sweeeeeeeet... I just bought a big roll of ceramic fiber blanket insulation (rated up to 2,300 degrees) off of Ebay. It's time for me to built a new cover for the pit since the one I've been using is now 5+ years old and has been sitting outside next to the pit that entire time. I'm going to rebuild the cover the same way I did before with a sheet of plywood, some 2x4s and some sheet metal but this time I'll pack in between the plywood and sheet metal with the blanket to completely insulate the thing. That way I won't have to then bury the cover like i usually do for added insulation. That baby will be like an oven door now.
__________________ Help a fellow brewer and HBTer out.Donations for Babalu.... or Wayne Brady will choke a bitch
I see the pig you cooked has had the hair removed....do you buy it that way?
My parents are farmers and even though they don't raise pigs any more, they have neighbors that do. We could get a pig from a neighbor and gut it ourselves, but not sure how to go about removing the hair. Would it be bad to leave the hair on and just let it burn off?
DO NOT leave the hair on. the only way I've ever helped to remove the hair was to boil water, pour it over the pig and scrap the hair off with a tool made from an old knife or wood scraper. Hold the handle and the end of the blade cross-grained to the hair and scrape. As you can guess, it's called scaldin' & scrapin' and it's suckin' I'm sure a butcher has a better set up that you could pay to do it. Luck - Dwain
P.S. haven't had a roast pig since I was a kid. Fine job by all entrants!
sweeeeeeeet... I just bought a big roll of ceramic fiber blanket insulation (rated up to 2,300 degrees) off of Ebay. It's time for me to built a new cover for the pit since the one I've been using is now 5+ years old and has been sitting outside next to the pit that entire time. I'm going to rebuild the cover the same way I did before with a sheet of plywood, some 2x4s and some sheet metal but this time I'll pack in between the plywood and sheet metal with the blanket to completely insulate the thing. That way I won't have to then bury the cover like i usually do for added insulation. That baby will be like an oven door now.
Dude, why didnt you tell me?
You do know I am in the safety fabric business right?
Great thread! Not trying to hijack, but thought I would share a couple of ideas.
A few years ago we Maltose Falcons) roasted a whole pig at our Sunfest (August campout/beerfest). I made a simple spit rotisserie that can be clamped in place in a typical campground fire pit. Heres a pic of the pig all wrapped up and turning 1 PRPM (pig revolution per minute) at the start of it's ~9 hour cook time:
Part of the reason it took so long was that the pig was stuffed with about 40 pounds of pork shoulders and veggies, as we were feeding about 70 people.
How much are you guys paying per pound for the piggy? we were going to do a pig roast but the farmer wanted $3.50 a pound and we decided to just buy baby backs instead from costco for the same price.
$3.50 per pound is absolutely insane. I have been paying somewhere between $1.00 $1.50 for years and then last year it jumped to something like $2.10... but $3.50? That's nuts.
Luckily this year I found a farmer that has some pigs. 100% all grain fed... and I'm getting a 200 pounder for this year's cookout for $250.
I'm not pissed.
__________________ Help a fellow brewer and HBTer out.Donations for Babalu.... or Wayne Brady will choke a bitch
Brian, are you buying from that guy just off the exit on 495?
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Sign up for the South Shore Brew Clubs 17th Annual Brewoff HERE. This BJCP registered competition will be held on April 17 in Mansfield, MA. All are welcome to enter. There is a HBT thread discussing the competition HERE.
My sister's fiance owns something like 75 acres down in Coventry RI and he lets a guy use a few acres on the back of his property for a very small farm. The guy has about 15 pigs, some chickens and then he does veggies. Given how it all ties together, the guy is giving me a deal on a pig. And my sister's fiance used to be really big into 4H so when he tells me this will be a really good roasting pig... I believe him.
__________________ Help a fellow brewer and HBTer out.Donations for Babalu.... or Wayne Brady will choke a bitch
Is he going to have another one ready mid September? I need to start planning for this years Masstoberfest.
__________________
Sign up for the South Shore Brew Clubs 17th Annual Brewoff HERE. This BJCP registered competition will be held on April 17 in Mansfield, MA. All are welcome to enter. There is a HBT thread discussing the competition HERE.