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Author Topic: pig roast  (Read 9138 times)

Offline phillamb168

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pig roast
« on: September 03, 2013, 05:01:39 am »
This goes with my earlier Oktoberfest thread. It will most likely be easier for me to roast a whole pig, so I'm leaning that direction. A friend of mine has used those 'cajun microwaves' before, I'm wondering what y'all think of them. It's either that or a spit roast. I am leaning towards the spit, because I like to put on a show.
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Offline punatic

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2013, 05:24:01 am »
Imu
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Offline thebigbaker

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2013, 07:40:55 am »
I've personally never used one, but I have a few friends who have used the "Cajun Microwave" and have had great success w/ them.  I've never had a hog that was cooked over a spit roast, so couldn't give you any comparison.  I currently cook my hogs in my smoker, however, before I had a smoker large enough, we cooked them in cinder block pits. 

+1 to the Imu  ;D  I've eaten many kalua pig from an imu, but have yet to cook one in a hole in the ground.
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Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2013, 08:07:52 am »
+2 to the Imu.  My cousin did a pig like this in early August.  It was awesome.

If you have room to dig the hole, go for it.

If not, the spit could be a nice spectacle at the party.
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Offline phillamb168

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2013, 08:42:06 am »
Well about 200 feet from my house is a big 'ol river, so I'm guessing the hole would fill pretty quickly with water, no?
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Offline morticaixavier

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2013, 09:14:43 am »
Well about 200 feet from my house is a big 'ol river, so I'm guessing the hole would fill pretty quickly with water, no?

I wonder if you could build one up? cinder block walls with dirt piled all around them maybe. then the hog in the pooka, blankets leaves dirt etc on top?
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Offline thebigbaker

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2013, 09:55:55 am »
Well about 200 feet from my house is a big 'ol river, so I'm guessing the hole would fill pretty quickly with water, no?

I wonder if you could build one up? cinder block walls with dirt piled all around them maybe. then the hog in the pooka, blankets leaves dirt etc on top?

You can do this and I've done it like this a few times.  You can build up the cinder blocks, put a layer of dirt (about 3-5 inches), add a layer of large rocks (lava rocks are great) and build your fire on top of the rocks.  Keep building the fire for about 2 hours to get the rocks good and hot and so that you have an ample amount of coals.  I like to use mesquite wood for kalua pork and will put a few split logs in just before placing the hog in the pit. 

After seasoning the hog, we halve some cabbage heads and stuff inside the hog along with a few of the hot rocks from the pit.  We then wrap the hog in banana leaves, close the hog and wrap in chick wire or chain link fencing (this really helps in getting the hog out of the pit).  We place the hog on top of the mesquite logs and cover in some wet burlap sacks.  We then cover w/ some scrap sheet metal (although I've seen others us plywood, metal siding, etc...) and add a few bricks to help keep the top on. 

Takes a 60lb hog about 14 hours or so to cook.  It's been a while since I've done it this way, so going off memory and I hope I didn't skip any steps, but this should give you a general idea.  You could wrap the hog in some wet burlap then cover w/ some dirt to make it more like a traditional imu, but I've never done it this way.  The other cinder block pits I've done were more of an offset smoker type style where we didn't wrap the hog in banana leaves and left the hog open.  Fun thing is there is no one right way to roast a whole hog and it's a lot easier than most people think!
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Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2013, 10:03:19 am »
My cousins pig was done in about 7 hours, but it was buried and not done above ground.  Other than that, you've described it perfectly.  Banana leaves, chicken wire, burlap, etc.  The pig was awesome.

I'll have to see if I have photos I can post.  I didn't get to document the whole thing like I was hoping.

Phil - the only way to know if he hole will fill up with water is to dig it.  I don't know what sort of water table you'll have with a river.  Here in Chicago, you've got to dig pretty deep before you hit the water table.  3 feet or so would be no problem.
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Offline punatic

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #8 on: September 03, 2013, 12:07:42 pm »
How does the river level match up with your property elevation?  The imu only needs to be about 3-4 feet deep.

If your property elevation is that close to river level I wouldn't worry about roasting a pig, I'd be focused on finding flood insurance.
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Offline phillamb168

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #9 on: September 04, 2013, 04:34:27 am »
How does the river level match up with your property elevation?  The imu only needs to be about 3-4 feet deep.

If your property elevation is that close to river level I wouldn't worry about roasting a pig, I'd be focused on finding flood insurance.

Nah, it's super super controlled, it stopped being a 'wild' river about 150 years ago when the wheat and barley trade picked up and huge barges of brewing barley started going past my house, up the river to near Paris to be malted or ground into flour.

It's the time that bothers me on all this. The Caja Chinese seems like it would take significantly less time, and not involve me digging a hole on our rental property.
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Offline 1vertical

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2013, 11:08:34 am »
I did a pig once (not a hog) on a coal style drilling pipe trailer/bbq rig.
My point to this is a suggestion to get a Huge veterinary syringe and Needle....
and a gallon of soy sauce....start by injecting the soy into the pig...dont be shy....
then get a virginal Mop and bucket....put the soy in the bucket and wet the mop
periodically swabbing the pig with the soy mop..This method will be wonderful
with your spit plan.If doing a whole HAWG, just inject half or so for a comparason
.......MAN look out!....Can you say
nicely browned....and some kinda good?
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Offline phillamb168

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #11 on: September 10, 2013, 08:49:48 am »
I was reading something about this the other day, apparently piggies are pretty high in nucleotides, which when paired with glutamates like soy sauce make for mega tastiness.
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Offline punatic

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #12 on: September 10, 2013, 10:44:32 am »
Great if you like pork teriyaki.
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Offline phillamb168

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2013, 06:28:24 am »
So guys I gotta ask, what sort of reaction would you have if someone said 'hey I'm having a pig roast, do you wanna come? There's gonna be a ton of beer too'?

Because while we've gotten some responses, most of the time people are kinda like, 'Oh, ok, that's interesting.'

Sometimes I wonder if it's just me, or if it's the country.
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Offline Jimmy K

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Re: pig roast
« Reply #14 on: September 24, 2013, 06:36:08 am »
Around here people have more enthusiasm even when the party is BYOB and a plate to share.
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