How to Roast a Whole Pig

[david_42]

Pigs could be put out to root in the forest

The lower 5 acres of my property is called "Hog Hollow". Full of oak trees and too steep for cows. I wonder if pigs eat blackberry canes? On the other hand, since the property West of my place was logged off, the stream drys up in the summer.

Great thread! Haven't done a whole pig in decades.

 

[zoebisch01]

Phil (pjj2ba) just did a pig roast this past month using the Cuban Box method (a commercial one is available called 'Caja China' aka 'Chinese Box', although I am guessing the Chinese part probably stems from the area of Cuba previously known as Oriente) and it was really nice. I especially loved the part where Phil, Clever and Mallet in hand, split the Pig Head in two halves. He and I tried the Brains. There was a wondrous look of horror on many faces . Damn, that's it. I'm going to build a fence and raise some pigs. See what you guys did!

 

[Revvy]

You had Piraat on tap? And Roast Pig?

I think I love you!!!
(In an assuredly heterosexual way, that is.)

 

[Cape Brewing]

You had Piraat on tap? And Roast Pig?

I think I love you!!!
(In an assuredly heterosexual way, that is.)

HA HA! Get in line big boy... I had about nine guys from my brew club say the same thing that day!

Ehh... it's fun. I like trying to go overboard with things (hence my brewing addiction). My buddies make fun of me saying, "Most people wuld just grab some burgers, dogs and a 30 pack of Bud Light cans... but you have to bury a 150 lb pig and get six kegs... three of which are from Belgium"

What the hell... go big or go home... that's what I say.

 

[SporkD2]

I have a friend that cooks a pig like this every so often. The chimney with the tin foil idea is great. We had to take shifts adding charcoal to the pit so we wouldnt lose a lot of heat. Maybe this way we can just get drunk and not worry about it

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Are you sure your not from North Carolina?

 

[findthefish]

Man that looks amazing. You have no idea how jealous I am. I have to do this at some point in my life.

 

[Cape Brewing]

I have a friend that cooks a pig like this every so often. The chimney with the tin foil idea is great. We had to take shifts adding charcoal to the pit so we wouldnt lose a lot of heat. Maybe this way we can just get drunk and not worry about it

That's another reason I do it this way... It's really... really easy (once you have the pit dug and all set up). It took my wife and I about 15 minutes to wrap the pig up and drop it in the pit. Done. No more work until it comes out.

I did that one year... staying up all night feeding the fire for a spit. Screw that. If you want to stay up all night with this method you can, but you don't have to.

 

[MNBugeater]

Not to highjack the thread, but we are having our annual Pig Roast/ Beer Bash the end of August.

All guests bring a 6 pack of Micro/Craft/Home brew in addition to the 4 homebrews I will have on tap in the keezer. We also roast a whole hog and its a great time to try many different beers. We usually have 100 different beers available.

Here is a link to a cook a few years ago
Hog Roast

If anyone is close by and interested in coming, send me a PM. All forum members welcome.

Warren

 

[conpewter]

Man I saw MN and thought "Hey not too far" dude... you live like 1 inch from Canada, I would so love to join a lot of beer lovers sometime for something like this. Awesome setup

 

[MNBugeater]

Yeah, Illinois to MN isnt too bad if you are thinking Minneapolis, but we are indeed inches from Canada.

Beautiful Lake of the Woods.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Thanks... it's a great time. Every March our friends start asking, making sure we're going to do it again for that year.

Hey... Toss a guys some Prosts!!!! The damn thread took me forever!!! Maybe I'll win a HBT sticker!!! LOL.

Prosted! Awesome thread, it will haunt my dreams!

 

[farmbrewernw]

I want to come to your parties!!

 

[niquejim]

I have the banana leaves in my front yard......woo-hoo

Then reality hits

If I dig down over 2' it fills with water. I'm 3' above sea level 1 mile from the Gulf and the soil is all sand

 

[paulthenurse]

Capebrew,
I know about half of the people you show in your pics, I gotta wrangle an invite to your next one. I do an annual BBQ but use my converted oil tank with an offset firebox to cook my hog. But I like the fire pit idea, very cool.

Here are a few pics of my stepdaughters graduation party last month.

Wilber just before I closed the lid for the day.

My friend Bill, my Dad, the guest of honor and the other guest of honor.

I like the look with the head still on. This sure looks appetizing to me.

Paulthenurse

 

[Cape Brewing]

yeah, I dunno... when I left the head on lat time in the pit, the skin shrunk up to the point where the eye sockets were about the size of my fist, the mouth all stretched open, the eyes themselves melted into the head. It wasn't good looking... at all.

Those folks are all South Shore Brew Club folks... I know I said it before but you should swing by for one of our meetings. Half of 'em are at my house.

 

[Revvy]

yeah, I dunno... when I left the head on lat time in the pit, the skin shrunk up to the point where the eye sockets were about the size of my fist, the mouth all stretched open, the eyes themselves melted into the head. It wasn't good looking... at all.

Those folks are all South Shore Brew Club folks... I know I said it before but you should swing by for one of our meetings. Half of 'em are at my house.

I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that you beheaded it yourself...so what did you do with it? Head cheese (ew)? Playing pass the pigskin? Acting out your own low rent version of the Godfather?

 

[Cape Brewing]

I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that you beheaded it yourself...so what did you do with it? Head cheese (ew)? Playing pass the pigskin? Acting out your own low rent version of the Godfather?

Well it was already dead and cleaned... all I had to do is take the head off. I have a nice big cleaver and it usually comes off pretty quick. Nah, no theatrics with it. In years past, we always put it on a pole next to the pit... very Lord of Flies style... but my wife and I now have a 2 1/2 and a 1 year old. A pig head on a stake probabaly wouldn't fly too well with them.

 

[VanWilder]

I joined this board just for this thread, my bro in law e-mailed it to me.

I've been wanting to do this for a LONG time & I think this just gave me the how to & incentive....you sir, are a pig pit legend....Thanks.

PS my wife hates message boards now. I keep talking about the pig roast. God bless pigs.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Well it was already dead and cleaned... all I had to do is take the head off. I have a nice big cleaver and it usually comes off pretty quick. Nah, no theatrics with it. In years past, we always put it on a pole next to the pit... very Lord of Flies style...

I've always considered myself an exemplary carnivore...many times I've plucked meat from a carcass that is looking back at me, and often tell people that the "cheeks" of any critter are the tastiest part. I've gleefully gobbled down brains, hearts, livers, kidneys, sweetbreads, tripe and other "nasty bits," (in the words of Anthony Bourdain) and come back for more. But tonight I stand humbled.

I wish I was your neighbor.

 

[findthefish]

I've always considered myself an exemplary carnivore...many times I've plucked meat from a carcass that is looking back at me, and often tell people that the "cheeks" of any critter are the tastiest part. I've gleefully gobbled down brains, hearts, livers, kidneys, sweetbreads, tripe and other "nasty bits," (in the words of Anthony Bourdain) and come back for more. But tonight I stand humbled.

I wish I was your neighbor.

Anthony Bourdain is the man. That is all.

 

[EvilTOJ]

If I dig down over 2' it fills with water. I'm 3' above sea level 1 mile from the Gulf and the soil is all sand

Simple solution for that is, to just build up instead of down. Dig out a shallow pit, then start heaping up mounds of dirt and line it with bricks. Then add the lid on top.

Call it a porcine burial mound.


And welcome to the boards, VanWilder!

 

[Cape Brewing]

I joined this board just for this thread, my bro in law e-mailed it to me.

I've been wanting to do this for a LONG time & I think this just gave me the how to & incentive....you sir, are a pig pit legend....Thanks.

PS my wife hates message boards now. I keep talking about the pig roast. God bless pigs.

LOL... wow! I'm honored!

I'll admit digging, what is basically a grave, and lining it with brick isn't exactly a ton of fun but once you have it, it's a really nice thing to have. I have sheets of expanded steel that I put over it if I'm doing huge BBQ's (I've done about 20 racks of ribs on it). I also do clam bakes on it.

Making the lid is a piece of cake for anyone that can work a hand saw and a drill. Other than that, honestly, it's really light lifting to do it this way. As I had said in posts past, you put the pig in around noon one day and it's ready around noon the next day. No staying up all night feeding fires, adding charcoal... any of that.

For anyone that's honestly going to try it, the only additional advice I would give is to open the pit the following morning and check the internal temp of the pig with a meat thermometer.... just to make sure you have things down... just in case. I would bet my truck it'll already done the next morning but you want to make sure. Worst case scenario, you can just take the tin foil completely off the intake and chimney and let that pit fire up like crazy for the rest of the day and... oh.. you'll have cooked pig... believe me.

 

[niquejim]

If I dig down over 2' it fills with water. I'm 3' above sea level 1 mile from the Gulf and the soil is all sand

Simple solution for that is, to just build up instead of down. Dig out a shallow pit, then start heaping up mounds of dirt and line it with bricks. Then add the lid on top.

Call it a porcine burial mound.

A nice thought, but I would have to raise 1/2 my yard. The soil is very fine sand that does not mound even a little

 

[Alamo_Beer]

What about cinderblocks jim?

 

[niquejim]

What about cinderblocks jim?

The earth around the pit holds the heat so above ground would not be the same. I think

 

[Cape Brewing]

What about cinderblocks jim?

I'm not sure cinderblocks would work... only because they don't hold the heat. You could probably do it but you would be back into a situation where you would have to add charcoal all the time. Either that or you would have to make the walls two or three cinderblocks thick and then fill them with soil.

What I did with my pit and the bricks is basically just make a big huge oven and since it's in the ground, in hard packed dirt/clay, and then lined with brick, it holds the heat extremely well (which allows the pig to cook for 24+ hours).

Hell... that pit is usually still warm for at least another 24 hours AFTER the pig comes out.

 

[paulthenurse]

Those folks are all South Shore Brew Club folks... I know I said it before but you should swing by for one of our meetings. Half of 'em are at my house.

I know, I know! My problem is that I work night shift, from 7 pm to 7 am. I would miss at least half of the meetings just because of the 'every other' thing, then SWMBO and I try to make up for the nights we don't see each other at all by not arranging to do 'seperate' things on our nights off together.

I almost always go by The Witches Brew on Thursdays between 5:30 and 6:30. Maybe I'll see you there some night. If it's a night off I'll be the large, balding guy, sitting on a stool, getting buzzed, and giving Chris a hard time. If I'm on my way into work, I'll be sitting on the same stool, in scrub pants, drinking rootbeer and giving Chris a hard time. Maybe I'll see yiou there.
PTN

 

[Cape Brewing]

I have a friend that cooks a pig like this every so often. The chimney with the tin foil idea is great. We had to take shifts adding charcoal to the pit so we wouldnt lose a lot of heat. Maybe this way we can just get drunk and not worry about it

Yeah, if you don't put the chimney and air intake, the coals with snuff out and the heat will completely die. You want to get at least a tiny bit of air flow in there to keep the coals burning and providing heat... and then you don't have to stay up. Just cover it up and go enjoy some beers.

 

[fretman124]

I've thought about doing a side of beef... basically half a cow... the problem is I don't think it would be fatty enough and I don't know if the skin would seal it all up like a pig.

GIS "Lords Acre Days" in the little, itty, bitty town of Powell Butte, Oregon. Not sure if they still even have it, but 30 years ago it was a very big deal. They would take entire steers, somewhere around ten of them and do each steer in a pit. Well over a thousand people would show up........

simply awseome food

 

[98EXL]

Very nice, my buddy smokes a pig every year....takes about 10 hours. We leave the head on (I say we because I am his little helper ***** all day) while he smokes. Usually it's between 75-90 pounds. We do a duck inside of a chicken, and put two of those (jammed) into the belly, and stitch it all up.

Best duck, chicken and pig I've ever had. Of course he does some sort of sauce and rub both very light while it's smoking, but it's pretty much virgin

 

[duker]

Man have I been itching to do this.... I have been to a few roasts and they have been great. I do alot of smoking (beef, pork and chickens that is ), but have yet gone "hog wild". I have a double graduation next year (son high school, daughter middle school) so this may be the time, of course I may have to make a couple "Test Runs" first:rockin:

 

[98EXL]

Man have I been itching to do this.... I have been to a few roasts and they have been great. I do alot of smoking (beef, pork and chickens that is ), but have yet gone "hog wild". I have a double graduation next year (son high school, daughter middle school) so this may be the time, of course I may have to make a couple "Test Runs" first:rockin:

start with smoking a duck inside of a chicken...tell me that's not awesome!

 

[mrk305]

I haven't been to a pig roast in years. I wish I was one of your neighbors! Thread prosted! Great pic's!

 

[garyad]

I have the banana leaves in my front yard......woo-hoo

Then reality hits

If I dig down over 2' it fills with water. I'm 3' above sea level 1 mile from the Gulf and the soil is all sand

All is not lost!!!

http://cuban-christmas.com/pigroast.html

 

[DeathBrewer]

this is awesome. we go on a camping trip each year and cook massive amounts of food. we've talked about getting a suckling pig a few times and pit roasting it for a day. i may take some notes from this page and see if we can actually get that done this year! thanks much!

 

[Cape Brewing]

this is awesome. we go on a camping trip each year and cook massive amounts of food. we've talked about getting a suckling pig a few times and pit roasting it for a day. i may take some notes from this page and see if we can actually get that done this year! thanks much!

LOL... just remembered a suckling I did on a camping trip... just to be an obnoxious jerk, we took a suckling on a canoe trip down the Saco up in Maine (for anyone not from NE, the Saco is basically a floating frat party... EVERYONE is drinkin' their faces off, floating down the river and as the day wears on, people pull over, set up camps, camp for the night and then float down the rest of the way in the morning).

I took two heavy duty car batteries, a power inverter, a BBQ spit and hooked them all up, spinning a suckling over a camp fire. People kept floating by our beach-camp with jaws dropped. It was damn good eats too.

I would go with the "pit method" like I described through... shouldn't be too hard with a suckling. Just need a shovel, a bunch of rocks from the camp site and some sort of small lid.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I would go with the "pit method" like I described through... shouldn't be too hard with a suckling. Just need a shovel, a bunch of rocks from the camp site and some sort of small lid.

sounds like a plan! :rockin:

 

[98EXL]

had to share, got this in an email from my buddy who does a pig roast every year

 

[Melana]

We are headed to a pig roast this coming weekend... mmmmmm roast pork and antique cars... Enough to get this girl excited!