Best 5 Whole Pit Roasted Pig Recipes

CUBAN-STYLE ROAST PIG

Steps:

• Place pig skin side down on a large work surface. Strain one recipe of the mojo into a bowl, reserving solids. Transfer liquid to a large syringe and inject the mojo into the meat of the pig every 3 to 4 inches, taking care not to push syringe down so far that it punctures the skin on the underside of the meat. Sprinkle the interior and exterior of the pig with adobo criollo and rub all over; rub reserved solids from mojo over rib cage. Cover and let marinate, chilled, overnight.
• Bring pig to room temperature. Lock the pig into the wire rack of the Caja China by using the S-hooks. Place locked pig in the Caja China on top of the drip pan, skin side down. Insert a meat thermometer with a cable attachment into the thickest rear section of the pig.
• Place ash pan and grid tray on top of the Caja China. Fill the bottoms of two large chimney starters with crumpled newspaper. Starting with16 pounds of charcoal briquettes (not instant), fill the tops of the chimney starters with some of the 16 pounds of charcoal. Place a chimney starter on each end of the grid tray; light the newspaper in each chimney starter. Flames will sweep up through the chimney, igniting charcoal. When charcoal is red-hot, after 15 to 20 minutes, dump out charcoal from starters and add remaining charcoal to total 16 pounds; spread evenly across grid tray. After 1 hour of cooking, evenly add 8 pounds charcoal. Repeat process every hour until pig reaches 185 to 187 degrees, about 3 1/2 hours.
• When pig has reached 185 to 187 degrees, two people wearing protective gloves should raise the grid tray and carefully shake ashes off the coals and into ash pan. Carefully place the grid tray on the long handles. Two people should then lift the ash pan with ashes and safely dispose of them, adding water to ensure they do not cause a fire.
• Using protective gloves, carefully turn pig skin side up and return to the Caja China. With a knife, carefully make cross cuts into skin between each grid of the rack, taking care not to cut into the meat. Return ash pan and grid tray with hot coals to the Caja China and cook, until skin is crisp, 30 to 45 minutes more.
• Heat remaining recipe mojo and transfer to a serving bowl. Remove ash pan and grid tray from Caja China. Lift wire rack containing pig out of the Caja China. Detach S-hooks and remove top rack. Serve meat on rolls topped with warm mojo and chopped onions, if desired.

WHOLE PIT-ROASTED PIG

Steps:

• 1. Allow 1 lb. dressed meat per person.
• 2. Dig a hole about 2½ feet deep at center, with a diameter of 5½ to 8 feet, depending on the size of your pig. Line with rocks.
• 3. Stack wood on rocks, Indian tepee style. Light fire. Place dried round rocks in fire where they will get the most heat.
• 4. While fire burns down, wet the burlap, and prepare the pig. Rub inside of pig with salt, pepper and garlic, Place pig on chicken wore. Under legs, make slits big enough to inset round rocks.
• 5. When fire has burned down and rocks are very hot, use tongs to fill abdominal cavity and slits in legs with hot rocks. Tie front legs together, then back legs. Wrap pig in wire, fastening well (so it can be lifted).
• 6. Completely cover ashes with corn stalks and leaves. Lower pig right onto leaves. Cover it generously oin top and sides with more leaves.
• 7. Place wet burlap over leaves (this will hold heat and steam).
• 8. Cover with large canvas; shovel gravel over canvas to keep steam in.
• 9. To uncover, remove gravel, canvas, burlap and covering leaves. Life and carry wire-wrapped pig with hooks. Remove wire to serve.

WHOLE KAHLUA PIG ROASTED IN A SAND ENCLOSED OVEN FOR A LUAU

Steps:

• Dig a pit in the sand 2 feet deep and 6 feet in diameter. Add the river rocks and cover with enough of the wood to get the fire underway to heat the rocks. (You will add the additional wood as needed.) Start the fire (to heat the rocks to 800 degrees F). Add the metal panels on top of the fire to contain heat without smothering the fire.
• Using assistance place the gutted pig in the supine position on the stretcher-like platform and wrap the affixed chicken wire around to mostly secure the pig, but leaving enough room to be able to put the heated lava rocks inside the body cavity.
• Place some banana "stumps" in the body cavity of the pig to serve as a buffer between the hot coals and the pig meat to prevent the flesh from burning.
• Protecting your face, hands, and body with proper gear and using safe equipment, remove enough of the metal panels from the fire to retrieve the heated rocks with fire safe tongs. Someone will use heavy fire mitts to hold the rocks in a pair of tongs, while the other person uses the ti leaves "brush" to dust off the ash. The rocks with the ash removed are then placed one-by-one in the cavity of the pig so it will cook from the inside out with dry heat. Place some additional banana "stumps" in the body cavity of the pig to serve as a buffer between the hot coals and the pig meat to prevent the flesh from burning. The carcass of the pig is then closed with chicken wire and additional metal wire as needed to secure the chicken wire. Remove the attachments that have been holding the chicken wire to the stretcher. Transfer the pig to sit atop the metal panels of the imu, and use the additional ti leaves like aluminum foil, placing them dull side up, shiny side down in a cross configuration to steam the exterior of the pig with the moisture from the ti leaves.
• When the pig is cooked through, approximately eight hours, use assistance to remove it from the fire, let rest for 30 minutes, then carve it down. The cheeks of the pig should be reserved for the most honored guest.

WHOLE ROAST SUCKLING PIG

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare the pig: Wash it, including the cavity, under cold running water, and towel-dry thoroughly, the way you would dry a small child after a bath - ears, armpits, chest cavity, face, legs, backs of knees.
• Sometimes there are imperfections remaining after the slaughtering and processing of the animal. Use dish towels or sturdy paper towels to rub away any dark spots on the ears, any little bit of remaining bristles around the mouth. Like that yellow, papery flaking skin you sometimes find on chickens, which can be peeled off to reveal tender, fresh skin underneath, a similar bit of crud can remain on pigs' chins and under their belly flaps. Clean this little cutie as if you were detailing your car! The purple U.S.D.A. stamp, however, is indelible. But not inedible.
• Bard the pig with all 20 garlic cloves, making deep incisions all over with a thin filleting knife and shoving the cloves into each pocket; include the cheeks and the neck and the rump and the thighs and the loin down the back and the front shoulders, all areas of the small creature that have enough flesh to be able to receive a clove of garlic. (Sometimes I find I have to slice the larger cloves of garlic in half to get them to slide into the incision.)
• Rub the entire pig in oil exactly as you would apply suntan oil to a sunbathing goddess of another era, when people still were ignorant of the harmful effects of the sun. Massage and rub and get the whole creature slick and glistening. I do this directly in a very large roasting pan.
• Wash and dry your hands. Take large pinches of kosher salt, and raising your arm high above the pig, rain down the salt in an even, light dusting all over. You can start with the pig on its back and get the cavity and the crotch, and then turn it over and get the back and the head and flanks. Or vice versa. But in the end, the whole animal is salted evenly and lightly, snout to tail.
• Arrange the pig in the roasting pan, spine up, rear legs tucked under, with feet pointing toward its ears and its two front legs out ahead in front. Sometimes the pig needs a sharp, sturdy, confident chiropractic crack on its arching spine, just to settle it in comfortably to the roasting pan, so it won't list to one side or topple over.
• Put the potato deep into its mouth, and place in the oven, on the bottom rack, and roast slowly for about 4 to 5 hours, depending on the size of your pig. (Plan 15 minutes of roasting time per pound of pig; if you have a 20-pounder, then you'd need about 5 hours total cooking time.) Add a little water to the roasting pan along the way if you see the juices are in danger of scorching, and loosely tent the animal with aluminum foil in vulnerable spots - ears, snout, arc of back - if you see them burning. For the last half-hour, raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees, and cook until the skin gets crisp and even blistered, checking every 10 minutes.
• Tap on it with your knuckle to hear a kind of hollow sound, letting you know the skin has inflated and separated from the interior flesh; observe splitting of the skin at knuckles - all good signs the pig is done. Or use a meat thermometer inserted deep in the neck; the pig is ready at 160 degrees. Let rest 45 minutes before serving.
• Remove the potato, and replace it with the apple. Transfer the pig to a large platter; nestle big bouquets of herbs around the pig as garnish. Save pan juices, and use for napping over the pulled meat when serving.

CUBAN-STYLE ROAST SUCKLING PIG

Steps:

• Combine the juice, garlic, oregano, and salt in a mixing bowl. Transfer to a large, deep roasting pan and place the pig, belly down, into the pan. Thoroughly coat the pig with the marinade, massaging it in. Let sit in the marinade overnight. Baste the pig occasionally.
• Preheat the oven to 275°F.
• Remove the pig from the marinade and place it on a large baking sheet. Cover the pig's ears, snout, and tail with aluminum foil. Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for 4 to 4 1/2 hours (20 minutes per pound).
• Remove the foil when you take the pig out of the oven. Let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving. Serve with the mojo, and some black beans and rice .