Pit-roasting a Pig

[NeroW]

Hey everyone.

We are thinking about pit-roasting a pig for the Luau we have every Memorial Day.

Questions: do you really roast the whole thing? With its head and all?

Any experiences?

[Mayhaw Man]

These guys didn't have the head. In Louisiana, you will see it both ways. davebr just cooked one a week or so ago and maybe he will have some more advice.

My advice goes like this-cheek meat is a good thing.

Also, the presentation is much more dramatic with the head.

[hathor]

Find Stinger...he knows how to roast whole animals.

[Al_Dente]

Varmint is a pig pro. He could even tell you how to get pig grease off a tennis court.

[Suzanne F]

You mean he finally got it all off???

[TJHarris]

A friend and I have spit roasted a couple of whole pigs. I am not certain about the method you intend. The roasting turned into as much a social occasion as did the meal that followed. We used pigs that averaged about 250# on the hoof or about 200# dressed out. We rented a trailered roaster that had an electric motor for the spit and we burned a whole lot of lump charcoal. When you season the pig be sure to season inside the cavity as well. We started roasting at about 9:00 pm for a noon meal the next day. We tried to keep the roaster between 250 and 275 F. Be careful of grease fires. Had one or two of those.

I saw your post on another thread about where near Ann Arbor to aquire the victim. I was going to respond but I couldn't find the place that I used to get my pigs in the area anymore. I believe that it was called Paula's Plucking Parlor and Slaughter House. In Dexter I think. It has been almost 15 years.

[slkinsey]

NeroW, how are you planning on roasting the pig? There are several "pit roasting" methods:

• Turning on a spit over a pit
  
• Placed whole into a closed smoker (this is what Varmint did at the pig pickin')
  
• Butterflied and roasted over an open pit (as described in this eGCI course)
  
• "Luau style" "roasting" where the pig is wrapped and buried in the ground with hot rocks (as described here)
  

I've done whole pigs using just about all these methods at one time or another. And yea, it's the whole (gutted) pig, head and all. I have no idea if the brain is removed from the skull.

[dano1]

what timing, i just did a 40lb'er last weekend. Pit roasted, the whole hog ;).Wrapped in wet burlap and tossed it on oak embers. Covered the pit and let it go 7-8 hours-damn thing was still frozen when we got it.

[NeroW]

It's a luau, so we are thinking of doing the hot-rocks method. "Joy of Cooking" actually describes this in some detail.

I think it's a go, I just have to figure out where to get the pig. This is in the Ann Arbor area, and damn if I can find somewhere to order a suckling pig from.

[slkinsey]

My one word of advice... make sure you get a lot of rocks, and burn a big-ass fire in the pit for several hours before you throw in the pig. Otherwise, you wind up with a lot of rare pork.

The web site I reference above was a big help to me when I did my (200 lb) luau style pig.

[NeroW]

Thanks, slkinsey. If this is a go, I plan to line the pit with rocks, and then build a huge-ass fire and let it burn completely down before proceeding. I know I will need to work quickly to complete the pit once I rake the fire out.

[slkinsey]

Sounds good. I didn't bother raking out the fire, I just wrapped the pig in lots of cheesecloth and chicken wire, dropped it in, then pushed the rocks on top of it and buried the pit. The fire goes out right quick when you do that anyway. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a buttload of big rocks, though, as they are the only meaningful source of heat.

[phaelon56]

These guys (and gals) will surely know where a suckling pig may be obtained in your neck of the woods

Michigan Pork Producers Association

4801 Willoughby, Ste 5

Holt, MI 48842

517-699-2145

[Malawry]

Hey wait, are we talking about a suckling pig or a full-grown beast? I've never seen a suckling pig roasted in a pit and am curious if anybody has tried it. I bet it takes a lot less time, but then I also bet it generates a lot less meat...

[Varmint]

a buttload of big rocks

Um, er, would that be more than 1??

[slkinsey]

a buttload of big rocks

Um, er, would that be more than 1??

That all depends on the size of the butt. In your case, it would be around a metric ton.

[Mayhaw Man]

O.K.

Here is one of my secret stories about crazy people who will try anything.

I have some friends that got into the emu/ostrich bubble in the late 80's and early 90's (humorously, they actually ended up making money at it-not many people did). They have a very nice farm and kept all kinds of weird stuff around (zebras, buffalos, a couple of llamas, and one pot bellied pig was allowed to run free.

THe pig kept getting into the pens with the emus and was really causing trouble and it was decided that it had to go. Well, to make a long story shorter, these people had a giant couchon de lait every year and several pigs were roasted every year in a "cajun microwave" contraption (this particular one was teepee shaped and enclosed on three sides with a motorized spit, it worked great and we used it for years) with a motorized spit built into it. The pork was always wonderful and they were great parties (both of these guys work for Sazerac and several of the other participants (including me) worked for ABita Beer, so their was no shortage of cool libations) and attended by a couple of hundred people.

The pot bellied pig dissappeared a few days before the party and reappeared as a ready to roast pig. Many of the participants didn't think that this was particularly funny, and I have to admit that I had mixed feelings about it myself. It was put into the machine and several hours later out came a small roasted pig. It was very cute.

Guess what it tasted like? Pig. It was actually pretty good, at least as good as a full size one, though not as tender as a shoat. There was none left, as most of the participants got over their squeamishness as soon as it hit the serving table.

I have had both shoats (suckling pigs) and full size big mamoula types. The smaller ones are much easier to cook (as they tend to cook more evenly and in a shorter period of time and that means less fire maintanence) and are much more tender. They also do not have so much fat and while the fat can be a good thing when roasting, too much is a mess and hard to deal with when serving. Somewhere between lean and fatty is the play, and smaller ones seem to have about the right amount.

A pig by any other name.......

[StInGeR]

Find Stinger...he knows how to roast whole animals.

You rang

Looks like everyone's beaten me to it so there's nothing left for me to say

Cheers

Tom

[NeroW]

I showed my friend (at whose house we will be having the luau) the eGCI thread on roasting a pig. She freaked out when she saw its face.

Her big worry is finding a place to purchase a pig, and then transporting it in her car. Say we were to get a 70 - 80 pounder--that's still the size of a pretty big dog. Do you put it in a styrofoam ice chest, or what?

[slkinsey]

Just wrap it in a sheet of heavy plastic. A couple of heavy duty large trash bags would probably do the trick too. Or, you could always treat it like a body and wrap it up in a rug. But I tend to do that kind of thing only when I'm driving to a secluded spot in the woods with a couple of shovels.

In all my previous pig-roasting experience, the pig has been frozen pretty hard when I took delivery and keeping it refrigerated was the least of my concerns. If yours is frozen (fairly likely, I'd say), I recommend defrosting and brining it at the same time overnight in the bathtub.

[Varmint]

But if you're lucky and able to get the pig fresh from the abbatoir (the only way to go, btw), it'll be very pliable and difficult to carry. That's why you'll want to get a lot of help. You should have seen how much trouble it was getting my hog on the cooker last October.

[Mayhaw Man]

You should have seen how much trouble it was getting my hog on the cooker last October.

I'll bet it wasn't anymore difficult than the trouble that Sam had getting that guy out of the trunk and into the hole.

[NeroW]

If yours is frozen (fairly likely, I'd say), I recommend defrosting and brining it at the same time overnight in the bathtub.

There is *absolutely no way* I will be able to get this girl to put a dead pig in her bathtub. I'm having enough trouble resigning her to the idea of putting it in her car.

When I read your post, I sprayed coffee all over the wall behind my computer just thinking about it.

She doesn't even fart!

She always does this to me. Gets some grandiose culinary idea (she cooks not at all), then balks when she realizes there might be some time, or blood, or dead roasted pig face involved.

BTW . . . your typical brine? Sometimes I brine pork in vanilla brines, or juniper brines. Would this be worth it with a pig meant for the pit?

[Mayhaw Man]

There is *absolutely no way* I will be able to get this girl to put a dead pig in her bathtub.

She doesn't even fart!

Life's short, man. You might want to give this one some serious thought (the girl, not the pig).

And as far as the farting goes-she will eventually explode

[slkinsey]

You should have seen how much trouble it was getting my hog on the cooker last October.

I'll bet it wasn't anymore difficult than the trouble that Sam had getting that guy out of the trunk and into the hole.

It's much easier if you run 'em through the band saw a few times first.