A spit designed to hold sheep or beef (8)
I believe the answer is:
pastrami
'beef' is the definition.
(pastrami is a kind of beef)
'a spit designed to hold sheep' is the wordplay.
'designed' is an anagram indicator (designed with the letters).
'to hold' is an insertion indicator.
'sheep' becomes 'ram' (ram is a kind of sheep).
'a'+'spit'='aspit'
'aspit' is an anagram of 'pasti'.
'pasti' placed around 'ram' is 'PASTRAMI'.
'or' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for pastrami that I've seen before include "beef dish" , "Tapered tuck; missile" , "Highly seasoned cut of smoked beef" , "Seasoned dish" , "Sliced cured beef" .)