Author Topic: Pig Roast (Pics) (Read 25687 times)

@RCHER · « **on:** February 14, 2009, 11:33:51 PM »

A couple years ago, I learned of the "Three Guys From Miami" style of roasting a pig and decided to give it a try. With a few adjustments here and there, it's worked out for us and should for a long time to come.

I won't go into a lot of detail here, since the web site is chock full of step-by-step instruction and helpful tips. Site URL: http://cuban-christmas.com/pigroast.html

We started off by locating a pig rancher that had smaller butcher pigs from 50 to 100 pounds that hadn't been given worming medication within the past 2 weeks.

Dispatch: A ball bat and a boning knife later...

Hair removal: They've got a lot more hair than you might think. You'll want to burn it off. A little propane torch worked well.

Cutting: After a good cool down, it's ready to be split

The site has good information about splitting to butterfly, but here are some detail shots to help clarify.

Just some gently tapping on the sharp clever with the wood mallot was perfect.

Just cut through everything but a little flesh and the skin on the bottom side.

Seasoning: Here's where I got creative and rolled with my own spices and herbs. Mostly gobs of garlic cloves, olive oil, Cavender's, Johnny's, Sea salt, and prime rib rub.

I made a rub out of the mix and a thinner injectable version.

After injecting the marinade and rubbing it down, we wired the pig between the two grids. As they mention, this is so that you can flip the pig afer about 2-3 hours. Also, prior to placing the pig on the pit, the coals should be ready and moved into the corners.

Oven prep: Here we are following their recommendations and covering with aluminum foil. We were really trying to seal it up good, since one of the alterations I made was to add alder chips for a bit more of a smokey flavoring.

Let's Eat! It's hard to describe how tender the meat was. Too tender might be one way. It was awesome, but we probably could have cooked it hotter and longer to let more of the moisture out - a bit.

Overall, this was a great way to cook a pig. It's something we can re-use again and again, and continue to modify for other meats and cooking methods. I've even been thinking of turninig it into a large smoker. The bricks are cheap and you can use so many things as the cooking surface.

Take a read through their site. I'm sure you'll appreciate their cooking style and have fun with it on your own.

@RCHER · « **Reply #1 on:** February 14, 2009, 11:34:56 PM »

more...

addicted · « **Reply #2 on:** February 14, 2009, 11:45:05 PM »

That looks awesome

I'm gonna talk to my revier owner about putting together that set up where we're at.

Michelle_Nelson · « **Reply #3 on:** February 14, 2009, 11:45:40 PM »

Daing man that looks good!

Did you do that at your house?

@RCHER · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2009, 11:57:57 PM »

Thanks Addicted. It's really slick.

Hi Michelle. No, I didn't have enough to share with all of Bellevue, so we kept this one rural.

WAPITIHUNTER · « **Reply #5 on:** February 15, 2009, 06:22:54 AM »

That looks sooooo good. MMM MMM MMM. I love meat. Meat Meat Meat. AHHHHHHHHH!

luvtohnt · « **Reply #6 on:** February 15, 2009, 08:12:23 AM »

Where I grew up in Wyoming they had a party every year called the Green River Rendevous, to re-enact the fur trade. They would cook 16 beef quarters like that, the only difference was they buried them for like 28 hours. OH so GOOD!!

Brandon

wrangler · « **Reply #7 on:** February 15, 2009, 08:38:13 AM »

thats so bad ass!

Jason · « **Reply #8 on:** February 15, 2009, 01:37:56 PM »

Oh man thats looks awesome!!!

robb92 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 17, 2009, 01:36:10 AM »

Looks good thanks for the info and link, e-mailed it home for the wife to read.

@RCHER · « **Reply #10 on:** February 17, 2009, 12:55:56 PM »

Thanks all. I'm making a few mods for this spring, but it really works slick, and it's a pretty cheap build. If you have the space to just leave it once installed, then you can cook just about anything on it.

I've done the pit style and big rented BBQ grills and this was every bit as tender and flavorful as any other way I've done it. Like I said, we cooked it till done, but it was so tender that some folks didn't like it and thought it was still raw. So, this next time it's a bit hotter and longer on the heat.

I'm gonna toss some other game and bison meat on there next go-round.

luvtohnt, you reminded me of the annual Yellowstone River Boat Float we used to attend and help organize in MT growing up. I lived in Reedpoint at the time.

NRA4LIFE · « **Reply #11 on:** February 17, 2009, 01:06:16 PM »

Ohhhhhhh Baby! The ol' Spanfurkel. Takes me back to my college days. That looks awesome. We used to do something very similar on my grandparents farm, but with the chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys that we raised. Oh so yummy. My dad and uncle would split them just like that.

One question, did you have to buy any special heat resistant cinder blocks to contruct that? I have been wanting to build an outdoor setup forever like that.

@RCHER · « **Reply #12 on:** February 18, 2009, 09:54:48 AM »

Right on! No, I just bought the cheepo blocks. It doesn't get super hot. It's a slow cook with the charcoal. About 6 hours for this pig. I partially burried the first layer of bricks to retain heat, and just rebar for the grid.

Part of my mods are to build the grid and block arrangement so that the grid sits inside and below the top of the blocks. So I can use an aluminum sheet as a lid. Should be more heat efficient and easier to open and move meat around.

Yeah, I'm excited to try the waterfowl, turkey, etc...

Wea300mag · « **Reply #13 on:** February 18, 2009, 04:18:04 PM »

I've been to a few pig roasts, they are hard to beat. That little bugger looks tasty.

bowsandhose · « **Reply #14 on:** February 18, 2009, 04:22:30 PM »

bucklucky · « **Reply #15 on:** February 18, 2009, 04:23:10 PM »

Poor Little piggy

Skyvalhunter · « **Reply #16 on:** February 18, 2009, 04:23:51 PM »

Very very nice

bigdave · « **Reply #17 on:** February 18, 2009, 07:55:49 PM »

You cooked the curl right out of his tail!!

mmmmmm, crunchy

rasbo · « **Reply #18 on:** February 21, 2009, 08:20:11 AM »

I help with two pigs a year,we have a spit and cook them with alder.usally a 240 lb pig love it..what ya got going there looks very tasty.

@RCHER · « **Reply #19 on:** May 24, 2009, 08:01:47 PM »

Well, it's that time of year for us again and thought I'd bump this one. For those looking for a good starter kit or just love a good chunk of pork, give this one a try!

Cheers!

BLKBEARKLR · « **Reply #20 on:** May 24, 2009, 09:31:40 PM »

Wow thanks for bumping this one up, might have to try that one out.

NW-GSP · « **Reply #21 on:** May 25, 2009, 12:05:43 PM »

you might want to line the cinder blocks with firebrick, they keep the cinder blocks from cracking. I work in sales for stone and brick thats just my advice. looks great though, I just bought a barbeque/smoker and am loving it

gasman · « **Reply #22 on:** June 03, 2009, 06:15:08 PM »

I may try this next week. We are having a Graduation party for my son and i promised him a pig roast for the graduation party. I will be getting about a 70lb pig.

But i think i am going t dig a hole in the ground and put a single layer of bricks around it to keep it abouve the ground.

How deep should i dig the pit for the coals?
How long should i allow for cooking time?

Thanks for the advise.

Pete

@RCHER · « **Reply #23 on:** June 07, 2009, 10:16:08 PM »

I'll jump in here, Pete... Although I haven't done it your way before, I would say the same general rules apply.

1) meat should probably be about 12-15 inches up off the coals.
2) coals not too hot to start off - slow cook like a roast.
3) have a way to cover it with the foil - to keep the hot air circulating around in there.
4) should take about 4-5 hours to cook. Depending on the fire and size of pig.

~ Good eats

dp1175 · « **Reply #24 on:** June 07, 2009, 10:38:41 PM »

would filling the voids in the bricks with sand help retain some of the heat. i would think that you would have some heat loss in the voids in the bricks.i really like the idea of doing this. i think my wife would be upset if i swiped the blocks out from under her chicken and duck pens to do it

@RCHER · « **Reply #25 on:** June 08, 2009, 02:02:42 PM »

My intention has been to pack sand down through the holes, like you've mentioned. If it was going to be a permanent deal and you were going try a bunch of different cooking methods and temps, you should probably also heed GSP's recommendations and use heat safe bricks and maybe even fill the holes with crete or mortar and rebar for support.

Then you can always counter-sink the rack and build a lid that seals better than the foil and rocks. Or even build a steel reflective box along the inside walls to reflect and seal even better. Or try flipping a bottom bick on it's side for air holes, or heck, build a smoke box out of a few more bricks that butts up against the air holes that pushes smoke into the cook box. Lot's of fun stuff to try. Anything beyond a pig on a stick over an open fire would be a bonus.

This really isn't a hot cook. It's a long and slow method that is great for tender, smoky, juicy cooking. Like I mentioned earlier, you can experiment to your heart's content. But no requirement to over-think this one. When you go low-temp, you don't break stuff or stress things out too bad.

Fortunately, these blocks are cheap and sometimes free on craigslist. Remember, the deeper you dig the hole, the fewer bricks to buy!

257 Wby Mag · « **Reply #26 on:** June 15, 2010, 10:01:07 AM »

Anybody else give this a wirl? Gonna try it out in a few weeks.

oldcamper · « **Reply #27 on:** July 10, 2010, 10:56:00 AM »

Was that charcole in the pit or wood?

Wea300mag · « **Reply #28 on:** July 28, 2010, 08:26:58 PM »

We are going to have a pig roast on Aug 7, I can taste it already.

rasbo · « **Reply #29 on:** July 29, 2010, 04:18:12 AM »

looks good,I will be doing one the 2nd week in aug,heres the set up on that

@RCHER · « **Reply #30 on:** August 16, 2010, 11:55:32 PM »

Wow, is it summer 2010? How's the pig cookin been going? Here's the next volunteer in a couple weeks. At just over 100lbs, she's about as big as my brick pit can manage.

whitey · « **Reply #31 on:** August 17, 2010, 06:11:45 AM »

@RCHER
Should I bring My cooker over

Thats a real nice hog.
Look forward to seeing the hog on the pit.

@RCHER · « **Reply #32 on:** August 28, 2010, 12:48:18 PM »

Man, Thanksgiving eatin's got nothing over these porker BBQs. My system is finally getting back to normal.

This time we lowered the pig down to the heat by one layer of bricks and bumped up the heat considerably.
1) Day before...split the pig down the center to butterfly open on the grill, and poked about 60 garlic cloves into the meat - NOT from the skin side, you don't want any holes in the skin or it will rip open during cooking.
2) Created the marinade/rub to be injected into the meat the night before:
- fresh minced garlic cloves (used food processor and the large bag of peeled garlic from Costco)
- mixed 4 cups orange juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and Cavender's Greek Seasoning
- Injected about half into the large muscle groups (hams, shoulders, backstraps (through the ribs) and then let the rest sit in the fridge over night.
2) Started a good charcoal and alder log fire by 5AM.
3) Let the fire burn down to coals with almost no flame at all. Then divided the coals into four even groups and moved into each corner of the BBQ pit.
4) Tied the pig into the steel grid and rubbed the skin side with sea salt and the remaining marinade onto the meat side.
5) We placed Mr. Pig onto the pit and covered with the sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil and pinned the edges down with logs and rocks to keep the heat in.
6) Finally, after flipping a couple times, by 2:00 we were ready to start diving in.

Cooking hot and closer to the fire was the ticket. As long as there aren't any flames, the skin stays golden brown and ends up crispy like a pig-tato-chip. And the meat was fall-off the bone, juicy, fatty...

boneaddict · « **Reply #33 on:** August 28, 2010, 12:51:12 PM »

That looks flat Tasty. Baby hound pics today. A meal fit for any king and some antlered game. Tis heaven today on here. making my workday go by fast.

Wea300mag · « **Reply #34 on:** August 29, 2010, 08:58:51 PM »

That makes me hungry and I just ate dinner not long ago.

carpsniperg2 · « **Reply #35 on:** August 29, 2010, 09:03:35 PM »

that looks great

mulehunter · « **Reply #36 on:** August 29, 2010, 09:06:53 PM »

Delicous!!! I just killed 3 Pigs last month. AMAZING Taste! Organic! LOVE IT!!!! With our Raise Chicken Egg YUMMY!!!

Mulehunter

NW-GSP · « **Reply #37 on:** February 27, 2011, 10:21:15 AM »

could always line the pit with fire brick, all you do is stack them up next to the cinder blocks and it keeps them from cracking and splitting from the heat. I use to work for a masonry supply company and worked for a stone mason for a few months.

dirty24d · « **Reply #38 on:** February 27, 2011, 11:24:20 AM »

me wants sooome!!

I've had this link for awhile if anyone is interested there is good info in it from ordering pigs to cooking as well.

http://www.askthemeatman.com/roasting_a_whole_hog_in_3_steps.htm

sneakyjake · « **Reply #39 on:** May 09, 2011, 11:35:31 AM »

Is your rebar stainless? I almost went with this method, but my wife wanted to watch the pig spin.

Hornseeker · « **Reply #40 on:** May 13, 2011, 07:23:13 AM »

Dam this thread is brutal! I have to build a good fire pit I can do chit like this with!!!

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Author Topic: Pig Roast (Pics) (Read 25687 times)

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