Whole Pig BBQ

Over drinks, some friends and I, decided we want to cook an entire pig.

We have enough room and cinder blocks for this:

https://bbq.tamu.edu/2013/12/02/cinder-block-pit/

My one friend is a chef so she is leading the flavor side of things but no one has actually BBQed a whole pig before. And I am tasked with making the pit!

We are thinking of using a smaller pig 50 to 75 lbs max. How big of a tray should I make? What type of steel should I make it out of? 

We would rather have a tray to catch all the drippings rather than loosing all of that through an expanded metal rack.

Imbue me with your knowledge. Opinions and questions too.

Did one on a huge tow behind propane fired grill. We didnt do anything really to flavor it. Just let it cook in its own fat. Cooked on expanded metal if i remember right, no drip tray. Either way, it came out awesome. 

I'm going to need directions to your house.

I've helped roast a couple on wood fired versions of the trailer grill TJL mentioned. Again, on perforated metal. You want the drippings to fall through. One, if the pig sits in the puddle of fat it will never crisp the way it should. Two, the drippings getting into the fire and burning off helps give you some of the smoky flavor. Three, a whole pig makes a LOT of grease.

One of the ones I worked with used a section of OLD wire farm fencing strapped around poles that made an envelope around the pig. It made it a lot easier to flip the whole porker without drama. Just watch out for painted or galvanized fence.

I've really been thinking about building a block cooker in my back yard like you're talking about. I'd like to try that method.

One other tip - one of the guys used a separate burn barrel to make coals to feed the grill. Metal barrel with the top cut off and an opening cut in the bottom of one side that you can stick a flat shovel in.  You start a fire in the barrel and keep it fed while shoveling coals out the bottom into the grill throughout the cooking run. Of course, that's if you're using hardwood.

I always cook pigs on the smaller side, 25# tops. Here is how I do it, slightly different that what you are looking at but might give you some ideas:

Another way, I cook both small pigs and lambs this way:

i like the word "imbue".  You just don't see it used often enough.

In reply to Slippery :

Ok, that's another method I want to try. That's really common in southern South America, right? Ever since I saw it on some netflix show I've been dying to give it a run.

In reply to ultraclyde :

Correct. I am from Argentina, not sure if other countries do the same. 

I have been meaning to build a nice rig but always end up last minute at Home Depot buying metal and putting something together to just get it done. 

In the 1980’s I went to one and we stood around and drank all night and would walk over and the grillmeister would slice you off a hot piece of meat.  

My buddy was convinced we were going to get sick from all the pork we ate including some of it probably undercooked.  One of my better memories of food.

Also, notice how the coals are distributed on my first pics. The quarters need most of the heat, not as much in the middle. 

We usually have a pile of wood that we burn on the side and that wood become the coals we use. 

You will need quite a bit of wood. 

In reply to Slippery :

When you do that crucifixion method, do you use a counter weight or is the angle of the stand enough to hold it up?

In reply to RevRico :

I usually just stick the metal rod into the ground and its good enough. Last time I made a quick rig to make it easier to flip the pig. The one I made I copied of one I found online, you could adjust the angle and flip it easily. Let me see if I have some pics. 

Here:

In reply to Slippery :

I like that a lot, might have to piece something together.

Sorry for pulling the thread of Ross, when I cook whole pig it's on a rotisserie beside a charcoal fire most of the time. Done a few over coals on expanded metal and it come out pretty good, more maintenance intensive, more chance of flare ups to keep an eye on.

One thing I'll suggest that I haven't personally tried yet, is to wrap the pig in the metal, makes flipping much look much easier, plus all those diamond grooves of crispy delicious skin, which lets face it, is the biggest reason for doing a whole hog.

RevRico said:

crispy delicious skin, which lets face it, is the biggest reason for doing a whole hog.

My wife is Puerto Rican and when her mom cooks pork, its all about that chicharon. They know im gonna eat way too much of it. So berkin good. 

So no one sides on the tray but rather the expanded metal... interesting.

So with the fire at one end of the cinder block method, the skin should still get crispy, right?

I think if you use direct heat - like slippery's block layout - you get crispy skin. If you only have fire at one end I think it would be more like slow smoking it and it might not get crispy.  But I'll defer to the more experienced. 

RossD said:

So no one sides on the tray but rather the expanded metal... interesting.

So with the fire at one end of the cinder block method, the skin should still get crispy, right?

With the fire on one end, you should be rotating the pig to cook more evenly. Should crisp it up just fine. 

You don't want the pig sitting in it's own juices during the cook.. Since you'll be having the fire on one side instead of direct, you could put a tray to catch the drippings under the expanded metal, like a couple inches below if you really want them for whatever, but there's going to be a LOT of grease. 

In reply to RevRico :

I think that is how I will have to do it. I watched a friend's dad cook a pig and he had it in a tray. Drunk dipping pork in the "sauce" was amazing! The next morning seeing that it was just fat, was a revelation. 

Well now I feel better about using expanded metal. I will just use some catch pans below it.

Eat the cheek meat, thank me later.

I am designing a brick fire pit to pig specifications.  I have had a number of those beer induced pig roasting discussions.

Threadjack in action:

A family friend's father had a neighbor whose child had been vandalizing homes and cars around the neighborhood. The boy was only about eight years old, but was off to a bad start.

My friend was getting married. In preparation for the reception, one of his friends was roasting a goat in the backyard.  The aforementioned child arrived, and asked what was staked next to the fire.

The cook was a recent immigrant from Greece, and his use of English was marginal. He replied, "It is keed." 

The vandalizing stopped.

At The Carman Family Hog Roast ( First WE of Oct.) It's a 3 Day affair One on a Spit Over Flames and one in the Ground. 35 year Next I Believe, They Cook big Pigs for 24 hrs.

In-laws are from Cebu. They are known for there pig roasts. The Pinoy always use a spit. The attachment of the pig to the pole varies  from wrapping it in chicken wire fencing to just wrapping it with wire. The spikes and what not on commercial spits do not seem to work well.  One friend or ours made a contraption using the metal grates that were somehow bolted together with the pig in the middle and the post with the pig. (Drinking was involved that day so I did not take notes). 

Anyway pig roasts are for special occasions and celebrations.  We often start at 3:00 in the morning getting the fire pit ready. Cooking is underway by 4:00-4:30. Beer and other drink is often used to bast the pig along with so other family moping sauce that doubles as a dipping sauce later. The goal is to have the pig ready for the mid afternoon party. The fuel used is good old charcoal and chunk charcoal. You need much more than you think. I tend to purchase it on line or Costco.  Wood fired coals are better but much more work. We sometimes will have a second fire setup to that we take the coals from and add to the fire as the pig cooks but the primary fuel is charcoal.

Basically all the guys sit around a drink beer and take turns keeping the pig rotating. Drinks card games and other stuff is all part of the party/cooking experience. 

Crispy skin is the coveted part along with the cheeks.  

Between the sauce (Pinot/Asian) that the thing is basted in and the open pit cooking it is pig like you have never had.  

We have every now and then made a rotisserie with bike chains and gears and a old electric motor. Those only seem to last one roast for some reason. 

In Cebu (where my wife is from) they call it “lechon”.  It is absolutely amazing. The Philippine community have here have brought the tradition here and it is the most amazing pig you will ever eat.  

Keep the stories a comin'.