Cooking a whole pig

[PossumHound]

A simple alternative to digging a pit or using a pig roaster is to take cinderblocks and lay them out in a U shape with the open side one of the long sides. After the first course, install your grill top. Then lay in a another course of cinderblocks. On top of that you'll place tin roofing sheets or similar. You'll need a source of continous hot coals. Folks around here use 50 gal metal barrel with a grate for the wood to burn on about 18" from the bottom. Then you'll need to cut a hole in the barrel about 12" on a side at the bottom you'll use to stick a shovel in to remove the coals as the wood on the grate burns down to chunks and falls to the bottom. Once you have hot coals, remove the roofing sheets load pig cut side down, replace roofing sheets, and add coals evenly underneath pig. You'll need to add coals often to maintain 180 - 190 degress during the roast, and you can also toss hickory or fruit wood on the coals to add extra smoke. Plan on at least 12 hours of roasting for a Carolina style pig. Don't forget the vinegar based BBQ sauce:licking:

I've used this method dozens of times, and it works well. I've also used the hole in the ground method, but as previously mentioned there can be problems with underdone/overdone pig. And somehow manufactured grill roasted pig just doesn't taste quite the same - especially if its a gas grill.

PH

 

[phiferpharm]

Good food but watch yourself around there espeicially when it turns dark !
If your friend lives there bring " HEAT". I know that area well.

Boone

Heat

I hear ya Boone. We go at lunch time and normally meet her hubby who is wearing heat and a badge :thumbsup: Frankly, thats the reason my retirement property is in Fort McCoy, the whole area north of Coral Gables has changed drasically from when I grew up in the South Dade area.

 

[dmccarty]

I hear ya Boone. We go at lunch time and normally meet her hubby who is wearing heat and a badge :thumbsup: Frankly, thats the reason my retirement property is in Fort McCoy, the whole area north of Coral Gables has changed drasically from when I grew up in the South Dade area.

I have not been to Miami in over two decades but in the mid/late 80's I would get to downtown Miami pretty often. Getting INTO downtown was easy. Getting OUT, not so much. :laughing: After passing the Freedom Tower to get back on I95, you had to make a series of left and right turns. If you missed a turn while heading north you went right into Overtown. Not a place you want to be. Even in daylight. :laughing:

Speaking of Freedom Tower. I once saw a photo taken of the building after one of the major hurricanes hit Miami in the late 20's or 30's. You could see the high water mark from the storm surge between the second and third floor windows. The Freedom Tower sits very close to Biscayne Bay. If a storm like that hit Miami today the damage would be unreal.

Later,
Dan

 

[TRR]

I have had trouble with alcoholics when I bought a keg. They wrap themselves around the tap and drink themselves into a stupor. I wish there was a gracious way to disinvite people who can't handle their booze.

And then there's the folks who pull a chair up to the buffet table and treat it as theirs. Or the folks who come late, eat, and leave. After a while you learn who to invite and who not to invite.

 

[charlz]

We took 10 heads of garlic, cut the stemmy head off, then broke them up and got as much paper as we could easily, off.

The best way to get the paper off garlic cloves, assuming you don't need them intact for some reason, is to lay them on a cutting board, lay the flat of a knife blade on them and give it a quick thump with the side of your hand or heel of the palm. This will squish/crack the clove and generally all the paper will just fall off or is very easily removed. Much faster than sitting there picking at it.

Thanks for all the tips guys, I want to try this someday as well.

 

[RobertN]

That is the way I usually do it. But for a bunch of heads(I gotta look and make sure I typeds 8-10 HEADS), it was suficient to just get the bulk off. Once they cook down in the pig, you just squeeze the soft garlic out of the paper...

It is a lot of fun to cook up a pig like that, but it is an all day thing, so when the big party starts, I'm tuckered out! Start it cooking at 6 or 7 am...

The best way to get the paper off garlic cloves, assuming you don't need them intact for some reason, is to lay them on a cutting board, lay the flat of a knife blade on them and give it a quick thump with the side of your hand or heel of the palm. This will squish/crack the clove and generally all the paper will just fall off or is very easily removed. Much faster than sitting there picking at it.

Thanks for all the tips guys, I want to try this someday as well.