Any Experience Of Hog Roast??

[DecoWarrior]

cracking thats exactly what we were after looking like a winner!

[pieater]

Done loads, and lamb and goose - all over wood.

Different sizes of beast should be available, if not, joint the thing and that will reduce the time. Take off the back haunches and start them first, after "a bit" (size dependant), start the back and ribs, after another "bit" (shorter this time) start the front legs.

A decent size pig will be about 12 hours. I'd say I'd need 12 cans of beer and about 200 - 250kg of logs for that time.

If you're doing this semi-commercially (for a function) consider swapping for beef, lamb or goose. Beef and lamb, people can live with it being a bit pink, and goose is a belter, it nearly cooks itself. When the fat runs off, the fire keeps going to just the right temp. Also, think about a frying pan. Cut off slices and finish them in there over the fire. You need a few back up plans...

What irons are you using? You need to be able to vary the height of either the fire or the meat. Give is a sizzle, then back it off for a rest, then repeat.

The commercial boys flash the outside, shave and serve, flash the next layer and repeat. Do the crackling and slice it off, other wise it'll be charcoal by the time you serve. Stick it in a frying pan to reheat. Baste in a honey / balsamic mix.

[DecoWarrior]

Originally Posted by AM1

PS - Sonia and K are up for it too, reckon there'll be enough to go round??

should be enough to go round.....god knows how many people are coming, fires roasting pigs booze and fireworks shoulod be funny though

[Horndog]

I had one done by a company in Dinnington "Bella Hog" part of the Bella Mia restaraunt.

As it was for our wedding reception we had the full works, Hog for 100 people, 10 salads, Roast Potatoes, Stuffing and Breadcakes, £10 per head.

They came at arround 1pm setup the 80 kg hog setit up in there own gas roaster and then took over our kitchen to prepaire the salad.RawHog.jpg

Guest came at arround 7pm to be greeted with a huge bowl of Crackling

Then at 8pmCookedHog.jpgIt was ready
85 guests turned up Everyone had plenty to eat, and we were still left with 2x 5 litre buckets full of Pork! and loads of salad was binned.

(when we were looking round there were a number of companies who would rent the machine only "you-can-hire" amongst others)

If you want any more info, just ask

[Simon Lamb]

I did a couple of these, and I found digging a pit and setting the fire in the bottom worked quite well. It seemed to regulate the fire temperature, and it was easier to spit the pig, didnt need to elevate it so much above ground.

As said earlier, keep basting it, gotta keep it moist.


Hope it goes well, love a bit of roast pig me...

[Dick Barwell]

Used to do whole pig ......but a lot went to waste (head etc ) and cooking it to be Frank was a bit of a pain as well as expensive !! £150 plus for 1/2 a pig.
Now buy whole belly roll deboned and cook in oven in large roast dish for 4 hrs (double oven so can do complete belly in two pans)
Dry skin cut with sharp knife in criss cross pattern (makes crackling more manageable?) and rub salt into cuts just before initial blast of heat .....lovely crackling (Delia Smiths method)
Then when cooked stick it on BBQ section at a time for effect .and the smell !!

Whole belly will stuff 50+ guests, easy in baps and its all edible for about £80 for a big belly!

Good luck with whatever you do as I don't think you can beat it

db

[DecoWarrior]

well cheers for the help guys if any of you are based around here i have sourced somewhere that will supply a pig for 45 quid ready to go at 50-60kgs which seems very reasonable to me!,

[A. Berk]

I should be able to give some advice here as we have a hog-roast every party - they are a very popular tradition in Thailand. Trouble is, we get a guy in to do it and by the time he's set-up with the spit and coals etc I'm into my 3rd or 4th sherbet and don't notice what's going on. They open the animal right out flat though as if it had burst open after a belly-flop and takes about 4 hours til serving.

Berko