 By now you’ve probably spent the summer putting perfect grill marks on skirt steaks and even smoked an entire pork shoulder. Perhaps you have even made your own barbecue sauce and realized it's better than anything you could buy in a jar. Or maybe they know you by name when you walk into your local grill supply store and you count the days until the weekend when you can get up before dawn to start cooking barbecue that wont be ready until sundown. But deep down you know that until you cook a whole pig you just have been playing it safe. Justin is never without a barbecue thermometer. I tend to use "the poke it with your finger" technique to determine doneness. He cooks with liquid nitrogen and recently shelled out for a sous vide machine. I on the other hand am a firm believer that a cold beverage is your most important cooking accessory. But if we were going to cook a whole pig for fifty of our friends and family without having to order a lot of pizzas at the end of the night, we’d have to combine our different approaches. With about a month to go before the big day we began scouring our favorite cooking blogs and BBQ sauce splattered recipes for inspiration. Would we go North Carolina-style? Hawaiian? Bury it underground the way they cook pigs in Mexico. Putting it in a “Caja China” box covered with charcoal like I have seen done in Panama? In “Mastering the Grill,” one of my favorite BBQ books, I was a little intimidated to read their description of cooking a whole pig as an advanced, "grill project." And this from the same authors who call for a leaf blower in one recipe. An e-mail from my brother laying out our “pig plan” put me at ease. The one page, single-spaced cooking itinerary called for a ton of ingredients and a 48-hour strategy for brining and slow cooking the pig. It would be plenty of work but at the end we would have delicious barbecued pork to serve. On the day of the big event we had 60 lbs of organic pig, 20 bags of hard wood charcoal and one rented spit roaster. The pig rested in a large cooler, bathing in the brine we had mixed up. Our Mom had nixed our idea of brining it in a bathtub. Before we started cooking, we stuffed the pig’s inside with frozen heads of lettuce, stitched it shut with steel wire and tied the whole animal to the spit. Then we stabbed the pig all over with flavor injector syringes to keep the pork from drying out during the slow and low cooking process. Prior to getting messy with the pig, Justin and I donned thick plastic gloves and heavy garbage bags. Our family decided we looked more like serial killers than grill masters. “You guys should be in an episode of Dexter,” my sister Alexandra wisecracked. As soon as we got the pig on the spit, we hit our first snag. The pig’s weight was causing the spit to lurch as the 60 lbs of swine rotated over the coals. I had seen a similar issue develop on a pig cooking video on YouTube. That video and dinner party ended with the pig enveloped in a towering grease fire. My brother and I took the pig off the coals and tightened the spit until we thought it might break. Back over the heat, the pig still flopped precariously. Luckily, my Dad, Harvey, who has jerry-rigged everything from boat engines to electric circuit breakers, stepped in. Using thick rope he tied the spit’s loose motor to its legs. The pig still wobbled, but now at least rotated somewhat more steadily. Having lost an hour fixing the spit, we then discovered another problem. It takes a small mountain of charcoal to cook a whole pig. And getting all that charcoal lit quickly becomes a relay race with a chimney starter in place of the baton. As soon as we had one bag lit and under the pig it was time to get the next one going. Still, we were falling behind. About three hours into our cooking time, a local chef named Mark stopped by to see how we were doing. He had cooked plenty of whole pigs and as he watched our efforts Mark looked doubtful. “How long until dinner?” He asked. Five more hours to go, we replied. “Get more coals on it,” he advised us. As our guests arrived, the pig was still turning slowly over the coals. By now we had hoped to have the pig off the spit and resting. But sorting out the spit’s motor and lighting all the charcoal altered that plan. As our guests sat down, we were still in Dexter outfits, just beginning to slice into the now tender pork. A quick shower later, I joined the party hoping I wouldn’t have 60 lbs of inedible pig leftovers to eat through. I shouldn’t have worried: by that point most of our guests were lining up for seconds and thirds. The barbecued pork was incredibly juicy with only a faint smokiness to its rich flavor. At the party’s end, Justin and I were already scheming on how to improve upon the next one. Of course for the price of a whole pig, spit rental and enough charcoal to fill a Prius we could have just taken everyone out to dinner. But then we there are not too many places you can find this kind of delicious barbecue. Or a story like this to go with it. See all our best grilling advice at Grilling 101 |
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Whole pigs, pork shoulders, briskets, ribs, turkeys, salmon, you name it, it’s all great in La Caja China!
Great article, thanks!
- Perry
Perry P. Perkins
Author
“La Caja China Cooking”
"La Caja China World"
What did they shove up the pig's Hiney Hole? Also, is Oprah Winfrey a Lesbian?
Most men are lesbians.
"There are no real men around anymore, goddamit."
"Check mate! Check mate!"
Though I am from Western North Carolina and prefer BBQ from the pork shoulder only...I can offer a bit of advice for the coals.
The chimney started relay is not necessary. I am assuming commercial charcoal is your only option and a real BBQ pit is off the table. Layer unlit charcoal first. Then layer lit charcoal on top...continue adding unlit charcoal to the outsides of your fire and use a shovel to rid yourself of ashes and move the lit coals to the center. A few chunks of cured dry hardwood would increase the smokiness if you weren't happy with the current level.
The right fire is the key to a successful Pig Pickin'
Vegan wars! Hurray!
Meat is bad, mmmmmkay. It's gonna kill you. Kind of like that nasty sun thing. Cancer I tell you. Ruining the world.
Hey Princess,
It's all about the furry cute little animals that squeal when they're placed on the BBQ, that's all.
Just ask somebody from the Philippines how to roast a whole pig. You won't go wrong.
Its the lechon, aron!
The pig has the barbeque rotisserie rod shoved up it's anus and through it's mouth. Quite pornographic if you ask me.
Eat whatever you want,I ain't looking. In fact a Vegan would be pretty tasty right about now.
Pigs are unclean meat and were designated so in the Holy scriptures. Why would God make it unclean for the Jews, but clean for the Christians. They were made 'scavengers' and are still 'scavengers' (unclean) today (2011).
1 Timothy 4:4-"For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,"
Acts 10:15-"The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
Mark 7:19-"For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")"
Abbyful! Whoever you are, you do not have your facts straight. I have been vegan for 8 years and I have not even been sick once since my transition. Plants and legumes DO supply the most perfect protein, NOT ANIMALS! If a person is vitamin b-12 deficient, the likelihood that they were deficient BEFORE going vegan is VERY HIGH!
Beefburger, you are WRONG! We are herbivores. Our teeth are not designed to rip into flesh. Try to kill a cow by biting and ripping into the flesh and the fur and eating the raw meat, bone and all, I assure you that you will fail. Our digestive tracts are very long, like vegetarian animals, whereas a carnivores digestive tract is very short. This allows the meat to exit the body quickly. You have never heard of a lion with heart disease and that is why. On the contrary, our digestive tracts are long, so the meat sits there for awhile before exiting the body, thereby causing all kinds of health ailments. Our nails are not designed to rip into flesh, either. If we were meant to eat meat, we would be able to eat it raw without getting sick. Clearly that is not the case. Also, our jaws move up and down and from side to side, just like vegetarian animals, whereas a carnivores jaw only moves up and down. Also, the enzymes in our saliva that are used to break down foods are the same as vegetarian animals. I find that meat eaters will say anything to maintain their meat eating ways and I see that you do the same. Get the facts straight. I would advise for you to watch a documentary called Forks Over Knives. Learn something. In fact, all of you should watch it.
I'm so glad I picked your sister, Helen, to tutor instead of you. She was a much better student – even blind & deaf.
You're missing out on a lot in life Miss Veggie. However I'm sure you have no problems with bowel movements.
She just posted a movement with her comment.
Humans are omnivores. Also, those pointy teeth near the front of our mouths are called canines, and they're purpose is to eat meat.
Melissa Keller,
There are no efficent plant sources of B-12, B-12 comes from animal sources. Your logic is completely backwards thinking that the only vegans who are deficient where deficient while eating animal products; but stopping eating animal products, in your mind, doesn't cause a deficiency? Sorry, but that is backwards. I'm not a fan of the vegan diet, but I will say that any vegan dietary site that one should even consider listening to if they want to try being vegan will be adament on B-12 supplementation and/or foods artificially fortified with B-12.
Certain combinations can supply nearly complete proteins, but not 100% complete.
Quote from Harvard University: "Animal sources of protein tend to be complete. Other protein sources lack one or more "essential" amino acids—that is, amino acids that the body can't make from scratch or create by modifying another amino acid. Called incomplete proteins, these usually come from fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts."
You are incorrect that we are herbivores. In fact, not a single species in our genus has been a herbivore, all have been omnivores. You are trying to classify us as either herbivore or carnivore, we are neither, we are OMNIVORES. Yes, we have a longer digestive system than carnivores because it takes a longer digestive system to break down plant matter, not because meat needs to go through us quickly.
Humans CAN and DO eat meat raw. Steak tartare, carpaccio, ceviche, raw sushi/sashimi, etc. The reason we often cook meat is to get a different flavor/texture and because in our modern society we don't get incredibly fresh meat, it's been sitting at the grocery store for a week.
"Forks Over Knives" is a propagand video, pure and simple.
im bord pigs is a good subject
Every vegan i know is a retard. Every one.
Can't believe I am going to do this but here goes. Vegan or Vegetarian diets do not make people retards. Being uneducated does though. Your statement is to vague, and has no backing. I am not a vegan or vegetarian but I have no problem with people being one either, you eat your vegetables like and animal and I will eat animals like the predators that eat those animals. Thats just the way I see it.
Actually, there has been some research published on how eating large amounts of soy have negative impacts on the brain. Granted, being vegetarian/vegan doesn't neceesarily mean you eat lots of soy, and non-vegetarians may also eat large quantities of soy; but most vegans use soy as a stand-in for meat, milk, etc. and do eat large quantities. (Not-so-fun-fact: Americans actually eat MORE soy than Asians; and ours is served up in ways far less healthy, Asians eat soy more as a condiment and prefer fermented soy like miso and tempeh. Pick up nearly anything in the grocery store that's packaged and it probably has ingredients that derivied from soy, corn, or both.)
Also there's been research into how babies born to vegan mothers are often a little behind their peers in brain development, they blame B-12 deficiency. (http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200307/vegan-diet-bad-baby)
bacons good
All vegetarians are homos.
You are what you eat, right? This pig looks disgusting. I am not a vegan, but the picture of this pig is so far from apetizing. Yeek.
That is because you probably, like many Americans, are out of touch to where your food comes from.
Right on abbyful! Folks want to shove pork bbq down their pieholes but when they are confronted with how it actually got to their table, they say something ignorant like that.
@abbyful Other than sustaining a totally unwarranted feeling of superiority, what is the value of being "in touch" with where one's food comes from?
You seriuosly don't see any value in people understanding where their food comes from? You think it's okay that many kids have no idea eggs come from chickens, milk comes from cows, carrots grow in the ground, etc? And in the political spectrum as well: food safety, farm subsidies, and the like; people that have no clue what goes in farming/ranching are voting on these issues. Or human and environmental issues; there is significant differences between the nutritional quality of livestock raised certain ways; and the effects of the chemicals we spray on our monocrops. We cannot live without food, yet people take it for granted and/or bask in ignorance about the origins of what supports our very lives.
The state of so many people being woefully and willfully ignorant in this country is scary. This is the same type of attitude that fuels ideas like "blame McDonalds because Americans are fat". Not everyone beleives that the general populus having the sophomoric idea "food comes from the grocery store, end of story" is beneificial on any front.
Spot on abbyful!
Hey Abby I like your stand here on most things. I too believe that the general public should know the interworking of the food industry but the truth is that they really don't want to. Another fact about that statement is, is that if they did then the food industry either the meat producers or the crops such as corn and soybean industries would catch alot of flack for anything they do. It is better that only 2% of the American people have their hands in the agriculture industry in a way that contributes highly. The one thing in your post that I don't really agree with is the blaming McDonalds for being fat. I do not have to eat there or at any other fast food restraunt for that matter but sometimes I like it. Now I don't eat it all the time but a couple of times a week I will go out and order something small off of their menus just to have a taste. Everybody in america wants to blame something that is their fault on somebody else in some way. We don't like to take responsibility for our actions, but thats just America.
Then you may want to stop looking at it.
LMAO! Now that didn't take a super genius to figure out.
Lemme just take care of that for ya. Om nom nom nom.
That pig looks perfect... wonderful... delicious.
Hey everybody just thought I would chime in on this one. That pig looks delicious. All you people that don't agree well don't look and don't eat it. It really doesn't matter to me, I will enjoy it. All these comments on here about which diet is better Vegan, Vegetarian, or meat consumers are completely hilarious. All of these diets can be quite healthy. There are plently of people who live to be well into their 90's that have eaten meat their entire life. And likewise people on vegan diets live just as long. The truth is moderation is key, I eat meat. Love it, and don't want to live without it. I do not have high blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar. For all intensive purposes I am completely healthy, grant it I could stand to lose a little weight but thats my fault and probably doesn't have anything to do with eating meat since I could eat beans and non green vegetables and gain just as much weight in roughly the same time. Anyways good discussion, I got a few laughs yall have brightened my day.
I would agree you can be relatively healthy as an omnivore or vegetarian, but a vegan diet isn't healthy.
Vegans require supplements, there is no way to get their nutrients from the food they eat alone. Many vegans are deficient in B-12, iron, zinc, and other nutrients. And there are no complete proteins in plants; you can get close to complete, such as mixing rice and beans, but it's not as complete as protein from animal sources. At least a couple times a year there's a news story about a breast-fed baby with a vegan mother dying because the mother's breast milk was so lacking in nutrition it couldn't adequately feed the baby. There's a reason there have been no traditionally vegan cultures: they would have died out. Cultures that are primarily vegetarian highly prize the animal products they do eat such as eggs and milk, because they know those have nutrients required for life that are not found in plants.
You really want to argue with the American Dietetic Association?
"It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes."
http://www.eatright.org/about/content.aspx?id=8357
@abbyful – Babies dying because their breast-feeding vegan mothers' milk lacks nutrition? Total BS, not happening, no way, no where, no how. You can disagree with us but you have to at least come armed with FACTS and reality.
K,
Your quote says "well planned VEGETARIAN diets", it doesn't include vegan diets in that statement.
There is a huge difference between a vegatarian diet and a vegan diet. Vegetarian diets include animal products such as dairy and eggs. Vegan diets, on the other hand, forbid eating any animal products.
It doesn't take a lot of animal products to get to your minimum requirements of certain nutrients, but it does take some. For example, there are zero efficent plant-based sources of B-12; vegans REQUIRE SUPPLEMENTATION for survival. If they had to rely on food alone, they'd die of malnutrition once their stores of certain nutrients were depleted.
Even with supplementation, artifical supplementation isn't as good as the real thing, as many people including this woman find out: http://voraciouseats.com/2010/11/19/a-vegan-no-more/
And this woman couldn't get pregnant until she stopped eating a vegetarian (not even vegan) diet:
http://crunchychewymama.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-im-not-vegetarian-anymore.html
Vegan is the only way,
Here's an example from the news this year about a vegan baby dying because of lack of nutrition in the mother's milk (baby died in 2008, they were just getting around to the trial this year): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/29/vegans-trial-death-baby-breast-milk
Here's an there was an article in Psychology Today about babies breastfed by their vegan mothers being deficient in B-12 and the effects on the brain: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200307/vegan-diet-bad-baby
If you want to ruin your own health, that's your perogative. But don't promote eating "ideals" that endanger infants and children. When someone is pregnant and/or breastfeeding is not the time to be playing around with extreme diets.
By the way, my OB/GYN has told me that while TTC and pregnant, I should make sure I eat plenty of meat and take fish oil. Both of things things are not vegan.
K,
I missed correcting my above statement, your quote does say it include well planned vegan diets, I meant to remove the first line. The rest of my post still applies. Also realize how political large oranizations like that are, they do everything they can as not to alienate any group of people.
Has anyone seen phyllo? It's getting cold in here.
The founder of the Vegan Society lived to the age of 94. And while we are recounting anecdotal tidbits I will just say that I have a mom and a sister who are heavy meat and seafood eaters. Both struggle with anemia... Should I conclude that meat eater's have problems with anemia based on this? Not at all.
Have they tried chocolate flavored Ex-Lax?
The truth is the 94 year old gal died of starvation.
Y'all come on down to Houston later on..We are having a Porka-Palooza, That's right...slow smoked Vegan in one of them Cuban Box things. Got the back-hoe's ready with shovels to dig it up,so enjoy the Shiner and Lone Star. Mighty tasty vittles if I do say so myself.
Sorry, can't eat until sundowns. And I wouldn't eat your rednecks pork!
What's with the racism? I don't believe you are a muslim. You just want to instigate nonsense. I am sure you are above this type comments. Some thing must have happened to cause you to stoop so low.
Want some of my Pork Sausage? Just pull down the zipper.
Don't eat at all then...
You Camel Jockey's would eat s–t if you can buy it cheap enough.
Don't be silly. Everyone knows you can't have MUHAMMAD without HAM. God loves you. That's why he invented bacon.
Go to hell Monegammed, strap a bomb to your chest and martyr yourself.
Hey Mongammed, strap a bomb to your cheat and martyr yourself!
Is the author of this article a 15 year-old? It was poorly written with many grammatical errors.
My favorite sign is on Lee's Car Wash in Clayton, NC where each bay sports a sign saying "No Pig Cookers."
The pig has the barbeque rotisserie rod shoved up it's anus and through it's mouth. Quite pornographic if you ask me.
Oh My, Pig Porn....I'm getting aroused !
How dare CNN run a story about eating pig meat during Ramadan! May Mohammed have mercy on your souls American pigs! Obey Allah and Allah will reward you.
Turn the channel if you don't like it or leave.
هو عاوز الضرب بستين جزمة.
For Allah...
For you, a Pork chop on a stick from the Indiana State Fair. Goooood Eats, You may again begin to rape and pillage the villages.
Not Everybody in the world celebrates Ramadan. IF you dont like the article dont read it.
You have to try some authentic black pudding. the internal organs cooked up nice and spicy mixed with the blood and cooked rice filled into the intestine, boiled then fried with pepper and onions. "taste like Chicken"
Can I eat the brain and testicles?
Only the Filipinos know how to do this correctly.
Cubanos bury it in the ground and cover with banana leaves. Always wanted to try that, ESPECIALLY DURING ROMADON. Muslims go home!
I cooked many pigs whole in my younger days. Each time I flavored the meat a little differently but never ever have I felt the need to "brine" meat before cooking it and its always come out great. I don't know how brining became such a universal necessity but I can promise its not necessary.
The secret in a good quality pig roast is quality coals. A bonfire the night before with hard wood provides the coals (plus an excuse to have two parties for the price of one)then adding fresh fruit wood for flavoring in the smoke as the meat cooks. This is a crucial step if you want your meat flavored all the way through by the smoke. There are other steps one can take with the cooking coals and smoke but they are my secret.
Skip the brining process, its a hoax. Allow the meat to breath by opening the cooker on occasion to vent all smoke and spray with a vinigar and water solution to keep the outside skin and top portions of meat from burning while the inside finishes. You can inject flavorings and such into the meat with a syringe if you are not confident in your smoke but again, like brining its not necessary.
Potatoes, onions and carrots tied inside the animal flavor and moisturize it quite well. You can add some fatty beef if you choose. Apples and orange peels can add a distinct flavor. Not too many of any of the above.Another writer here aptly pointed out that its pretty hard to dry out pig meat beacuse its naturally fat and juicy.
Keep the direct heat low and away from the surface of the meat and let nature do what only nature knows how to do. The rule of thumb for my technique is approx one hour of cook time for every 10 pounds of meat .. Of course this will vary depending on fat content of each carcass. The little baby 60 pounder depicted here would take about 6 hours over the coals and 5 in the smoke, concurrently. Then , after pulling the meat from the carcass add about 2 hours simmering in my very special homemade sauce (another detail not for sharing) the feast is ready and fit for a party of many.
Remember when planning your party that a 60 pound pig does not mean 60 pounds of meat, or you will be grilling burgers to get everyone fed.. There are bones, skin, hooves and other parts of the animal I don't use to feed guests, plus the cook and his helpers get to have first dibs on the tenderloin. I found that a 120 to 150 lb beast works the very best for the direct coal and smoke method. Also don't use an open air camp fire with the meat just turning in the open like you are in a bad hollywood western. It will take too long, the meat will be tough, and you will not get the smoke flavoring that makes your tounge want to sing.
Gimmie Dem Brains...I wanna suck them out of the pigs snout........Yummie !!
Actually some people love the brains, but they're not my piece of meat.
The tenderloin and the ham are where you'll find me feeding. It doesn't taste anything like the over salted and over processed stuff you get in the store.
What does it feels like if you have hardly any money left to buy food? It sucks. You can only buy cheap low costly food that rich people or people that has enough money thinking it's not "quality" food to them. Only veggie eaters, have enough money to buy what is deemed non-meat products for the rest of their life unless they have unlimited money.
By the way, awesome picture of the pig :D
Looks so good, only like eighty to two hundred people needs to eat it all. Need some rice, a good knife and your all set.
Sure the picture looks gruesome but at least the pig was dead before they put the stick and post it online for us XD
At least one hundred people will be fed for the day like this hog/pig/swine.
At least put some seasoning on it :)
Idiotic. Money to buy non-meat products? You mean beans, pulses, grains, vegetables, fruits? They are cheaper than your flesh-based diet, by a mile. You don't know what you are talking about.
As for so called (beefburger)...l will bbq you anytime...waste of humanity...l am 100 times more heathier than you...no doubt about that....people that eat alot of dead corpes(animals)....have bad body smell...when you sweat...gross....the picture of this animal is so gruesome....sad...
Humans are omnivores. This means we are built to eat both plants and animals. If you want to be try and defy your biology, be my guest. But don't attempt to make the case that you are somehow healthier because of it. Your peculiar diet most likely forces you to take supplementary vitamins, and even if you do this religiously, the amounts absorbed are less than if you took a more natural approach.
I won't go into the whole "complete proteins" thing since you already know all about that if you've been a herbivore for any amount of time, but do keep in mind your "all-powerful" soy has shown have a substantial dark side, as reported in several recent clinical studies. Best not to go overboard on soy until that can be confirmed or refuted.
Who cares if our evolutionary history allowed us to be omnivorres or opportunist as I call them? The fact of the matter is you do have the choice to eat pretty much anything you want. At no time in history has that ever been true as it is now in human history. Make the choice to reduce suffering and improve your overall health at the same time. Even if you continue to indulge in meat you can at least reduce consumption substationally. The amount of meat and dairy consumed on a daily basis in the American diet is obscene and has landed us at the fattest/unhealthiest amongst nations.
That's ok, my food craps on your food....
Man evolved on a diet that included lots of animal protein. Your vegetarianism is an offense to nature and 2 million years of evolution.
The cave people that weren't able to hunt for good meat protein, were forced to eat plants and dirt. Darwinian theory states that only the fittest survive, whether they are able to kill a Wooly Mammoth or dig in the soil for grubs. Vegetarians are morons and are doomed to a poor diet which in turn affects their deteriorating brains.
You are what you eat.
Right on FiFi! People are what they eat!! (get it??)
Notice the spit was driven right through the pig's mouth and out it's a**hole. Yum?
Yeah. I'm thinking, "Too bad that's not Anthony Bourdain on the spit."
Jealous much?
Poor Fifi...a vegetarian named after a poodle! In another country they'd put you on the spit and eat you.
You're thinking?! I'm so proud of you...wait. I read the rest of your posts. Turns out that lead-in of yours was a lie.
A real man's colonoscopy – oink oink
The notion that vegetarians don't get enough protein is complete BS. There's there's a huge array of legumes, grains and nuts in various forms that provide all the protein you need to be perfectly healthy. Also, the fats consumed in a plant-based diet are generally healthier than animal fats. There have been world-class powerlifters and bodybuilders who are vegans (not vegetarians, mind you, but vegans) and other world-class athletes.
I'm vegetarian and middle-aged, yet I can not only keep up with but outdo the 20-something's in my various exercise classes. Twenty-two percent fat and a whole lot of muscle.
22 % between the ears? A perfect candidate for the spit.
Oh, great! Another middle-aged veggie who thinks they're better than everyone else! Bet you wear leather shoes. And I bet you never give thanks to the plants you kill.
22% fat? The pig in the picture didn't get above 12%. They spitted the wrong one.
I eat meat all the time, I'm about 15% body fat, have a significant amount of muscle, and "exercise classes" are for lazy idiots that have no motiviation.
Amen brother. Herbivores build massive frames of muscle on greens alone. There are numerous long term vegans/vegetarians that have shown us this works over years and years. Weird Al has been a vegan for close to 20 years now. I personally know vegans who have thrived on the diet for 30 years or more. I have followed a vegan diet for 3 years and a vegetarian diet for 10 years before that.
There's no doubt that vegetarianism is much better for the environment. How much feed, antibiotics, etc does it take to fatten a factory-farmed pig up to the typical enormous size? The roasted pig looks disgusting.
Agreed, 100%!!
Pigs can get much larger in the wild than pigs that are raised in captivity normally get up to. That isn't to say that stuffing animals full of hormones and drugs to get them that big is good or healthy as has been shown with cows, chickens and pigs, however locally sourced naturally fed and raised meat is just fine.
Use a thermometer. Every time.
Tense this morning. Need rest, was active observer for past 13 hours. Company XV destroyed a supply facility for lack of finding proper objective. This drew excessive retaliation from Harky forces and spurned a large number of follow-up patrols through the sector. We engaged one such patrol and found them to be heavily offensive. Seems like every five steps forward we make, we take 10 steps back. Frustrating. But not as frustrating as having hunger in your belly and thirst in your throat. What I wouldn't give to have a roasted payrineet right now.
The Chinese way is more elegant and respectful.
I am a meatatarian... I would eat up a good portion of that pig.
What's the big deal? In certain Asian countries this is done all the time, using wooden poles and turning the pig by hand. This is a non story.
We call it lechon baboy (roast pig). The roast skin is much more tasty than the rest. This is common here in the Philippines.
Lechon FTW! A cold San Mig, some jasmine rice, and a little Mang Tomas on the side and we're set. Halo halo afterwards if there's room!
People like chicken so much, they began looking like chicken drumstick. Because we have canine teeth we go ahead and eat the pork or chicken or beef. We will have to pay by our own flesh, it is the subtle and eternal law governing the universe
Its a personal choice...vegan vs meaters....me l am a vegan and feel good....l had high-blood pressure...now it's normal...l study everything there is to know about being a vegan...protein etc....l dont miss the meat,fish,chicken..etc...l am heathier than ever....l believe in animal rights more than ever and proud....this is my right to say..l would roast some-ones kid...and have the parents watch....to see what that poor animal went through....someday that will come...the way humans are today...these digusting people who did this....to a animal...are a disgrace....in God's eyes...but what do l know...well l am for a human bbq...just to hear it scream....peace out
Thanks for volunteering, would you prefer to be roasted with charcoal or hardwood? No gas, that isn't real bbq.
I like the way you replaced meat in your diet with excess punctuation.
Good one Ian, I had a good laugh. . . . . (oops, gotta go back to that pork.)
You sir, win today's witty one-liner award. Please accept this celebratory ampersand.
&
Never do I laugh out loud reading a comment, but that was hilarious!
awesome reply, made my afternoon!
If you're going to bring God into this, at least know what you're talking about. If you believe that God is involved, keep in mind that in Genesis, he said that all the animals of the earth are for man to use as he wishes. And evidently someone wished for some barbecue. And try to take an English class...you don't...need so many...periods...unless you're...trying to be...Eatocracy's own...William Shatner.
Hey! Maybe just that time of the month for her. LOL! She's even got periods in her screen name. Take a Midol, girlfriend!
I'd rather see somebody's child on that spit. (As long as she or he is shot in the head first, it's OK.)
I'd rather see roasted TROLL, still alive and kicking.
you all are pig nerds. real pig bbq-ers know that all you need is about 3 pounds of garlic, a pound of salt, a pound of pepper and half a pound of fresh rosemary. spread and sprinkle all over, poke holes for more of the seasinings, stitch it up and put in a large oven all day. the skin covers a layer of fat wich covers the meat. if you do it right, there is no danger of drying out. then, you spread the pig in the middle of the table, put an apple in its mouth, and tell your guests to help themselves. the crispy skin is heaven.
"real pig bbq-ers know that [...] large oven all day"
See, that's when I knew you were full of it.
pig.....at least its not horse or dog
That would be Korean style.
I think I'd have to be pretty hungry to eat a dog, 'tho some Asian cultures are partial to it, I hear. But I would try horsemeat in a heartbeat- every single report I have ever heard or read, says it is delicious...
Fifi dog!
Pigs have a higher intellligence than your average German Shepard. There are stories of them adjusting the temperature in a room when they can physically reach the thermostat to enhance their comfort..
Ok, Filipino style, you need a box pit and a bamboo pole. It is much stronger than most of our "civilized" roasting spits. (Famed explorer Magellan was killed when he had the audacity to challenge a Filipino with Spanish steel vs. Filipino hardened bamboo, epic fail.)
Fill the cavity with cooked rice and herbs and sew shut, this will add flavor and moisture without rediculous "injectors". Secure piggy to the pole so that he is not slipping around when the pole turns. Place on box fire pit and turn as needed. This is an art as well as a science. In the Philippines you would normally hire a "roast master" to do this, but it can still come out good with a little practice on your part. It is done when "smoke comes out of the butt", the skin is an even caramel brown and crispy. This is the most delightful part when the skin is perfectly crisp just off of the fire. Crispy lechon skin to Filipinos is like crispy duck skin to Chinese. The local sauce from the store "Mang Thomas" is the most perfect sauce complement to pork I have ever found in the world. It can probably be found in your local asian specialty supermarket or I am sure that you can find it online.
You should look into Filipino "Lechon". That is the ultimate grilled piggy. Even Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations: Philippines gave it his highest regards as the best pig EVER, and you KNOW how much he loves pork.
Love the foil on the ears in that picture. That's a nice touch. Keeps them moist.
I would add just one thing to the directions. It is absolutely mandatory to name the pig before roasting it. This makes a LOT more sense when you're drunk at a pig roast...and really irritates people who think pigs are smart.
Trust me. At your next pig roast have people name the pig. Wilbur is a good name. Princess...also good. Elmer...a very good name. Bob...good name for beast or man. Amanda...not sure why but a good name for a pig.
This is the way the cubans in Miami cook pigs and they are great.
http:// cuban-christmas DOT com/pigroast . html
I have done it this way several times, as well, and it always came out delicious. The real trick is to have the grates made. Once you have that done, then turning the pig and not losing any pork to the coals is easy.
The only difference between what is posted on the site, and the way we do it, is instead of foil, we get aluminium siding. We did a 100# dressed pig, with less than 40 lbs of charcoal.
Out here in the Central Coast of California would prepare whole hogs a bit different. Definitely no lettuce or charcoal. We used Red Coastal Oak. Before anyone gets excited, the wood is from dead trees. Also, you want to make sure to used a customized, oversized b-b-q with a cover. Large oil drums work great with pull outs for ashes. 5 hours, super slow and low. Absolutely delicious!
hey – i'm central coast too. monterey. we burn an oak pit fire down to the coals. line the pit with stones then bury our harvested wild hogs (skinned, wrapped in burlap & wire) in a pit until they reach 155-160 we usually stuff them with chickens, sausage, veggies & soak them in red wine, too.
perfect roast pig every time.
That sounds awesome. Around here, the pigs are the ones running the country.
Hey..is that Ned Beatty...?
You flesh eaters are all the same. Probably drive SUV's and smoke cigarettes, too. Pigs!!
Oink! Oink! Burp.....
@wb
Oink! Oink! Burp.....
Porky, izzat you ??
We are the NOTB.
i shoot rabbits for fun with my ruger mini. i have a number of rabbit pelts if you want them.
Someone pass me my cigarettes...they are right next to my plate of veal...thanks!
I smoke organic rollies. I ride a bike and the bus. My carbon footprint from gas, trash, water and energy consumption are miniscule thanks to clean living, and over 70% of my diet is local, and a much larger percentage is homemade, fresh, from scratch.
And until you have tasted my Philipino box spring hog, you can take your sanctimonious and unnatural ethics and stuff a a tofurkey with them for all I care......
Lechon? NICE!
They may not drive SUV's but they certainly don't know much about nutrition and humanity. Thank God someone understands!
That comment was in response to Vegan1. Thank God you're out there understanding it all.
All of you vegetarians are the same. Pasty white hollier-than-thou whinners. Vegetarian – Native American word for "poor hunter".
Look in the mirror dolt. Your eyes face forward as all predators do, not on the side like cows. You have the "canine" teeth of a meat eater. To deny what you are is wholly unnatural.
Tell us what you do about B12. Do you get yours by consuming animal manure with your vegetables?
The bacteria in your gut supply all the B12 you need, just thought you should know. And I eat meat.
Sports car, thanks. SUVs are too tough to get into a small parking space with. Don't smoke, but I try and make up for it by burning my trash. It's cheaper than paying a garbage bill, and it keeps the landfill a little bit cleaner. It's a pain to watch it until it's all burned down but hey, we all have to do our part right?
A perfect vegetarian...How dare you use take the name pig in a derogatory way? So much for you caring for anything but yourself!!
Thanks Eatocracy for another disgusting article of excess.
Yes. Nothing like a Mt. Everest of rotting flesh tied to a pile of metal with a fire under it. Yummm....I can smell the lighter fluid now.....Yuckkkkkkkkkkk.
What a GREAT story
I love the descriptions of both the challenges and the ways to avoid...and the end pleasure.
The Vegan v/s Meats comments remind me of my daughter and her 'V' friends – yes, most are pasty white and
have dripping noses in the winter.
Thanks All
What a GREAT article!
I love the descriptions of both the challenges and the ways to avoid...and the end pleasure.
The Vegan v/s Meats comments remind me of my daughter and her 'V' friends – yes, most are pasty white and
have dripping noses in the winter.
Thanks All
Really Gross. In the US, we eat so much larger portions of meat, per sitting, than Europeans, let alone other countries. No wonder our huge numbers in obesity, heart disease, and cancer.
The meal proposed here is, perhaps, not something one should sit down to everyday. But, for a party or celebration, it's fine.
The meal proposed here is, perhaps, not something one should sit down to everyday. This sort of a thing is done infrequently for a special party or celebration.
Really? The only times I have ever had an entire roasted pig was at the home of several Serbians. For birthdays and slavas they roast pig and lamb on spits in the backyard. I have never had American friends do the same.
Wrong. Argentina consumes more beef per capita than the US, and China consumes half of the world's pork.
Of course, these always degenerate into vegan whining.
Good for you for trying. I decided to give it a try 5yrs ago and have been doing 2 – 3 whole pigs a year since. Couldn't be more fun way to throw a party. All our friends keep asking when next pig roast will be held.
This is so easy with the right equipment. You must try to find a "Party-Que Pig Roaster" Get the one with legs, it will be easier on your back. I keep learning something each time, but with the additional equipment you can buy (spine hook, extra moveable fork etc) along with tying pig with flexible stainless steel wire to secure properly, can now have it from butcher shop to on fire in less than 45minutes.
I assume you can find one, I did quick search and patio-kitchen-equipment.com seemed to have them.
Will only hold up to 60 lb pig, but your local butcher shop can get them. Typically do 40-50 lb pig, feeds 20 people,
cost $apx $60.
Good luck, but can't recommend highly enough. So easy. Also only takes about 4 bags of lump charcoal.
Hope all you pig-eaters get trampled by wild hogs.
Mmpfh mmpfh mmpfh mmpfh – burp. What say old boy?
PETA means People Eating Tasty Animals... Right !!!???
All of you vegans LOOK like tofu. Soft, pasty white, perpetually sickly looking.
Good on you for the whole hog, but your cooking method and timing is way off. You dont need a "small mountain of charcoal". All you need is a constant 200-225* heat and more time. Start that big boy around midnite the nite before you going to chow down. Low and slow is the key. Plus, you really need hickory on your coals from time to time to give it a good smokey flavor.
While I agree with most of what you are saying Mr. Slim, I actually believe that the cooker makes a big difference as to how much fuel you are going to use.
An open air cooker has no way of retaining the heat. I would guess that if you are getting 50% of the heat to the pig you’re doing well. On the other hand a closed cooker is not only going to use less fuel, but also cut down on the cooking time.
I typically smoke up 6 to 10 small/medium (80 to 100 pound) pigs each year on my smoker (a reverse flow model) and find that I’ll go through roughly 40 pounds of charcoal (hard wood chunks never briquettes) and 10 to 15 pieces of hickory (shagbark if you can get it). Cooking it between 250 and 275 degrees they typically take about 9 minutes a pound.
No denying you gotta have as closed grill.
Instruction developed from a variety of personal experiences, fires, burns, and stops by local law enforcement officials. For the most part these instructions are for a skinned, bone-in pig on a gas powered rotisserie barbeque.
Selecting: A the pig – skinned vs. scalded. Scalded means that it is completely de-haired looks more like a pig – some people call it luau style pig roast. Yet leaving the skin on adds allot of dripping fat that can cause more flame-ups / fires in the cooker (which is ok). A skinned pig has that initial layer of fat removed, yet there is plenty remaining. Either option will work
The smallest whole pig you can typically get is 100 – 120 pounds. Know that 120 pounds will feed 70 – 100 people? It just depends on how much they like it. Be sure to bring jumbo Zip Lock Bags with you to send home the leftovers.
Another slightly more expensive option is purchasing a boned (i.e. bones taken out), pre-stuffed, pre-seasoned, pig. Cooking time will also be reduced. For a 120 pound pig you may be able to start at 9:00am and be finished around 4pm. COOKING TIMES VERY CONSIDERABLY. If you wish to season and stuff the pig yourself – see directions below.
It is important to know that smaller pigs are more difficult to come by, and often cost more per pound than the large ones.
Obtain a trailer based propane cooker. Be sure to fill up two large propane bottles, enough propane to get you through 7 – 10 – 11 hrs of cooking time (it depends on the weather and how many times you open up the cooker and show it.
Make sure the grease drain is clear before beginning to cook your pig. If the drain has any type of curve in it you should thread some wire through it before firing up the cooker. Leave the wire in throughout the process. This way you can move it around to clear the drain if it plugs up while the pig is cooking. Make sure throughout the cooking that your grease is draining.
Do not try to “smoke” the pig with any type of oak or mesquite wood. Even if soaked in water, or in a pan with water, the wood can will eventually dry out and ignite any collected grease.
IMPORTANT: Grease fires are very, very, hot. Buy two x-large boxes of baking soda before you begin cooking your pig. Baking soda will put out a grease fire quite quickly. WATER WILL NOT, and it may injure you (personal experience here).
Attach the Pig to the center bar, if using Party Plus Rental model. This causes a great deal of swearing when trying to run the bar through the Pig’s pelvis out through its mouth. (I believe you also attach/run through the bar through the front and rear tendons – to help make the pig turn on the spit). This is usually not easy. Some customization of the Pig may be necessary.
IMPORTANT NEXT STEP. Tightly wrap pig in chickenwire two or three times – you will need enough wire to last 7 – 11 hours of cooking (some of the wire will burn off). This will help keep parts of the pig from falling off during cooking and will greatly help in keeping the chickens from slipping out. (Chickens? You ask? Yes…you will stuff the pig with chickens, sausage, ect, season the body cavity, and stitch the cavity closed with wire before wrapping the pig in chickenwire – stuffing ect is discussed in more detail later on). Stitching the pig together with wire will not be enough. Keep the wire tight around the outside of the pig.
Then put the pig between the two holders that work with the central bar. When you see it, you will know what I’m talking about.
Cooking will take 7 – 11hrs and depends on quite a few things. Be sure to buy a decent meat thermometer to use with the cooking TO check to see when it is done. This must be one that works well, but you know you will have to throw away afterwards.
Do all of the stuffing the night before! Not in the morning of. If it is still cool out, do stuffing in early evening and get the pig attached in the cooker. This means all you have to do is drive where you are going and turn it on. If it is warmer out, you can still stuff the evening before and wrap with a few tarps with a few blocks of ice next to it.
Bring a bucket and paint brush in which to put Cajun seasonings/Lowry Seasoning salt with a few beers in to baste the pig with. You should bring a couple twelve packs of cheap beer to base with, we often just poor a whole can over it as we cook it.
The pig is going to get really black and burnt on the outside, do not worry, this is the way it is supposed to look, and the inside will be just fine. The burnt part tastes pretty good. Bring a second bucket big enough to catch the draining fat from the cooker for 11hrs of cooking.
You will need a large enough table covered with a heavy tarp(s) to place the pig on when you take it off of the cooker. Have several large garbarge cans nearby to quickly put the wire in. Don’t forget your wire cutters. You must remember to bring good/heavy duty extra large garbage bags with you. Bring heavy duty gloves so you do not burn yourself when basing, unloading, and cutting up.
In the end just wrap the left over pig up in the tarps, tie together for jumbo trash bag.
Required Equipment:
(Not kidding about required)
• 2 Pairs of heavy-duty Wells Lamont gloves
• 2 Large heavy-duty plastic tarps (new)
• 1 Roll of chicken wire
• 1 Pair wire cutters
• 2 Large knifes
• Wrench
• Pliers
• Hammer
• A few miscellaneous bolts and nuts (for on-the-fly repairs)
• Meat saw (for trimming raw pig if necessary)
• Extension cords (for electric rotisserie motor)
• Shovel
• 3 – 4 large turkey sized foil roasting pans
• 2 large boxes of baking soda (incase of grease fire)
• 1 Roll heavy gauge wire
• 1 Meat thermometer
• 1 Large plastic garbage can
• Several large contractor and/or heavy duty trash bags
• Large Zip Lock Bags
• 1 Small fire extinguisher (don’t use on the pig, just one the ground)
• Large paintbrush for basting.
The Pig:
• Figure on 1.5 pounds of pig per person.
• Be sure to ask the rental place, or the person you are barrowing the cooker from, what size pig fits best.
• You want to request a “skinned” pig from the butcher with the head left on.
• The size of the pig can vary but I typically recommend getting something as close to 200 pounds as possible.
• Anything over 200 pounds may be too big for your BBQ.
• You should order your pig as soon as possible because the size of the pig can vary by the time of the year.
• If the pig is too large you can always trim the legs down and take the head off.
• County Market in Helena is a good place to order your pig from.
Preparation:
• Preparing the pig and moving it around will take 2 to 3 strong people. Don’t do it alone.
• Plug in the rotisserie and ignite the burners the night before to make sure everything is functioning.
• You want to prepare the pig the night before and have it attached to the rotisserie spit.
• Place 1 or 2 of your tarps on the ground and place the pig on the tarps to work on.
• Depending upon type of rotisserie spit the BBQ is equipped with, you may need to insert the center bar prior to stuffing (i.e. you don’t want to fill your pig with chickens and then have to take them all out to get the bar through the center of the pig).
• Season and stuff the pig as detailed in following sections.
• Once the body cavity is stuffed and any necessary spit is in place you are going to want to stitch the chest cavity closed.
• Cut heavy-duty wire into 12 inch strips, thread through pig at least 3 to 4 inches above the chest opening.
• Place “stitches” every 5 inches or so, twist them closed, be careful not to rip them out. It is a good idea to count the stitches so when you are serving the pig you make sure no one eats one.
• Most rotisserie spits have both a center bar the goes through the pig and then “brackets” and/or “bars” that clamp down on the pig from both sides. If your rotisserie has this type of clamp, I would recommend wrapping the pig in the chicken wire first and then placing the clamps outside of the chicken wire.
• Wrap pig head-to-toe with chicken wire (the chicken wire will keep most of the flesh from falling off and it will help keep stuffing inside.
• NOTE: Chickenwire may not be as necessary a step in using a pig with the “skin on”.
• Tighten chicken wire so that it is snug around body.
• Attach rotisserie clamps.
Overnight Pig Refrigeration:
• Leaving the pig on the rotisserie bar, you will use the tarps you have been working on to wrap the pig up in like a giant pork burrito. Place 7 bags of ice underneath the pig and about 7 bags/blocks of ice on top of the pig. Wrap tarps around pigs and ice and tie end closed. If it is really hot out, place additional bags of ice next to and on top of your giant pork burrito. A cool basement will also work, use several layers of tarps and lots of ice – your house will smell like “pig” and if the tarps leak your spouse will kill you dead.
Seasoning:
• 4 Large shaker cans of Lowrey’s Tabasco Flavored Seasoning Salt
• 4 Large onions
• Lots of garlic – avoid minced garlic it just makes a mess and runs out of the pig as it cooks. Instead look for the “pre-husked” whole cloves that can oftentimes be found in the refrigerated section of a supermarket’s produce section. Two large jars of these “pre-husked” garlic should do the trick. Otherwise get whole garlic and take the husks off yourself. I have started to find that using garlic powder works nearly as well.
• Rub Lowry’s Seasoning Salt, 2 full cans, throughout the inside of pig.
Stuffing:
• Always stuff the body cavity of the pig.
• Typically I utilize whole butterball chickens, anywhere from 5-7 chickens should fit in your pig.
• Rinse chickens thoroughly and make sure they are only partially thawed. If they are frozen solid they are difficult to handle and if they are completely thawed they do nothing to keep the pig cool. It is important to note, that the chickens often turnout to be the real crowd pleasers.
• Rub chickens with Lowry’s Seasoning Salt inside and out
• If you have a larger budget, stuffing the pig with pork tenderloin can be a crowd pleaser.
• Western Meat Block will stuff your pig with sausage which is also very good, but can be more expensive.
• I have tried stuffing with apples, potatoes, pineapples, and other miscellaneous items. In the end nobody eats these things, so just go ahead and stuff the pig with meat.
Cooking:
• If possible, tighten the rotisserie bracket occasionally on the pig as it cooks because it will shrink as fat burns and drips off. You do not want the pig shifting around as the rotisserie spins.
• Cooking time depends upon outside temperature and fire temp.
• Count on 7 to 9 hours.
• You cannot overcook a pig – it just can’t be done.
• The pig will become black, and burned on the outside, this is OK and the pig should look this way. The ends of the legs and parts of the head may also burn off – don’t worry. A “skin on” big may turn out less black and more very dark brown – either way is ok.
• As the pig cooks go ahead and baste it with a mixture of Lowrey’s Seasoning Salt and Beer. Basically the outside of the pig will turn into one giant piece of black bacon that tastes pretty darn good.
• It is worth noting that there are lots of fancy marinades injector kits, seasonings, and spices that can be purchased. In the end nothing works better than just beer and Lowrey’s.
• Take a look at the grease drain, if it is fairly small, you may want to insert a small piece of wire through it before you start cooking. By doing this, if the drain clogs you can move the wire back and forth to clear the drain. It is important to do this before the cooking starts, because it is very difficult to clear a clogged grease drain while trying to deal with a grease fire.
• RECENT COOKING TIME EXPERIENCE: 112 pound, boned, stuffed, pig from Butte started at 8:00am and was finished by 2:30pm (6 ½ hours). It was slightly overdone, but only an expert would be able to tell.
Problems Encountered:
Rotisserie Issues:
• Rotisseries can cause any number of problems. “Most” of these problems can be solved if you have a few miscellaneous nuts and bolts and wire around. Many rotisseries will shear the connecting bolts as you cook, so check the size and bring a few extras.
• Remember the pig will turn black and this is ok and you cannot overcook a pig.
Fire:
(A little personnel experience here)...
• Flare-up should be expected and shouldn’t be worried about.
• As the pig cooks grease should be regularly draining from the BBQ. You want to avoid any type of build up in the bottom of the BBQ that may lead to a grease fire. Place some sort of metal or foil grease collector at one end of the BBQ and check it regularly to make sure the grease is draining off. The BBQ should be at a slight incline to ensure that the grease drains easily.
• If you get a grease fire don’t throw water on it. It just doesn’t work. First attempt to smother by closing lid and turning off the propane and wait. Stand back and open lid with shovel from a safe distance.
• Always open the cooker lid slowly and carefully in case the added oxygen starts a fire.
Serving:
• Remember the pig is very hot.
• Wear dry gloves.
• Turn off the rotisserie and propane and let the pig set for about 10 – 15 minutes
• Lift off rotisserie spit and move pig to a large table covered with 1 or 2 plastic tarps.
• Utilize 1 or 2 clean plastic tarps (don’t use the one the raw pig was wrapped in all night)
• Cut off chicken wire and remove staples.
• For the most part the pig will fall off of the bone, just pull it apart and place pork in foil roasting pans.
• After cooking all day the chickens should be done, but stick your meat thermometer in them anyway to double check.
• Pay special attention to removing the tenderloins, set them aside and serve to yourself for working so hard.
Miscellaneous Items:
• I’ve never used a charcoal fired rotisserie, but would imagine that nearly all of the items above would remain the same. Cooking time could increase or decrease depending upon the size and consistence of your fire.
• Pit cooking – my spouse has never let me dig a big hole in the backyard so you are on your own here.
You forgot a line:
"After eating this way for years, suffer heart attack and die."
You're the type that'll go out like Archie Bunker's friend Ralph who had a heart attack while he was jogging home from the health food store.
Funny you should mention old Archie Bunker. In many ways, the vegans posting here remind me of him.
YOU forgot a line.
"After eating vegan for years, turn into a pasty white pool of formless goo. Wearing a black Emo shirt with some whiny statement or pansy band."
I gotta say here,from personal experience, getting old is overrated. Mother Nature, or God, or Jaweh, The Man (you hate that part, i can tell) That Lives in the Clouds, whatever you want to call your designer, put incisors and canine teeth in your skull because your are designed to be an omnivore, and eat anything you find or catch, just like a raccoon. Also, you were only warranteed for 30 years or so, after which you are expected to decline enough that the alligators, cave bears, and wolves get to eat, too. What good is living to 90 if you can't remember your name and someone has to wipe the rotted vegetable poop out of your a$$ because you don't remember how? I'd rather die describing how fabulous the roast pig I just ate tasted....
Thanks for taking the time to put together that detailed narrative. I've cooked a lot of hogs myself in the Denver area. I know that will someone that didn't know where to start will benefit from your instructions.
We buy pork butts, rather than a whole hog. I do nto know if that qualifies for a hog roast but we do 150-200 lbs like this. We have alot less waste (bones) in the butts, rather than every bone in a hog. We end up with alot more meet to feed people. It may not look as impresive, but after it has been pulled – noone knows.
I have a similar story. Sent the boys out to the farm to get the piglet. They come back with 120# pig, no extra charge. We destroyed the first spit burning up the motor. The second BBQ was one of those things on wheels but still the 1/2 hp motor wasn't geared properly and took a dump. After 10 hours and a lot of swearing, one the guys who was a butcher, hacked the monster to pieces and we cheerfully, grilled it. Dinner served about 8 hours late, none of the guests minded a bit. Next time a whole pig goes in a "hole".
I've never done it myself (but smoked many a pork butt). I've attended quite a few pig pickings for several years being invited to a family's Thanksgiving in Sumpter, SC. It's an all night and day affair. The first year was the best with a large metal box with a grate 1/2 way up on which the pig rested. Underneith was a large hole where wood embers were shoveled in from a 50 gallon drum where they threw the wood in the top and it to rested on a metal grate until the embers fell through ready to be shoveled into where the pig was cooking. Sauce liberally spread for quite a while. Best pig I ever had. They also threw a turkey in with the pig and had the additional traditional oven-baked turkey. Oof! WONDERFUL!
Nice job CNN–this story could have used a good copy edit.
You could use a good uppercut, hater.
My family always buries the pig on hot coals. Apparently this works very well. I don't know, I don't eat meat... but looks like it would be damn good.
I've cooked several 180-200 pound hogs myself...always use a big smoker, starting at around 350 degrees for the first 4 hours, and then lowering to the 200-250 range for another 18 hours. The resulting pulled pork is amazingly tender and always juicy. I finish the pork with some Hawaiian sea salt and we're good to go.
The first hog I did was Amish (Well, at least from an Amish farmer) and I had to pick the thing up about 36 hours before I needed to start cooking it. So, I had my wife help carry the pig to the second floor of our 107 year old house and iced it down in the claw foot tub (The pig was human sized, 175 pounds, so a cooler wouldn't have worked). It was very awkward to carry up and down the stairs, and even more awkward to see in the tub.
Oh, and I always take a glamor photo with the pig before cooking...dress it up with an apple in the mouth and sunglasses, etc. Good memories, good times.
Also, I've learned that it is best to separate the meat in a place with limited sight lines; many folks don't want to see their meat whole, and prefer to believe that the meat came all chopped up and not from an actual animal.
Meat will kill you. Rotting flesh in your stomach. How can that be healthy?
I've seen vegans. Pale, pasty things, looking like half starved rats. Vegans would NEVER survive in a non modern age, hence how unnatural and unhealthy it is.
Think for a second how stupid your comment is.
It's no stupider than Vegan's comment.
Remember, you are what you eat. Eat a pig, you ARE a pig. And that S – H- * – T about vegans being pale and skinny – that's total crap too. The world's strongest beings are vegan – think elephants, rhinos, hippos, horses, etc. I'm vegan for 11 years and a woman and I bet I could kick your hog-eating a – s – s
Pull my finger,I just ate pork,Porker.
Human beings did not understand germ theory at one time. Does that mean we should all stop washing our hands with soap because the "natural" thing to do is put up with dirt and disease? I think not. Let's move on people. It is okay to learn a better way of doing things and improve our situation. It is called progress.
...but you have no problem with swallowing semen?
BAHAHA!
"Meat will kill you."
Not if you kill it first.
John: The pork here is supposed to be great.
Diana: I am a vegan. I wish I could tune out that moral voice inside me that says eating animals is murder. But, I guess I'm just not as strong as you are.
John: That's 'cause you need protein.
Is rotting vegetable matter any better? Plants are living things as well. Animals consume plants and animals. Plants consume plants and animals. This is nature. If it's your choice to only eat plants that's fine but you should not judge or preach to others.
uh, the last time I checked, vegetables do not emote. Look the word up in your Websters dude.
@Vegan – if they don't "emote" you make up the difference in spades. Congratulations idiot.
I don't remember writing that they emote just thay are living things. People making arbitrary rules on what you should or should not eat then trying to push your beliefs on other is wrong no matter what you eat. If you don't eat meat then why would you read and comment on an article about BBQing a pig.
The litmus test is sentience (ability to feel pain/pleasuure). It is clear to most of us that animals are sentient and plants...well...jury is still out on that but with our limited human senses they do not appear to be.
Disease, germs, bacteria are also "nature" as you call it but no one seems to mind putting some thought into how we should approach those things in life. What's wrong with being thoughtful about who we decide to slaughter and what we decide to eat? Our proclivity to agression towards each other and waging war is also part of human nature as is greed but many humans thinks itt is a good idea to keep those
natural tendencies in check.
@Carnage63 – the reason I come on to comment on a story about MEAT is that I know there will be lots of thin=skinned carnivores, they are so much fun to tease! Look at them baring their cute little fangs! and growling like only they can do! makes my day....
I got news for you, Vegan. EVERYTHING will contribute to your death; ozone, sunlight, free radicals produced by ordinary metabolism, stress, even your own immune system is slowly wiping you out in the name of culling the herd. Nobody survives, so stop quivering like a little wuss and enjoy whatever time you have left...
nothing wrong with enjoying life, as long as I don't ask something else to suffer for my blood-thirsty appetite!
@Vegan: "Asking" is not part of the formula. Apples were living things before they were picked. Do you ask an apple before you pick and eat it? I didn't think so.
@they're everywhere, they're everywhere – that's the difference between you and I, you seem to feel entitled to just take whatever you want from the planet and it's inhabitants, and we are suffering the consequences of that sort of selfish behavior. Just asking you to think about what you choose to eat, as yes, it does affect the world around us.
That the human animal is physically, metabolically, and physiologically an omnivore and supposed to eat meat as part of a natual diet is beyond question. To deny that by not eatting meat is to deny nature. For a human being to refuse to eat meat is unnatural and a perversion.
Amen!
The American Dietic Association has said that a well planned vegetarian or vegan diet is healthy for all stages of life including childhood and pregnancy. But say you are not sure you are the type of person who can do a well planned menu to stay healthy the least you could do in such a situation is dramatically reduce your consumption of meat. Even early man didn't get the volume of meat modern humans are packing away these days.
Vegetables will kill you. All that rotting vegetable matter in your stomach. How is that good for you?
Humans are omnivore...this means the that we should eat a balance of both meat and plants. Our digestive system is perfectly designed to digest "rotting meat," as you call it and we need the nutrients contend in animal based foods to keep our bodies healthy. Your vegan diet is the one that's unhealthy...unless your a cow or a rabbit.
This is one of those oft spouted claims that amazes me. This fact can quiite easily be looked up. There is a lot more to the carnivore vs. omnivore difference matrix but the absolute most basic fact is that a carnivore's intestinal length is 3 to 6 times that of their body. A human's digestive tract mirrors an herbivores in that is 10 to 12 times the length of its' body. But let's just say for the sake of argument that we agree with the notion that humans are similar to carnivores in that they easily digest meat (which they do not) ; humans also easily digest non-meat such as fruits and vegetables. It should be apparent to some by now that people can survive quite nicely without the addition of meat so why not choose the healthiest diet? The answer ultimately lies in that some humans just like the taste of meat. I know for some boiling something down to the mere fact that you derivee pleasure is not necessarily a good enough reason but trying to couch it in these bogus evolutionary claims and claims of health just fly in the face off facts that can be cross checked easily on the net or following the voluminous studiies out there.
"Remember, you are what you eat. Eat a pig, you ARE a pig."
Ok. Let's continue that same thinking. If I eat a vegetable, am I then not - by your own reasoning - a vegetable? If I eat a fruit, am I not - by your own reasoning - a fruit?
No. Of course not. regardless of what I eat, I will remain a human and, as such, an omnivore.
In Iowa, a vegitarian is someone who only eats corn-fed beef.
Every edible digests and "rots" (if you will) moron. Don't believe it? Take a good look at your own poop and say it don't stink just like anybody else's.
You won't live past 60 on a vegan diet.
Come on guys, let's disagree with science. It's hip and trendy. As a human, you are an omnivore. But since you insist on living a lie, enjoy you anemia and other associated deficiencies.
Although I am a vegetarian (for health reasons) I have no objection to cooking large animals. But it sure seems like a lot of work. And it looks kind of gross. But so is slaughter. Anyway...whatever works for yah.
we do a 100 pounder every new year's – same kind of spit except we've learned a few tricks. First year it was open air and we went through a lot of charcoal, after that my husband made walls around the spit with concrete blocks, effectively blocking the wind and maintaining a steady temperature–adding more coals as needed. Season the pig a couple of days before (keep cool, of course) and we put it on the spit around 4am and it's done by 6 pm, baste while cooking to keep it moist – and YES, it is the best tasting pork – nothing compares.
Lol, you accidentally reinvented Filipino style lechon.
This was one of the funniest comment postings I've read on CNN.....Choosing the right wine with tortured prisoners...Hilarious!
We do a few of these a year for our parties and some of our friends parties. We used to rent a cooker, but we made our own. All you need is an old large oil drum. There is a hole along the side and a smokestack on top. The drum in cut in half and opens and closes like a regular grill. It has a rack right there with charcoal/wood burning pans right underneath. You don't even need to turn the pig. The smoke circulates in the cooker and cooks a 180-200 pound hog in about 9 hours. It works great and really is much easier than using a spit. We also enjoy hogs stuffed with baked potatos and hot italian sausage. They are both very good along with the meat from the hog.
Sounds like a lot of work. It would be a lot easier to just get a bunch of McRib sandwiches.
But not nearly as tasty. Besides, who wants a chunk of over-processed meat, where the last of its only 4 ingredients is pork?
Idiot
Cooking a whole hog on a spit is more of a crowd-pleaser, but if you want to go the easier way, bury the hog. I've done both and after trying the buried way once, I'll never go back to the spit.
Also, instead of inviting your guests over only for the evening barbecue, have them show up around noon and fire up something easy like burgers and brats on the grill. People can sit around eating the brats, drinking beer, and watching the hog cook. The anticipation will make everyone enjoy the meal even more.
The hog isn't usually served until well into the evening, maybe seven o'clock or later.
In Puerto Rico, the folks up in the mountains where Christmas tradition is still alive, get up at 4:00 in the morning to cook a hog seasoned the night before with salt, black pepper and oregano, some use garlic and limes, they roast the hog on a spit until you can slap it across the back with the dull end of a knife and the skin cracks, you wouldn't believe how primevally DELICIOUS it is until you try it...
Personally, I'd ditch the spit and go box or buried, much easier; also I suggest using a hard wood (oak or hickory work well) as they will burn more slowly, though you will need to start the fire a couple of hours prior to the cooking.
you can side step using the painful and slow method of bagged charcoal by using oak
need to start the fire at least two hours before you want to start cooking the porker
take into consideration the wind and air temp and build the fire accordingly
have a lawn rake handy and long handled shovel for fire maintenance and heat distribution etc
better to roast a pig then to date one ...........................
Whole hogs are really no big deal i do them all the time but you do have to have some specialized equipment. The ones we do are usually 180-200 pounds.
Hi Chuck. You're right. Like a lot of things, and like most cooking, it gets easier each time.
I agree
That sounds so good. I plan to do a whole pig sometime. Just got to get the right cooker. For now I'll stick with pork butts, brisket, yard birds and other smaller cuts.
shoking..how people could do this kind of dirgraceful acts!! You eat pork if u want to...but u've got no right to abuse the animal...pity on your mentality!!!
And you've got no right to murder our English language.
amen to that
You realize the pig was dead before the roasting, correct?
LMFAO!!! Great comment!
Not only that, but it never would have been born in the first place if there were no market for meat. Born to die, as it were.
@tero bauu – Keep your pity. The yummy pork and I will do just fine.
BTW – spellcheck is included FREE on most word apps in your computer.
Please come again. :)
How is this abusing the animal? You seem to be missing that fact that it's already dead. It's no different than getting a ham sandwich at the store. . . if you don't like it, don't do it.
taro's just jealous that nobody's tying him up like that.
Don't anyone tell him about veal or foie gras - it will make his head explode.
foie gras = abused duck or goose liver
veal = baby cows
[I wanna see his head explode]
I'm shocked that the vegans/ vegetarians aren't all over this. That said, I'm sure it is delicious, but I would definitely not be up for all the effort. But if someone else does, please invite me!!!
You put the frozen lettuce heads inside to keep the relatively thing pork belly from over-cooking before the shoulders and haunches of the pig are cooked. Good technique and good article.
Was at a pig roast last week with two whole hogs... took forever to roast but there is NOTHING more tender and juicy than meat sliced right off the fresh animal. Best pork I ever had.
If it "took forever" you should still be waiting!
we used to have a large group of friends for July 4. I tried various menus including turkey, steak etc and finally did a whole pig. I rented a commercial barbecue with a very sturdy rotisserie and had no problem doing it by my self (mostly). It was kind of like bare foot water skiing, do it once to prove you can but not an ongoing event. too expensive and too much work.
Nice job! I was on a BBQ cooking "team" from work that participated in Memphis in May BBQ cooking contest many times–and we always competed in the whole hog category, though over the several days of the event we cooked a little bit of everything/anything that you could imagine. Luckily, one of team members had a humongous smoker that could contain two whole hogs and was able to be towed like a trailer. We used hickory logs as fuel for the pit–they burn in a barrel until reduced to embers, then the coals would be put into the smoker, where the temperature was maintained carefully at around 200 degrees. As I remember, the process would take about 16-18 hours, but the resulting smoky taste of that juicy BBQ coupled with a couple of bites of crispy skin was porcine ambrosia. We never won any trophies, but it was a great time.
Since i moved to New Orleans several years ago, I bought a large ceramic smoker ( Primo Grill) and have cooked a suckling pig on it once for a smaller crowd and the results were fantastic. Now that I have young grandchildren however, I find that I can't produce a meal that might resemble a character in one of their bedtime stories, so when the menu calls for BBQ pork, I'm once again resigned to cooking ribs, or shoulder.
Hi, Nola Frank, why the hypocrisy of not cooking a whole pig in front of your grandkids because it might resemble a character in one of their bedtime stories? I guess you are waiting for them to be hooked on the taste of dead bodies (aka 'meat') and for their moral and ethical sense of compassion to have been thoroughly deadened by the time they are more grown-up, before you will cook a whole pig in front of them? That is what another reviewer sniffingly called 'being in touch with where your food comes from", I guess!
@Yogi – perfect answer, spot on. Is likely to be lost with this crowd, but way to go nonetheless.
roasted one in a la caja china and it turned out perfect. only took 5 hours. brined for 2 1/2 days. pretty expensive but worthy every penny. its now a yearly tradition
I eat ham from time to time, but seeing this photo is going to make me give that up. It's too similar to photos of bound, gagged, and tortured prisoners of war in various parts of the world. I can't let myself condone putting a pig through that.
tortured prisoners tast good too
I have good news for you, the pigs aren't alive when you put them on the spit.
The pig isn't alive when they start this process...
you are an idiot – plain and simple everyone's knows that prisoners should be stuffed and then baked
the real challenge is selecting the right wine to accompany the dinner
I had his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
Pretty sure the pig didn't notice anything was amiss at that point.
My only thought is....Who poked the pole in the Porker?
Why did I know this comment was from you? Love it, though!
Vulcan mind meld?
Wow!
Melodramatic much?
If you are not a combat veteran suffering from PTSD then you are just a whinny baby.
I've done or participated in three that I remember. The first one the pig was too big to turn inside the roasting box. So we just hoped for the best and it came out great, next to no seasonings used at all. Second and third were stuffed with assorted raw vegetables, and injected/basted with generic italian dressing, used a large stainless steel propane fired monstrosity. So far I've never had a bad pig roast.
I think the concern of drying out a whole pig still in it's skin is a non-issue. There is so much fat in there, and the skin is so thick with a buffer of fat that you'd be hard pressed to ruin it by burning or drying out. That first pig in fact came out completely blacked and we worried we had ruined it completely. but once we cut into it we realized it was just the skin and underneath was delicous tender pork.
Camilla looks so cute hanging out over the spit.
Sure, but her hat needs a veil!
Too intimidating for me. One of those things I'll leave to the pros.
Why was it stuffed with frozen lettuce? I'd guess for moisture and evenness, but don't have a clue.