Pig in a hole?

[Oregon Bill]

Never have tried baking a weaner pig in a hole, but the thought of all that tender pork makes me drool. What is the proper procedure for baked pig? I assume this is PC going waaaay back in time.

[Delmonico]

Meat cooked in bread goes back I assume as far back as bread, have seen it mentioned many times.  I would just wrap them in biscuit dough and bake till the biscuit dough is done, since they arer pre-cooked.  The well known dish "Beef Wellington" is just a roast spread with liver pate and baked in a pastry crust.

[Oregon Bill]

Del: I should have been clearer. I am talking about roasting a whole pig in a hole dug in the ground that has had a hotfire built in it, and the pig is trussed up in foil or banana leaves or some such, coverd with drt, and slow baked for a half-day or a day.

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[Delmonico]

It's been a long time, let me do some thinkin' here. 

[Ozark Tracker]

We got the pig in the ground and the beer on ice, all my rowdy friends are coming over tonight.

Bill, the way it's done around here, (Arkansas)  is  dig your pit about a foot larger on each side than yer pig is. Dig it about 2 1/2 ta 3 ft. deep unless your cooking a really big hog,   Start yer fire in the hole and keep burning until you have about a foot of coals a little more if it's a big one.

have some sand on hand, and put a few inches over the coal right where the hog will lay,

wrap your hog with wet burlap bags, couple of layers,  some people around here also wrap chicken wire around the hog at this time (keeps him from falling apart when you lift him up, lift with the wire not the animal) 

layer several layers of tin foil over the spot where the hog will be,  tie some wire to the chicken wire (several places)  tie the lifting wire to some 2 x4 s to lift with  set the hog in the ground, slip out your 2 x 4s,  add a little more dirt or sand around the hog, not too much

now this is where we do it a little different,  we don't cover the whole hog with dirt,  lay a sheet of sheet iron (tin) over the hole and put some sand around the edges of the sheet iron to seal it, 

all your doing with the dirt on top of the hog or the sheet iron  is controlling your coals and making the coals last for a long time.

when you cook it for 12 to 15 hours you don't have to dig it up, just uncover your hole and slip the 2x4s back into your lifting wires and get some hellp and lift him out and onto a table, then just dust him off and take the wire off , uncover and eat.

of course ya season him to taste before putting in the fire,  also a lot of people put a stick in his mouth and prop it open, to let all the moisture out of the body cavity.  also makes it easier to put an apple in.

hope this helps.

[Delmonico]

I'm done thinkin' I'll PM Ozark Tracker, he's done a bunch.

Thanks OT, thats about the same as we did it.   

[Oregon Bill]

OT: If I bring my own beer, can I come over?
 Thanks for the thoughts!

[Ozark Tracker]

Bill, just come on down anytime,

I think ya can cook what ya need in that hole in the ground,  I know some people who keep the hole covered and use it a few times a year. just cleaning out the ashes and sand in between.

[Mogorilla]

We did it pretty much the way OT worded it, but we also had rocks that had been heat tested (big fist size river rocks that will not explode when heated).  Those were thrown in the fire and just prior to tossing the pig in, the rocks would be removed with tongs, quickly wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in the cavity, (about 8 rocks for a medium sized hog).  We found that it made for a more evenly cooked hog and you never started eating and then sliced into rare pork.  I imagine like skinning a cat, there are more than 1 way to roast a hog.

[Buffalo]

We have done this a few times. It turns out very good and tender. The big difference is that we cover the pig with a layer of cabbage and or lettuce leafs. (the leafs will help from getting burnt spots where the rocks touch. In Hawaii at the luaus they use tea leafs)  Then  2 layers of wet burlap, then chicken wire to hold it all together. Make a couple wire handles to lift it out with.  The hole needs to be about 3 feet deep lined with rocks that will not explode (sandstone works good) Have a big roaring fire (we use oak wood) for at least 3 hours, shovel out the coals lay the pig on the rocks & cover with more hot rocks. Then bury with the hot soil around it then the hot coals, then more soil. Here is the important part-- how long to cook-- You can't over cook because the rocks cool down. But there is a smell that will come out of the ground that will tell you when it is done. Once you smell it you will always remember it (it's not a bad smell or a good smell just a particular odor) But once you smell it you can dig it up and it will be fall off the bone tender. We have also done this on a smaller scale with turkey. With the same great results.
Buff

[Singing Bear]

Good.  I'll bring the poi and poke.   

[Delmonico]

Ok, I know poi is the starch of a root, (I read Hawaii)   what is poke?

[Singing Bear]

Raw fish (usually ahi or aku, yellow and blue fin tunas) mixed with bits of limu (a variety of edible seaweed), minced kukui nut and a bit of Hawaiian salt.

Btw, I like my poi fresh with a teaspoon of sugar in it.  Yeah, even some of us "locals" can't handle regular poi.   

When we get down to shredding the pig, this is when we add Hawaiian sea salt for taste.  Lucky that half the pig makes it to the buffet table.   This part is when we usually get the most volunteers.  We also drink more beer during this time than at the party.    Probably the same with y'all? 

[Oregon Bill]

Fellas: Thanks for all the drool fodder. By the way, what weight and age pigs are you baking, and where are you getting them if you are not raising them yourselves?

[Ozark Tracker]

The hogs I cooked have been some wild razorbacks I've killed here on the farm and a couple I've gotten down at a slaughter house close by,  they always have some they are feeding out.  the weights are from 40-50 lbs live weight  for the slaughter house pigs and up to about 120 lbs live weight  for the wild ones.

[Delmonico]

Some guys I knew out to trade school in the 70's used to find them cruisin' around late at night.   They leaned it was best to thump em good, one came back to life and really tore up the trunk on a Mach 1.   That was the one they almost got caught on, but ya can't convit someone just cause their car trunk smells like a pig.

[Ozark Tracker]

but ya can't convit someone just cause their car trunk smells like a pig.

why heck no  he could'a been just sneaking a pig into the drive-in ta see a movie

[Forty Rod]

Contact some of the Hawaiian crowd.  They do it best, but don't bother with poi...it's really an acquired taste.