Pig on a Spit?

[Fents]

heres the lamb...

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Dont forget to stiff the cavitey, tie it up and score the skin.

Nothing like a good stiffy in the cavity.....tied up or otherwise.

 

[Mercs Own]

Thanks gents for the feedback! I guess it is one of those things....once you have done it you know what not and what to do again?! I guess main thing is tie it bloody well. Just wondering how to keep the coals going for that long ie add new ones to the old to keep them ticking over?

 

[Mercs Own]

heres the lamb...

awesome!

 

[Fents]

yep just add handfulls throughout the day. one rule of thumb i sort of use is if you can hold your hand under the meat for longer than 5-6 secs then you need more heat.

 

[Scottsrx]

My tip is fill it with apples. It adds so much to the flavour of pork and it also keeps it nice and moist.

 

[jimmy86]

And don't use pumpkin to stuff it, messy messy times.
No matter how well you tie it up

 

[Not For Horses]

We had a 30kg pig on a spit for Launceston brew club Oktoberfest last year. We did it over a wood fire.
Fed probably 20 or 30 with a fair bit left over although we did have quite a few pretzels and 10kg of sauerkraut. Plus wheat beers are surprisingly filling.
My two biggest things would be tie the bloody thing down. Tight. With wire. Like it's going to kill you if it gets loose.
Secondly, if you're using a wood fire, keep a side fire going elsewhere and shovel in coals from time to time. Makes it so much easier to maintain constant fire under the pig whilst being able to burn down bigger chunks of timber plus you can pretend you're camping.
For those playing along at home, our pig was a free range wessex saddleback fattened on cheese offcuts. The most delicious thing I have ever eaten.
That's me carving it up.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

heres the lamb...

I had a similar setup for holding the back legs. Bit of Uni-strut and a couple of muffler clamps. Worked well.

 

[indica86]

For those playing along at home, our pig was a free range wessex saddleback fattened on cheese offcuts. The most delicious thing I have ever eaten.
That's me carving it up.

Nice, looks like the boys there enjoyed it too!

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Just wondering how to keep the coals going for that long ie add new ones to the old to keep them ticking over?

A side fire is a good idea as a backup.

If you put smallish peices on regularly then you shouldnt have a problem, Its a bit like how long is a peice of string.

One thing you dont want is to run out of wood/coals. Be prepared as things can go south quickly if you run out

 

[Lincoln2]

+1 for a separate fire to burn the wood down to coals and then shovel under the beast.

I've done a few and I doubt I'll ever do one again. Just biggish chunks rather than a whole beast. It's a major job.

 

[tugger]

For pork I cup of mummasitas bbq marinade and 1 cup of sprite, add a load of garlic and 3 tablespoons of white vinegar 3 tablespoons olive oil.
If you like spicy add as much chilli as you can handle.
Rub it in everywhere and mop it all over in the last 30 min to get the sprite to caramelise.
I even inject it in the meaty bits and the ribs.

 

[Mercs Own]

Pig on the spit went off very well with out any huge problem at all - So thanks to all for the advice. I was a little disappointed to pick up the pig and find it was a rather anorexic looking 23 kilo pig so I bought a 5 kilo rolled pork loin just in case - and glad I did.

Stuffed cavity with halved apples, lemons, brown onions and sage then sowed it up. Rubbed pig and loin with olive oil and lots of salt. Cooked pork loin on webber took about 2 hours.

Set side fire so I could move coals around and have back up when needed.

Pig took about 3 .5 hours to cook with the exception of the deeper parts of the rump which I couldn't serve as they weren't cooked enough although the top part certainly was. Probably lost 1 - 2 kilos of meat because of that. Next time I will adjust temp by moving coals and cook the rump end longer than head end then cook evenly over the coals so as the whole pig is cooked through more evenly and at same time.

pig on spit pigs

 

[Mercs Own]

and a couple more




Pig served on soft baps with home made slaw and smoky BBQ sauce - delish!!!

 

[PaleRider]

Looks great + a nice selection of beers as well. :icon_drool2:

The crackle on that loin is amazing.... can I ask, what's your method?

Cheers.

 

[zeggie]

The crackle on that loin is amazing.... can I ask, what's your method?

I second that notion

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Love the ice bucket

 

[Mercs Own]

method for the loin: buy a good loin from your butcher with a nice amount of fat on it. As my butcher said if there is no fat under the skin there will be no crackle. I got my butcher to roll it for me Fire up the webber - fill each basket to the top with heat beads, light and then once the flames are out pull each basket to either side and put lid on so heat beads can get up to temp. Generously and lovingly rub loin with good olive oil and lots of good salt - I used Himalayan pink salt. Place loin in middle of webber skin side up - indirect heat as either basket of coals is to either side. Put lid on and leave for 2 hours or until cooked. Of course people are always looking under the lid!!!!! Cooked when the internal temp is 68 - 72 degrees c.

Basically oil salt put on webber and leave it alone - cant get any simpler!

 

[1974Alby]

now Im hungry!