the abdominal cavity making sure to find the center of balance so that turning during roasting will not be difficult

Using wet rope or flexible wire fasten the beef tight, close the abdomen and rub a mixture of salt, lard, and pepper all over

Once you have done that, sew the hide back around it. The cookfire can be built on the ground, but long pans for coals or grates for the wood are much better

Build the fire with two long fire-pans on either side of a third pan to catch the drippings

A bucket of water should be kept nearby to fill the drip pan and extinguish flames

Some of the drippings and fat will fall into the fire, but you want to avoid that because the smoke is unpleasant and it will affect the quality of the meat

Go a dozen steps away from your pit and put down a metal plate or some sort of fireproof slab you can shovel from

Build your fire

Be sure to have plenty of hardwood (as much as a cord for a whole steer) or anthracite coal

Mount the beef in your pit

When coals are formed, move them a shovelful at a time to the fire-pans

Keep the heat going without interruption

Barbequing a steer takes all night and into the next day with constant attention

When the drippings collect they should be used to baste the meat along with the special barbeque sauce (recipe below)

Be sure to give it one complete revolution per hour

When meat starts to pull back from the bones it's approaching the eating stage

The hide will shrivel, curl back and become very hard

To test make a deep cut in the sirloin

The middle should be rare

Remove from fire and cut away the hide

Place beef back down, remove from spit, and cut in half down the spine with a meat clever

Cut into the hindquarters and remove the shanks

To carve, start with the lower round and prime rib

Progress to the front quarter from the prime rib to the shoulder and neck, while carving on the hindquarter moves from the shank round to the T-bone, making sure that the last person in line is equal to the first.