Pig Roasting, Spit Style

Warning! This "Instructable" will contain graphic images of dead pigs, view at your own risk!
To start with Instructables.com is cool. It's great to know that there is a place where people can share their projects and experiments. That said, the subject at hand is pig cooking. Pig or hog, cooking or roasting in this Instructable means; cooking a whole pig, fastened to a spit, over charcoal, till it reaches succulent doneness. Yum! You surely have seen images of the whole roasted pig with the apple in it's mouth? This is a very fun thing to do and can be a joy for your guests to eat. As for guests, a whole pig requires a lot of them to make sure it all gets eaten; this is a party type of thing. Don't party too hard though, as cook time is very long.

Step 1 Get It Together

The need to properly prepare for this endeavor is great; so first you need to know some things and think about some things. Judging how much meat to cook can be tough, approximately 2 lb. pre-cooked per guest is safe. That is not etched in stone though; your side dishes and the hunger level of the party can affect it largely. Whole pigs also take a long time to cook, atleast 4-8 hours. As with any large piece of meat, long slow cooking will yield juicy, tender meat. Also, be warned, your neighbors will be able to smell this cooking for miles; so anticipate unexpected guests. Below is a list of materials, your materials may vary due to your choices in pit and spit construction, seasoning, availability, etc.
1. A pig. 50lb. is usually the smallest.
2. 16"x8" concrete blocks. Atleast 30.
3. 4' Level.
4. Long handle shovel and hoe. 5. 1- 3/4"x3/4"x5' Alumium square tube.
6. 1- package Stainless steel picture hanging wire.
7. 1- VERY large needle for sewing flesh ( not yours ).
8. 1- 3/8" drill bit.
9. Drill.
10. 1- Large plastic tub with lid.
11. 3-4- Large bags of ice.
12. Seasoning ( more on this later ) but lots of it.
13. 2 rolls Heavy duty Alumium foil.
14. Probe Thermometer - Preferably heat-proof for fire temp. measuring.
15. 2- Pairs Heavy-duty gloves for getting near and handling hot things and another pair for a friend.
16. 2- Pairs Heavy-duty rubber gloves for 1.) handling raw and 2). cooked meat. Keep them separate.
17. 4-5 or more- Large bags of charcoal briquettes 20lb per bag or so.
18. 2- Big bottles lighter fluid.

Comments

[lilmsunderstood]

I only want to pit roast half of a pig cut length wise....Can't find any info anywhere. Any idea's?

[bochwa]

Srbija

[jemsr59]

Well, for one thing, it's not an oval. It's a rectangle just like the blocks. On a second note, it's not permanent, it's very portable because it's held by tying panels to 8- 26" stakes driven into the ground 6" deep. Storage space is as follows. Cinder blocks (stacked 2l x 3d x 5h)=32"l x 8"d x 40"h
Steel panels (anyway you want)=64"l x1-1/2"d x 26"h
Like paper thin....& weight, 900lbs vs. 12lbs....cost $36 vs. $24! C'mon, your information was VERY helpful & I appreciate it but...only trying to help people out that view this post!

[jemsr59]

I used blocks on my pit, but found that 2 sheets of plain corrugated steel (not galvanized) cut to fit, worked as good as blocks. Also, they were so much lighter & total cost for 2 was $24!

[ergoxxulous]

That really is the best solution. My dream is to have a piece of steel rolled into an oval shape for something more permanent.

[markartdeb1]

The place I get my whole pig from is at the Meat Science and Technology Center (MSTC) located in the Animal and Dairy Science Department at The University of Georgia. Contact your locat University to see if they have a meat processing facility. The University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, also has a meat facility. The pig usually costs about $1.00 to $1.25 per pound. Here's a list of Universitys that have a meat market.

Animal Science Links



Southeastern



The University of Georgia

The University of Florida

University of Arkansas

Auburn University

University of Kentucky

Mississippi State Univ.

Louisiana State Univ.

Clemson University



Midwestern

Texas A&M University

Oklahoma State Univ.

Texas Tech Univ.

Kansas State Univ.

Iowa State University

University of Missouri

University of Illinois

University of Nebraska



Western

North Dakota State Univ.

South Dakota State Univ.

Colorado State University

University of Arizona

[ergoxxulous]

That is awesome! I had no idea that universities would offer such things of that nature. I live very close to University of Kentucky. I'm going to hit them up this spring when its roasting time. Thanks.

[achollowell]

concrete heated to high temperatures will explode do to fact there is moisture in cured concrete

[ergoxxulous]

True as that is, we're really not dealing with enough heat to fracture the blocks. I once made the mistake of heating a copper pipe with an acetylene torch on a concrete block... Good thing I was wearing safety glasses.

[Bas]

Oh, Moslims don't know what they're missing.. :)

[mrmplaster]

looooooooLLLLLLLLOOOOOLLLZORZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Thanatos]

"Muslims" lol i suck at spelling too

[Neil2009]

 Outstanding, thank you.  All good ideas but the cinder block oven really seems to make it easier than I thought.

[ergoxxulous]

Your quite welcome. Writing this, my one and only instructable so far, was as fun as roasting the pig itself. The cinder block oven IS awesome. If you allow a little space in the cracks on the bottom row for air flow; the coals won't get hot enough to damage the blocks. 

[PikminRed]

In the bum Out the mouth. Ouch. Lol Its sort of necessary but I think you can get other ways to keep it with the spit... It Looks Like it hurts (Even though It is dead..)

[Drakor]

how long did your pig take to cook then

[ergoxxulous]

sorry for the long time to reply, holiday had me busy. it took about 10 hrs to cook mine

[Drakor]

thx for all your advice on the hog roast it all turned out fine, and tasting lovely and was cooked for approx 20 hrs and the meat just fell off the bone. Thx Andy (UK)

[Drakor]

hi this has been a great help as we are doing a hog roast soon Q1 how much did your hog weigh Q2 how long did you cook it for. Our hog is 70kg (154lbs) do yo uthink 15 hrs is long enough. Thx Andrew (UK)

[ergoxxulous]

My pig weighed about 50lbs. It should have only took 4-5 hrs to cook 50lbs. A 70kg pig will probably only take 7-9hrs in perfect conditions, those being, constant temp., often rotation, good cover with foil and frequent checking for doneness. If this is your first time I would give it the whole 15hrs, leave plenty of room for mistakes and other factors. Thx, hope this helps.

[aliceownsj00]

I've heard that roasting a pig like that is extremely delicious, but I don't think I could handle watching it lol

[ergoxxulous]

I have to admit, The animal is a little unnerving to look at. I'm not a hunter or anything of the sort; so, I'm really glad I didn't have to go through thecleaning process as well.

[zap89]

(removed by author or community request)

[ergoxxulous]

No, I did'nt freeze the pig. Only that the pig may arrive at your house frozen solid.

[zap89]

oh right k soz lol you got me scared for a moment then

[killerjackalope]

I've never actually had a spit roast pig, are they nice? Closest i can think of is when my dad and I broke a few bits of the convection oven to use the rotisserie for gammon joints... Nice instructable...

[ergoxxulous]

They are delicious! Its kinda cool to be able to pick a piece from the ribs, tastes like ribs, loin, tastes like loin and so on. Much fun. I've been thinking of trying to fill my next one with BBQ sauce, if I can keep it in. :)

[killerjackalope]

Maybe marinating in BBQ sauce then brazing with it throughout the cooking process... You could do a side with one sauce and the other with another, and in the middle would be an infusion.

[ergoxxulous]

Wow that sounds really tasty. I'm planning a cook mid-April and have been looking for new ideas. Thanks!

[killerjackalope]

Let me know how it goes, if my mates dad is willing to give up the recipe I can give you one that is really tasy with almost any meat at all....

[ergoxxulous]

That sounds great! If, he is willing to give it up that is... I like the half and half idea too, some people around here aren't crazy about BBQ.

[killerjackalope]

Sadly he says its a secret but the half and half would work, on the upside I know I have great recipe for sauce kicking around that uses mostly just common sauces and if you add some water it becomes a marinading sauce...

[Lftndbt]

Brilliant, got to try this next BBQ. Nice work!

[Sgt.Waffles]

Haha, nice!

[ergoxxulous]

And yummy too.

[GorillazMiko]

That looks pretty funny, but done very nicely. Nice Instructable!

[ergoxxulous]

Thank you

[PocketSized]

The question on everyones toughs... did you eat the brains? =P
Nice Instructable. I'm hungry now.

[ergoxxulous]

I wanted to eat them, but the texture turned me off... Thanks