hog roasting

[welsh wizard]

Hi all

Has anyone here had experience of hog roasting, and if so do you have any advice you can pass onto me?

I am considering purchasing a hog roaster from a company called cinders. The hog roaster will take up to a 55kg pig and is fired by gas and electricity.

Any advice, pit falls, things I should know????????????

Cheers WW

[johnfb]

Have a look at this site WW
http://www.wholehogroast.co.uk/Spit_roast/


or here
http://www.3men.com/bbq_whole_pig.htm

http://www.firepit-and-grilling-guru.com/pig-roast.html

http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/458-001/458-001.html

http://www.askthemeatman.com/pit_cookin ... le_hog.htm

[Hangin_Salami]

Personally, I don't think the comercial gas ones are worth the money. Just get a big rectangle steel box welded up and cover the bottom and half way up the sides with fire bricks. add a rottiserie to the top, and your ready to go. I will try to get you some pictures of mine if i get a chance.

For fuel i use hardwood and mix it with apple wood. 1 small fire in each corner does the trick perfectly. Then spread the fire out for the last hour to crisp up the skin.
Hope this helps

Chris

[welsh wizard]

Thanks both very interesting

HS - the one reason I was going to go for gas was becasue you stuck the hog in and the gas cooked it whilst the electric motor turned the hog around and I thought that would be the easiest way for a comercial roast. How much "looking after" does a wood burner hog roast need in your opinion? I only ask as I would much prefer to go down that route if possible........

Cheers WW

[Hangin_Salami]

You do need the electric motor for turning the hog, but as far as the propane goes, I think you will be dissapointed.

If you do decide to go the wood route, it does require you to be around most of the time to make sure none of the fires burn out but it does not require constant care. If I were to guess, once the fires are going, I add about 1 peice of wood on each fire approximately every half hour or so.

Myself, I enjoy sitting beside it with a cooler full of beer. To me, it's like a good movie that lasts 5 or six hours and if you haven't already, you'll meet just about every neighbor on your street

Which ever way you decide, It still a good time no matter what. I'm drooling just thinking about it but next one won't be untill Christmas however a lamb could be in the works shortly!

Chris

[georgebaker]

Hi WW
it looks like you are planning a new commercial activity.

If you are get good bread 'cos every time I see these at markets they always seem to use the cheapest buns possible.

How about offering a price for a bread and then a price for the meat?

I would pay a premium for a bread choice.

George

[welsh wizard]

Thanks HS - noted

Hi GB

I have always offered a choice of bread with my cooked produce (where possible), I am lucky to have a really good bakers near me and they bake things like cheese & onion bread, Walnut bread, Chive bread etc, so I usually have a selection of these as well as standard bread rolls. It does put the price up a little but worth evry penny in MHO. when I am doing a large event it is just not practicable to offer choice as you get so busy and cant have the "kid in the sweet shop syndrome", however on these occasions I just offer a good thick bread roll of quality.

Cheers WW

[vinner]

Hangin' Salami, I would love to get a picture of your roaster if possible. I can smoke 5 briskets at once on my offset smoker, but want to rig up a pig roaster for the ranch.

[saucisson]

Good to see you back

Dave

[Hangin_Salami]

Vinner,

I will get ya some pics as soon as I get a chance, The roaster is at my uncles farm so I will have to make a trip out there. No room to store it @ my place.


Chris

[vinner]

Thanks, Hangin, looking forward to it. And a big public thank you, Dave for your help with the computer.

[Fallow Buck]

Hey Wiz,

Glad to see all is going well with you.

I do these fairly regularly now since I built my new BBQ. One thing I would say is that if it can only deal with a 55kg pig then it is too small. the simple reason for this is that a pig at 55kg costs the same as a pig at 100kg... You will feed about 100 people on a 55kg pig (give or take) which means that if you have a wedding or some such where you need to feed 120 you are 20%out...

I've seen the gas hog roasers used with wood over the gas. I'm not sure how keen I am on this as this gives a live flame which is not what you want to cook over.

I always use coals but with a Pig I do not make all the cuts in the rind that you often see. I give it a medium high heat from at least 50-60cm, while making sure none of the juices can drip on the coals as this just smokes the pig. Then I let the coals go to a lower heat and do the main body of the cooking. To Give you an idea I did a 10kg lamb last week and cooked it for 7 hours. I'll post some piscs when I get a chance. The main bit though isd the last hour or two when you need to put the heat onto it again. THis is something that I didn't dolast week due to bad coal management but this will crisp the skin and tighten the meat slightly to allow carving. The beast is ready when it starts to "wobble" on the spit.

A bigger animal can take more heat than a smaller one. Another pet hate of mine is all the salt you get on most hog roasts here in the UK. Seasoning is of course important but covering the animal in sal is excessive in my mind.

If you want to chat more about this then feel free to give me a call. I think you should stil have my number.

It would be easy to get a coal roaster built and a charcoal bin that would transport to your venues. I had mine built in London, but would be happy to give you the design for you to modify if you have someone that can weld stainless steel near to you?

Rgds,
FB

[welsh wizard]

Many thanks FB for your reply, I will give you a call at some juncture if you dont mind as I am now looking at a roaster that can take a lot more than I originally considered.

Many thanks WW