How Do You Roast a Pig for Your Special Event?

Roast a Pig & Make it Stand Out in Your Family Gatherings

Posted on July 20, 2011 by admin

Summer gatherings are great events and this can be a wonderfulopportunity to bond the family together especially during weekends.

This year marked the fifth pig we put on the roaster and it certainly was one of the best. Here are a few things to remember to roast a pig:

Things to Prepare for Your Pig Roast

1. A pig, properly prepared for roasting.
2. A pig roaster
3. Charcoal
4. Some leather gloves.
5. A cutting board and sharp knives.
6. BBQ Sauce.
7. Time

I buy my pig for my event and the store from where I always buy has done all the work for me. This year we ordered an 80 lb. pig, which is in the small to medium size range. It yields about 30 – 40 pounds of meat, which will feed about sixty-five people. The pig comes wrapped, packaged and frozen. Thawing is not an issue, but the key is you need to be sure it is totally thawed before you put it on the roaster.

We rent a pig roaster for the weekend. It is built on a frame with wheels so we are able to take it with us to where we want to set up for the event. The grill we use is a rotisserie type and engineered for error free roasting. It has a slide out tray for the charcoal, a large drip pan that moves the grease fat to a retaining bowl and most important, a spit with holding rods to keep the pig in place while it turns during the cooking cycle. The ½ horsepower electric motor works great to keep the rotation at a perfect pace. I am told that a flat roasting grill works well too, but I prefer to roast a pig on a roasting spit.

How to Roast a Pig for Your Event

Plan to use 40 – 60 pounds of charcoal. This year we paid a little more and bought hardwood briquettes, rather than the regular charcoal. The result was worth the small difference in cost. We used less product and had a hotter cooking element. Load the holding tray and leave the briquettes outside the grill to catch fire. During the 15 minutes it takes for the fire to take hold we put the pig on the spill and secured the holding rods. It’s a two-man job to hoist and roast a pig onto the roaster. Once in place, start the motor on the rotisserie, slide the charcoal try into the roaster and shut the hood.

Now comes the hard part. Do Not Open the Hood until you are ready to take an internal temperature reading. In our case, with an 80 lb. pig, that is 6 and ½ hours later.

Finalizing the Process of Your Roast Pig

A couple of pairs of leather gloves will allow you to pull out the charcoal try about three hours into the cooking cycle so you can add more fuel to the fire tray. When the internal temperature of the shoulder or hind quarter reaches 160 degrees you are ready to remove the pig to a cutting table. Let it rest for a time and you are ready for cutting and serving. Be careful with this step because the internal temperature of the meat makes it hot to handle. We have learned that a pair of rubber gloves comes in handy. Some carving is required, but for the most part, once you cut the crispy skin away most of the meat will fall off the bone since its tender.

To make your job easier, I strongly recommend you purchase the the number one all in one roasting equipment that you can find in the market today. La Caja China Roasting Box is a rotisserie, a spit roaster and a pit smoker in one! You cook almost everything from vegetables, chickens, turkeys, lambs and one whole pig. Your roasting event will never be the same again. Made from high-end materials and engineered by roasting experts, this piece of fine equipment isguaranteed durable. So purchase the best ever roasting box and roast a pignow!