The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: country lover on June 13, 2010, 01:09:46 pm
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Hello busy smallholders! I have a question I hope you can answer.
I have a big birthday celebration coming up in August and have decided it would be a great idea to roast one of our Pigs over a fire pit for the guests However when I looked into hiring the equipment I found out it would cost around £120 just for the equipment! Now I'm thinking that I could invest the same money in having a spit roaster made up by the local blacksmith and therefore have something I can use again.
The problem is that I can't find any detailed pictures or plans to show the blacksmith. Can anyone offer any help or words of advice? :bouquet:
Thanks
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I would say talk to your blacksmith i am sure he will already be full of expert knowledge on building something like that? fi not Google it and see what comes up
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river cottage meat book , its not a plan but you can see the idea a blacksmith would be able be copy it id say.
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I have done this a couple of times. The photo below is for when I did a half pig and you can just about see the arrangement
(http://i46.tinypic.com/2cy5x91.jpg)
A halved oil drum (angler grinder and caution), joined together, forms the fire pit, although this could just be a dug pit.
Two sturdy wooden fenceposts support a steel crossmember - I used a piece of round hollow steel bar about 1" diameter but if I were doing it again I would go bigger.
The bit we were quite proud of is the mechanism to "clamp" the beast onto the rod. It is made of square section steel a bit larger than the round rod and can be locked in place with clamps. It supports thinner metal bars which go through the pig either side of the central rod and stop it just rolling over to wherever it wants to be. It can be rotated in 4 positions at 90 degree intervals.
Thet trick to cooking it is to do it over a very long, slow fire, say 8 hrs or so. Score the skin carefully and thoroughly with a stanley knife to get good cracking - do every bit of skin you can see! Salt it well half an hour before you start cooking, then wipe it down and salt again. This draws moisture out of the skin to get it really dry. If the crackling starts to brown up too early, raise the pig or cover with foil. You can always lower it for half an hour at the end to bring up the crackling, but once its bunt, its no good to anyone.
Let it rest for half an hour if you have time. Carve it on a very large table. Pull all the crackling off and get one of your helpers to chop it with a cleaver or sharp knife - this in itself is a job and a half. Then the meat will practically fall off the bones, and the belly and loins will carve beautifully. I make an enormous pan of apple sauce and have plenty of floury baps and english mustard on the table. Enjoy!
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i have just dribbled all over my desk
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That looks amazing Olly I bet it went down a treat, I have a real hankering for some pork crackling I can almost smell it cooking. Thanks for the tips on the constructions it seems to be nice and simple and the result looks D-lishus :yum:
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Thanks both! - your response made me chuckle WP! ;D 8)
It certainly made a feast - and people will not forget you!!!!
I went to a function where they had a commercial butcher come in and do a "hog roast" - they used a huge electric rotisserie thingy and cooked two whole prepared pairs of loins. The result was tasty but not in the same league.
Let us know how you get on :)
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hi where abouts are you in cornwall are you as we have a home made one you could borrow look at for ideas. we are in launceston.
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Thanks for the offer, but I’m offshore in the Gulf of Mexico at the moment and not due back for anther four weeks, that why I was after some picture or plans so that I could forward the ideas on to the Blacksmith. Cheers anyway :)
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I have just done this again last weekend with a bit more detail on my blog if anyone's interested :pig: :yum: :wave:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JsgTb-d81Ew/TFdBxV41OEI/AAAAAAAAALI/tqo8P_S-EqM/s400/2010-07-31-2017-56-48.jpg)
http://brixtonsbounty.blogspot.com/2010/08/hog-roast-at-nimby.html (http://brixtonsbounty.blogspot.com/2010/08/hog-roast-at-nimby.html)
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my dad made an automatic one out of an old washing machine. It kept going wrong but that suited my dad because fixing it and tinkering with it gave him an excuse not to mingle about making small talk.
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This is so cruel, I am hungry :-\
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This guy just dug a hole
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/dining/21pig.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&ref=general&src=me
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I read that great article - it has been commented on elsewhere on the forum... ...would love to give that method a go but not found a suitable place or willing volunteers with spades! :farmer: :D