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roasted pig


nwells

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I'm hoping some of you can give me some direction...

I want to roast a whole pig (100-125 lbs.) outdoors. The only area in my yard that is big, safe, and not in the middle of a flower bed is my driveway. I assume that I can simulate a pit by providing some sort of deep box for roasting. I've never roasted a big before, but my friend from Tonga is going to help me with the actual cooking logistics. This is old hat for him, but he did look at me pretty strangely when I talked about doing it on top of the ground.

Will this scheme effect time? I hoping to layer it in coals and banana leaves and have found an excellent source for fresh pig (Portland, OR).

What else should I know?

THANKS

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Depending on where you live, there may be a company that builds temporary pits for the roast. However, I'd make sure that you protect the surface of the driveway. I would expect tht the heat from the roast would screw it up, perhaps ruining the seal.

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agree with stone on the cautions for your driveway.....you need heat for a LLLOOOONNNGGGGG time to do this right, and if you don't have the source well above the driveway, you have a melted hole in the blacktop!

depending on where you're located, there may be mobile roasting 'wagons' you can rent for a day or two, complete with delivery/pickup of the wagon. i'm originally from iowa, where we actually DID 'put the pig in the ground and had the beer on ice' in a farmer's back 40, but about half the pig roasts i went to used one of the commercial wagons. i now live in the chicago area, and one of my neighbors just had a roast last year; he rented the wagon.

your local true value may be of some help, as could be one of the local rental stores.

good luck......pig roasts are heaven on earth!

matt

Edited by hotle (log)
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Back when I was a wee Klink my father roasted a pig overnight in our driveway. We rented a big drum that fit the beast, though we did have to saw the head off. It was a lot of fun trying to whack it off with first all of our kitchen knives and then with other tools. Luckily a neighbor came by with a hacksaw. :wacko:

The pig roasted for 18 hours and we only used briquettes. When he lit them there was the traditional "let's blow up the neighborhood by using too much lighter fluid and subsequently burning off all of my chest hair and eyebrows" begining. He got up every 3 hours to add coals. The next day the whole neighborhood smelled like bacon! It also looked like the Exxon Valdez crashed and spilled gallons of pork fat on the driveway.

I suggest that if you're cooking the pig on your driveway that you raise the cooking vessel above the surface and have a container for the gallons of fat that will render off. Have fun!

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I have helped with this with some friends in Hawaii so I would think the same technique would be familiar to your Tongan friend.

Here is the plan... Read on.

First you dig a hole. A really BIG hole. Depending upon the size of the pig, a rectangle to fit the pig and the rocks, and probably at least 4 feet deep. Haul a bunch of fairly big rocks, about volleyball size and line the pit. Cut a bunch of wood, enough to fill the pit. Light the wood and allow the wood to burn down to coals. Be sure to keep the coals and wood distributed to heat all of the rocks evenly. If you have read this far, you say to hell with all that work and go rent the truck. :laugh:

I have actually always wanted to do this. My friends had a hole in their backyard just for this purpose so all they had to do was haul the wood.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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I did the "whole pig buried in a big hole in the back yard" thing when I catered a friend's wedding in Arizona. Lot of fun, not too hard, and delicious results. We stuffed ours with sage and rosemary for the roast. Served it with a balsamic reduction, fire-roasted fennel and soft polenta with stracchino.

Two web sites that may be of interest to you are:

The Team Mumu Pit Cooking Page

and

Pig Roast and BBQ Links

--

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That Team Mumu site may be the death of my laptop.

Pina Colada snorted from the nose when I read about the head falling off (PLONK!). But vacuuming up the tail was the kicker.

edit: Memo to self... do not drink while reading these threads.

Edited by fifi (log)

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Are you really set on doing it in a pit? Spit roasting is much easier IMHO.

Protect your drive with a thick (6 inch) layer of sand first.

You can then either build a southern style BBQ pit with concrete blocks(see How to cook hawgs...)

or

Hire a BBQ oven

or

Make a fire box from either half an old oil barrel, or a couple or wheel barrows (more sand to protect the bottom),

A spit from a length of scaffolding, Drill a couple of holes to help secure the pig

A support for the spit so it is about 4 ft over the fire - I use a pair of builders trestles.

Something (like scaffolding clamps) to stop

- the pig turning on the spit

- holding the spit to the support. It needs to be able to support the out-of-balance pig, even when hot and greasy, but be capable of being loosened so the spit can turn.

Corrugated iron, or even just foil to surround the whole contraption and act as a roof to keep the rain off, and the heat in.

About 12 hours before you want to eat light two small fires at each end. Pigs have most of the meat at the legs and shoulders, and these are the parts you need to cook, without burning the bit in between..

Put the spit though the pig and wire it on to the spit securely. Everything will get hot and greasy, and you don't want the pig to slip.

Rub the pig with salt, EVOO Score the skin with a very sharp knife so the crackling can be broken up.

Insert meat themometer into the thickest part.

Put the pig over the fire. Surround with something to keep the heat in, if you can.

Its not like a grill. You are cooking in a very gentle oven, for a long time, so the heat can penetrate the thickness of the meat. It needs to be high enough above the fire not to scortch from the fat flares.

Not much will happen for quite a while. Drink some beer.

Rotate the pig by 90 degrees every 15 minutes or so. Check the fire at the same time. You will need about 10 sacks of charcoal for a 100lb pig. Small fires at each end work best.

Drink some more beer...eventually the pig will be cooked. Remove it to a where you can carve. Serve in hamburger buns, with sage-and-onion stuffing, apple sauce, mustard, and more beer.

Allow about 1lb of pig per person, as you will have a lot of waste (bones etc). Enjoy

Get help with the clean-up next day.

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Are you really set on doing it in a pit? Spit roasting is much easier IMHO.

(Reads detailed instructions.) This is easier than burying a pig in a firepit, forgetting about it and digging it up 12 hours later?

--

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Vegetarians need not read this :wub:

When I was very young and living in Puerto Rico the family always spit roasted a pig for any big occassion like Christmas time, New Year's party, weddings, anniversaries, etc. I do remember very distinctly one time when my parents were celebrating an anniversary and for this occassion they were going to have roast pig. A man and several helpers came with the live pig at dawn. One guy made the pit (don't think it was deep, mostly rocks on the bottom and on the sides, then lots of charcoal) the others killed the squeeling animal. With buckets of hot water they took off the hair, brushed his teeth and ears and snout and shaved whatever hairs remained. They gutted him and hung him up to drain the blood, while someone ws making morcillas (blood sausages). When he was ready, they shoved a long pole from the back hole to the front through his mouth, then they nailed the snout to the pole and tied his feet with wire so he would not break a leg, covered with tin foil his ears and tail so it would not burn to a crisp (this was taken off later to give it a chance to cook too). After basting him with a sauce made out of (don't remember this accurately) lard, achiote (anatto to give it color) garlic, salt and pepper the pig was placed over the spit. Yes, a lot of beer was drunk by the guys turning the pole and ocassionally basting it. The pig was ready to eat very late around 9-10PM and it was served with the usual trimmings of rice and pidgeon peas, tostones (fried green plantains) and a sauce made out of limes, garlic and olive oil (aji-li-mojili). :raz:

WorldTable • Our recently reactivated web page. Now interactive and updated regularly.
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Vegetarians need not read this :wub:

When I was very young and living in Puerto Rico the family always spit roasted a pig for any big occassion like Christmas time, New Year's party, weddings, anniversaries, etc. I do remember very distinctly one time when my parents were celebrating an anniversary and for this occassion they were going to have roast pig.  A man and several helpers came with the live pig at dawn. One guy made the pit (don't think it was deep, mostly rocks on the bottom and on the sides, then lots of charcoal) the others killed the squeeling animal. With buckets of hot water they took off the hair, brushed his teeth and ears and snout and shaved whatever hairs remained. They gutted him and hung him up to drain the blood, while someone ws making morcillas (blood sausages). When he was ready, they shoved a long pole from the back hole to the front through his mouth, then they nailed the snout to the pole and tied his feet with wire so he would not break a leg, covered with tin foil his ears and tail so it would not burn to a crisp (this was taken off later to give it a chance to cook too).  After basting him with a sauce made out of (don't remember this accurately) lard, achiote (anatto to give it color) garlic, salt and pepper the pig was placed over the spit. Yes, a lot of beer was drunk by the guys turning the pole and ocassionally basting it. The pig was ready to eat very late around 9-10PM and it was served with the usual trimmings of rice and pidgeon peas, tostones (fried green plantains) and a sauce made out of limes, garlic and olive oil (aji-li-mojili). :raz:

I am so hungry right now. Thanks Mrs. B. Do you have a recipe for arroz con gandules? the one I make is never quite right.

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I am so hungry right now. Thanks Mrs. B. Do you have a recipe for arroz con gandules? the one I make is never quite right.

Not really, I usually just put in the ingredients and the only thing I measure is the water and the rice. So I have never written down the quantities, mostly it is by taste. I use frozen fresh shelled gandules. I'll see if I get a chance and I'll write somewhat of a recipe for you

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  • 2 weeks later...
I am so hungry right now. Thanks Mrs. B. Do you have a recipe for arroz con gandules? the one I make is never quite right.

Sorry it took so long in writing down somewhat of a recipe for the Arroz con Gandules. As I said, I have been cooking this for so long I do it with my eyes closed. Basically the rice is Goya short grain and you need 1 1/2 cups of liquid to one cup of rice. I first cook chorizo (cut in thick wheels), panchetta (in small cubes) and tocino (fat back cut in 1/4 inch slices then sliced to open up like a hand but leave the back skin attached) slowly in a caldero (cast aluminum pot) to crisp and render the fat. Then I take them out and leave about 2 tbl. of fat to fry the sofrito (chopped onions, green peppers, garlic aji dulce and tomato which has been peeled and seeded) slowly don't burn it. Add a couple of tbl of alcaparrado (olives and capers) and tomato paste and the chicken stock, a bay leaf and a bunch of cilantro tied. Bring to a slow bubble and cover, you want to let it cook for about 1/2 hour to let the vegetables and meats give the liquid some taste. Take out the cilantro before you add the gandules (I buy them fresh-frozen and thaw them before using) and the rice. Bring to a slow boil and in about 10 mins. the liquid will be almost all gone, turn the rice over and cover, put down the heat. Cook for another 10 minutes, again turn the rice and cover for another 5 minutes. If it is sticking, or if the rice is not done, add a little more liquid (about 1/4 cup) cover and give it another 5 mintues. The rice should be done, but not gummy. Take out of pot and serve with a sprinkling of chopped cilantro and strips of roasted red peppers, slices of avocado would be nice too. Good luch and buen provecho!

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