This past weekend I hosted my first ever pig roast. For the occasion I ordered a 50lb pig from a farm and rented a rotisserie spit. Upon picking up the pig, it turned out to be a 45lber. I picked him up Friday covered him with a nice layer of salt and then wrapped him back up in a big garbage bag and put him on ice.
I intended to inject the pig a marinade but unfortunately work got in the way and I just ran out of time. The next morning despite a forecast of rain, we got started around 8:45am. After resalting and rubbing the pig with MMD, it went on the spit around 9:45. 45 min of rain (or about 10 min of rain before we could get a canopy up) set up back a bit but then it was smooth sailing. The pig took about 5 hours to cook. I tried to bump up the heat at the end to get the skin crispy but was having trouble getting the temp up. All the used charcoal piled up an incredible amount of ash and I think that inhibited the airflow and prevented the coals from getting really hot. I wasn't prepared for that amount of ash so was caught off-guard (I should've known better but never used 50-60lbs of charcoal) with not many good options. If I do it again, I'll either be prepared to dispose of the ash or use lump charcoal vs. the KBB I was using
That being said, the meat was good and tender and cooked well. We crisped up some of the skin and the ears on a gas grill. Favorite parts were the ribs and the tenderloin. I pulled it/chopped it by hand and mixed it with a vinegar sauce. I also made a KC style sauce for those that don't dig the vinegar stuff. Also made mustard slaw, regular cole slaw and pickled jalapenos along with potato rolls. I probably ate most of it while standing over the table cutting it up but a bun with some chopped pork, mustard slaw and pickled jalapenos was my second preferred serving method.
Really fun time and not bad for my first attempt. Will likely do it again but maybe go the Caja China route as I couldn't get a ton of rub on the legs/hams as the pig wasn't split open fully, so it was hard to really rub it down.
I intended to inject the pig a marinade but unfortunately work got in the way and I just ran out of time. The next morning despite a forecast of rain, we got started around 8:45am. After resalting and rubbing the pig with MMD, it went on the spit around 9:45. 45 min of rain (or about 10 min of rain before we could get a canopy up) set up back a bit but then it was smooth sailing. The pig took about 5 hours to cook. I tried to bump up the heat at the end to get the skin crispy but was having trouble getting the temp up. All the used charcoal piled up an incredible amount of ash and I think that inhibited the airflow and prevented the coals from getting really hot. I wasn't prepared for that amount of ash so was caught off-guard (I should've known better but never used 50-60lbs of charcoal) with not many good options. If I do it again, I'll either be prepared to dispose of the ash or use lump charcoal vs. the KBB I was using
That being said, the meat was good and tender and cooked well. We crisped up some of the skin and the ears on a gas grill. Favorite parts were the ribs and the tenderloin. I pulled it/chopped it by hand and mixed it with a vinegar sauce. I also made a KC style sauce for those that don't dig the vinegar stuff. Also made mustard slaw, regular cole slaw and pickled jalapenos along with potato rolls. I probably ate most of it while standing over the table cutting it up but a bun with some chopped pork, mustard slaw and pickled jalapenos was my second preferred serving method.
Really fun time and not bad for my first attempt. Will likely do it again but maybe go the Caja China route as I couldn't get a ton of rub on the legs/hams as the pig wasn't split open fully, so it was hard to really rub it down.
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