Originally Posted By: BocephussI'm planning on heading to the great state of Texas to back me a little hog to do a whole hog roast with a bunch of friends for the 4th of July.
I have never done this before, so naturally all my info and sources will come from forums and youtube videos.
I plan to do one of those bury in the ground, cover in dirt, style of cookouts. I've had that a few times in my life, and it was amazing, so I'm hoping I can learn how to do that.
A lot of my questions right now stem with how to prep the hog....
Originally Posted By: BocephussFrom what I see, you leave the skin on, but take the hair off? How does one do that effectively? The best way is to dip it in hot water for a minute, then brush clean (fleshing knife works great). But, you can use a weed burner from Home Depot. It’s basically a propane blow torch that would burn them off and then using water and brush rinse it off.
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Originally Posted By: BocephussFrom there, do you just gut it like you would any other time? Any vital things I need to remember to remove as well at that time? completely gut, and clean it out, rinse it out well. (if you find blue smurf coloring on the fat, I wouldn’t eat it)
I would also Gut and clean the internal cavity including wind pipe to the rectum as soon as feasibly possible.
Originally Posted By: BocephussAfter this is complete, do I let the pig sit in a large cooler with salt water to start the brining process? That is a personal preference thing. If you have been to someones house where they did a roasting that you liked, ask them what they did.
I have personally don’t brine it, but you can with apple juice and brown sugar (is what friends use), and splay it out on a rack and tie it down with wire. Then the hole it goes in has a few bricks on the ground to keep the rack off the ground but let the fat drip. Used cinder wall blocks to line the sides, and had a metal top that covered it over. We built a fire over the top and had cables to lift it off (a lip on the lid helps keep the ashes from falling in). Make the fire get to coals, and then place the hog in, we cooked for 5 hours for 100# hog, and keep adding wood as needed to keep the coals going. When you get to the time, you can pop the top and temp it. Often people don’t do that and over cook the thing. Once it gets to temp pull out and wrap in tinfoil and place somewhere to let it cool slowly(i also like to let it rest feet up so the moisture runs to the back straps). (ideally it would finish with an hour to spare before party, so its cooler and in case it’s not done yet, you can have more time to cook) but remember that it’s going to keep cooking this way (letting it cool), and take that into account when you temp it.
I personally just pull it out of the hole, let it cool, and then slice it with a fillet knife to let those that want to eat cut it off themselves. I put out a couple bottle of Siracha hot sauce, and done.
I always find it funny to watch people cut it themselves since most don’t have a clue where the Ham is or the Loin is located. People I know usually start with the front shoulder. My hunting friends all go straight for the back and ham.
Good luck, hope this gives you some ideas.
