does anyone know how to roast a whole pig? my family was thinking about having a pig roast for thanksgiving but nobody knows quite how to go about doing it. also, if you have any ideas on where to get the pig id love to hear it. we live in the north western suburbs (almost) of chicago

thank you

-- sergius (mlbldontkn@aol.com), October 30, 2000

Answers

if there are no farmers around that have pigs,, you can go to a slaughter house and order it. As for cooking,, slow and LONG,, a good size pig will take at least a full day

-- STAN (sopal@net-port.com), October 30, 2000.

Hey Sergius! Sure I know how to roast a whole hog. It isn't hard but you need to determine just how you wanna do it. We used to use woodheat to cook'm with. An old 250gallon fuel oil tank was the cooker. Set it on pipe skids and cut a big lid out. Weld hinges on that lid so you can open it up enough to put the hog inside. We used expanded steel for the cookin grill with a baffel in the center. At one end we had a barrel stove made from a 30 gallon oil barrell and at the other end of the fuel oil tank a flue was cut into the side at the bottom of the tank. It's much easier to quarter the hog as it will cook quicker and is a lot easier to h andle due to the weight. Cookin real slow-a 200# hog will need to cook about 8 hours. Don't get it too hot or cook too quickly. The hog will be smoked as it's cooked and absolutely fit to eat! Find a hog farmer in the country - they should sell you a hog for market price. Hope this helped. Enjoy! Matt. 24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), October 30, 2000.

AGGGHHHH!No! No! No! No! not the cooker!!!small pig on a stick with garlic cloves,homemade rotisserie.Hardwood fire in a cresant behind and downwind from the pig with Lots of coals.Agree with the slow cook part. Ain't nothin better nowhere, except lamb, roasted this way!

OK, the cooker kind is passable, but I married a serbian barbeque'er- Married him specifically for that ability. Yes,it IS that good.Nothing else mattered.Every other pig pales in comparison.

You Can also roast in front of the right fireplace, We did this for orthodox (or old) Xmas. Of course you needed your swimsuit and shades to stay in the same room,but it was very festive.

You need to talk to hubbie on this one. He's the expert.

Sorry,Hoot,but I just had to speak up!!!!

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), October 30, 2000.

The Puerto Ricans roast small pigs on a rotisserie, and the Phillipinos roast in a pit. In your location, you should be able to find plenty of people who will be happy to educate you on the finer points of pig roasting. I personally prefer the Puerto Rican pig because they spice it so well. Wonderful, gallbladder-killing stuff, roast pig.

-- Teresa in TN (otgonz@bellsouth.net), October 31, 2000.

If you have a serbian Orthodox church in the area you can get hands on information from them. Most churches have many cooks. The men mostly do this kind of cooking. You can do a whole pig, whole lamb, goat, chickens and ducks. They are all outstanding. The meat is most and very flavorful. I have done this cooking for about 35 years now and my father before me and his before him. I use a machine with an electric motor and a wood 2" stick about 12 feet long. Fire control is very important in this style of cooking and it is very pleasent being by the fire. Many go for quanity but if you want the best meat don't go over a 50 pound dressed out pig. At that it will take about 6 hours to cook. If you put one on a stick don't let them cut the pelvic bone and have them leave the head on. You can make a machine with an electric motor and a gear system that moves it slowly. But you can use young boys with a handle on the end of the stick. The speed varies with what boys do the turning. I reccommend electric.

-- Nick (wildheart@ekyol.com), October 31, 2000.

Chances are there is a catering company in your area which will delivery a roasting wagon and pig already on the spick. It will be roasted in about six months over charcoal briquettes.

However, be aware a pig goes a long way.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 31, 2000.

We dug a pit about 4 ft deep,long and wide. Burned a pile of hickory to coals. covered the coals with sheetmetal. Put 2 young pigs on top and covered with another piece of sheetmetal. Basted and turned the meat every 2 hours. After about 8 hrs, 3 cases of beer and a mess of fishing and hunting lies (I mean true accounts) its time to eat.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), October 31, 2000.

The pit method is the one we use but a little different than the last one. wrap the carcase in chicken wire once around is good then a layer of berlap and once the pit is half full of coals place pig in and back fill with dirt then dig up 12 hours later unwrap and serve the meat is juicy tender and about falling off the bones. It's the easiest way to do it And to us the best way and the least work. So which ever way you go enjoy There's nothing like a roast pig. Anthony.

-- Anthony J. DiDonato (didonato@vvm.com), November 02, 2000.

i was thinking about roast pig for Thanksgiving, too. How many people will a 50lb porker feed?

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), November 03, 2000.

With the kind of spread laid out at the family's holiday gathering, a dressed 50lb pig fed 25-30 people.Accouterments include,italian bread and hard rolls, stuffed cabbage,potatosalad,greenbeans,chicken dumpling soup,jack daniels-black label,lots of desserts,Basically load that table up.I wrote this down exactly as Nick said it!!!

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), November 03, 2000.