I love great food in the outdoors. Sadly, actually cooking that food has never been my strong suit. My fishing and hunting mates will quickly tell you that. That’s why I was so happy to get my hands on one of Auspit’s campfire spits.

To cut right to the chase, the Auspit makes cooking quality meals dead easy – even for the culinary challenged like me, and even in the less-than-ideal cooking conditions encountered when camped beside your favourite fishing hole. Essentially, the Auspit is a small spit roast that has been designed especially for the campfire.

When I say small, it is strong and capable of holding up to 8kg of meat, which is easily more than the typical camp of ravenous fishos would ever need in a sitting. On the other hand, importantly, it is small enough to pack away into a convenient carry bag for easy stowage in the boot or the back of the ute.

The Auspit comes with a solid stainless steel spitbar that is pushed through the meat. Be careful when doing this, or the spike could end up penetrating the wrong flesh – your hand! Having everything lying flat on the camp table is the safest way. Once the meat is in the correct spot along the spike, it can be locked there with the squeezeloc clamps that come supplied with each unit.

Once loaded with meat, one end of the stainless spike is then inserted into the battery pack, and then the whole thing is simply attached to a steel support bar hammered into the ground next to your campfire. This is the key to the convenience of the Auspit. In contrast to other spits, it is supported at only one end so that it can be swivelled either closer to or further away from the campfire, depending on how much heat is being produced.

In other words, there is no real need to control the fire (though red hot coals are preferred to blazing flames). Instead, you can regulate how quickly your food is cooking by adjusting how close it is to the heat source. It’s simple, but convenient and effective.

The food on the spit turns slowly thanks to the small battery pack on one end. Unlike the kid’s pressies at Christmas, the Auspit comes supplied with super heavy-duty batteries that last for an incredible 90 hours.

A couple of mates and I gave the Auspit a thorough workout on a recent trip to Victoria’s High Country. We cooked beef and pork roasts and, believe me, they were absolutely mouth-watering. It proved itself a clean and easy way to cook way out in the middle of nowhere. Having said that, I also have used the Auspit to cook in the comfort of my own backyard!

Though so far I have only used the Auspit to cook meat, it is certainly not limited to that. Extra squeezeloc clamps can be added to the spitbar, and the types of food that can be cooked is then limited only by your imagination. Vegies like potato, pumpkin and corn are the obvious choices, and these can be added to the spit when the meat is almost done. As manufacturer Rhett Thompson points out though, campers have used Auspit to cook crayfish, deserts and even marshmallows.

A number of accessories can be purchased to go with your Auspit. One of these is a special stainless steel cage that slides over the spitbar and allows you to cook chopped vegies, nuts, chicken wings and bread. There are also optional fire trays and dishes so that you can use your Auspit where it is not suitable for lighting a fire on the ground, such as a suburban backyard or caravan park.

Auspit are made and distributed by Australian company PMT Leisure, based in Pakenham, so getting hold of extra parts and accessories won’t ever be a problem. If you want a simple and effective way to give the quality of your camp food a real boost – and impress your mates at the same time – check out these these handy campfire spits on the website (www.auspit.com.au) and give them some thought.