Turning spit section from a stove roaster

During the early part of the Victorian period, food was cooked on a fire in an open hearth. The open fire was central to cooking throughout the nineteenth century, and it prevailed in many rural homes well into the twentieth century.   This turning spit section from a stove roaster would usually have been used for roasting coffee. The central barrel or drum would have been set horizontal in a framework (not pictured), above or in front of a heat source.