Need to find out how to cook a pig in a pit or in the ground?!
Need to find out how to cook a pig in a pit or in the ground?
Answers:
How to Pit Cook a Pig on this site -- http://www.osb.net/pomona/pigpitcooking....
also here -- http://www.recipeusa.org/pork%20and%20sp...
http://www.primitiveways.com/imu1.html...
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/458-001...
Pit Roasting a Pig
A pig that is 75 to 200 pounds live weight can be cooked by either of two methods: on a rotisserie over a low fire, or on screens or rods over a low fire with hand turning of the pig.
For cooking on a rotisserie, use a pit of adequate size with windscreens to prevent the ashes from blowing and to reduce heat loss. The drive motor should be large enough to ensure proper turning. Do not split the pig into halves. Secure the carcass to the drive rod with wire and skewers so that it will not slip off during cooking. The carcass should be 12 to 18 inches above the fire and should be basted with liquid to prevent the meat from drying during cooking. A low to medium fire (coals only) is recommended and cooking time will be six to eight hours for a 40-pound carcass, and 12 to 14 hours for a 120-pound carcass. Use a meat thermo-meter to determine doneness (165 degrees F) underneath the shoulder blade or in the center of the ham. Remove the meat from the fire and add any other sauces or seasonings after slicing.
The second method is to cook the pig over an open pit with the carcass on a wire screen or with long rods run through the pig. This requires the pig to be split in half down the backbone. The pit should be 16 inches deep, and constructed of two layers of concrete block. The pit should be 12 inches longer than the pig (about five feet). The concrete block will support the screen handles or rods. An area 40 inches wide is required to allow room on each side of the pig. If screens are used, construct them from half-inch pipe covered with a hardware screen of one-inch mesh. If rods are used, two half-inch solid rods are run lengthwise down each side with three 3/8-inch rods run across the pig through the ham, middle and shoulder. The rods should be wired to the larger rods to prevent the carcass from slipping and falling off during cooking. Turn the carcass by placing one screen on top of the other, grasping both handles and inverting quickly. A minimum of three screens is required. Screens can also be used for chicken halves. Start cooking the pig with the bone side down. Cook in this position for at least 30 minutes, then baste and turn. The carcass will require frequent basting and turning to prevent drying and charring, and turning should be done more frequently as the meat becomes done. Be sure to check doneness with a meat thermometer (160 degrees F) in the thickest portion.
The meat should be carved while hot by slicing across the muscle fibers. Thin cuts can be de-boned and minced, and excess fat should be removed. Add barbecue sauce and stir.
A portable grill can be used for barbecuing, with gas, mod or charcoal as the heat source. Portable grills work well when cooking for groups of up to 150 people.
Enjoy! ~-~
first get yourself a pig then
Their is a traditional Hawaian method of under/in ground cooking called imu. Quick explanation is you dig a pit deep enough to accomodate the pig as well as a "lining" of lava rocks. You then build a fire in this lava rock lined pit and keep it burning for several hours to heat the rocks. Then the embers are removed from the pit and the pit is lined with banana tree stumps and ti leaves. The pig is then placed in the pit and covered with several layers of wet burlap. Following the burlap several more layers of banana and ti leaves are placed on top of the pit and it is then covered with dirt. After an appropriate amount of time (I could probably find out how long if I really tried to) the pit is then "un-earthed" and the pig is then cut up and shredded. This type of pig is referred to as "Kalua".