Cinder block Pit

[Steve R.]

You, sir, are The Man! That sounds like a great meal and a great time.

[tbob4]

Welcome from Northern CA. That's a fantastic pit, house and surroundings.

[Steve Carmichael]

Sorry for the delay everyone...Yesterday was a bit of a write off, lol. So here is how the event went:

Friday: I had to use a hatchet and hammer to split the spine and remove the spinal cord.
Friday night: She spent the night in an ice bath with 3 cups of apple cider vinegar

0600: Started the chimney (I used Royal Oak Briquettes)
0630: Got the hog outta the bathtub and washed her down, rubbed her all over with 4 cups of Kosher Salt then 1 cup of Memphis Dust on the meat. I then injected about 4 cups of MH brine-mainly in the hams and shoulders.
0730: Pit was running at 240 and we put her on. I had kept 2 vents open and 2 vents closed for most of the day.
0730-1300: Pit temp was maintained closer to 225 but internal temp was rising nicely, almost a little too fast (more on that later)
1300: After scrambling around to find help, myself and 3 others flipped the hog (I didn't build a stretcher, just handles that I could screw on and off (galvanized) of the expanded metal easily. Not the big reveal as there wasn't many people at my house yet, some family that was already staying saved my butt!
1500: Keg was tapped - had a beer, people started arriving and the musician began playing some great tunes
1530: Hams hit 187. Sh*t. I blocked the other 2 vents off as well and dropped the temp to 195 and it held there until 5pm.
1715: Lifted the lids off (slowly) in front of 40 people circling around. Removed the top layer of cinder blocks and screwed the handles back on and carried her over to the picnic table.

Let me tell you, She was delicious! The skin was golden brown and crispy! I started off using tongs but then just started ripping away with my hands. I dug into the hams first and mixed the meat with all the juices that were lingering inside the rib cage. Then moved on to serving people the bacon, rib and shoulder meat.
We served about 60 adults and a number of kids although there were hotdogs for the kids too. A lot of people had 2nds and I saved the tenderloins and cheeks for myself. After picking off all the meat I was left with about 10 lbs of meat still.

Everyone loved the hog, even a lady who never had eaten pork in her entire life tried some and enjoyed it!

The music went till about 0130 and the firepit went till about 0400. And we finished the keg with ease

A long and fantastic day filled with bocce, corn hole toss, and a horseshoe tournament. there was treasure hunts for the kids and a lot of popcorn was made later in the evening that the adults enjoyed as much as the kids.

OneEyedJack All together I only burned through 45lbs of briquettes. I used a weber chimney starter and dumped the coals directly onto my fireplace dustpan (is that what you call it?). This worked great because it's small enough to fit through the cinderblock and long enough to reach in with no issues. I ended up adding a full chimney every hour or so. It was easy to get the temp up to 250 but the hog was cooking faster than I expected so I tried to keep it around 220-225.

I don't think I will change a thing next year (except maybe put the Hog on at 0800 and get an extra hour of sleep for the big day)

[Advantage49]

Awesome man!! Here in WI we stuff the belly with brats and chicken quarters for a side meal. This looks tasty!

[tbob4]

Those are some great photos. We have a member from South America who posts fun group photos as well as fantastic photos from PaulstheRibList. Keep the posts coming. I love seeing the big feed posts. People are always smiling in them.

[Spinaker]

Great Work! And you got that crispy skin and succulent pork!

Awesome write up!

What a view!

[HorseDoctor]

Looks awesome! Next time put an apple in it's mouth and a couple grapes in the eye sockets. That's always a crowd pleaser! Congrats on a great Job!

[FireMan]

Victory! Great pics! Best one's were the big group shots!

[Steve Carmichael]

Thanks everyone,

Couldn't have pulled it off without the help from Meathead and this website.

Cheers!

[OneEyedJack]

Very cool! I may have missed it, but in what part of the country (world) did you hold this event?

[Steve Carmichael]

Just south of Calgary Alberta, a little hamlet called De Winton

[OneEyedJack]

Beautiful!

[gcdmd]

It sounds like a grand time was had by all. Congratulations on a great cook and a fantastic party.

[Obi-Dan]

What a great event. Thanks for sharing this with us. Is there anything better than quality time spent with friends and family.

[gcdmd]

Nope

[Locotech]

Excellent job man, looks great. Northern Ontario here, welcome to the pit.

[troymeister]

Wow...What a cool party!!

[Stevo]

Great photos. Thanks for sharing!