Hogslayer: Keep in mind that a normal pig will yield only about 30% useable meat. Pigs come sized as 20#/30# 30/40 40/50/ 50/60 etc Restaurants use the sizes up to 40-50 only. If they are bigger than that, they will not fit into a typical restaurant oven without burning. Larger sizes are good for below ground pits (Cuban style) or above ground spits. A 60# carcass will yield at most 18-20# of meat. Assuming 8oz of cooked meat per person (small portion), a 60# pig will feed only about 35-40 people. If you allow 1# of meat per person, you will feed 18-22 people. The other 70% is skin, head, bones, fat, tail, oink, etc
I once set up an outdoor buffet for about 100 people and cooked 100# of boneless pork butts in the kitchen. The meat was cooked and pulled off in big chunks after cooking and put on a couple big trays. On the buffet table we laid out a 40# pig with the obligatory apple in its mouth behind the trays. The pig was laid out upright with front feet out straight sorta like a sphinx. The back and side skin was intact. Sure enough, someone walked up with an IQ the same size as their belt size and remarked that we got an awful lot of meat outta that pig. A recent poster had a thread about people who can be dumber than dirt. He was so right.
Cover the ears, nose and eyes with aluminum foil while cooking the first couple hours. This prevents them from scorching and burning.
Unless you must have an above ground spit for show, consider the buried Cuban method. 90% less work and great results. No hardware to rig up either.
