SC - OT- How do you cook a pig?

[Siegfried Heydrich]

Slow, steady heat, baste regularly, and put a tent over the top of the pig
to help retain a bubble of hot air. Get an electric rotisserie and save
yourself an awesome amount of aggravation. Make sure that you either use
charcoal (and lots of it) or have your logs going past the 'flameup' stage
when you add them to the bed; if the logs are flaming, you just scorch the
meat. Have a garden hose standing by for flareups and accidents. If you're
up north, use anthracite coal for less cleanup problems. And make sure you
have a couple of large, burley helpers to help move it around.
    Figure for a full grown pig at least 12-18 hours cooking time, maybe
more, depending on size - for big pigs, I actually prefer doing them in
pits. I've done pigs stuffed with kraut & sausages, forcemeat stuffing,
fruit & bread stuffing, pretty much whatever you want. The baste depends on
what you want the flavor to be, but you want a fair amount of oil in it to
keep the skin from charring and assist in heat transference. Make sure you
cover the ears, snout, tail, and hooves with foil so they don't burn. If
you're going to put something in its mouth when serving, use a wedge to hold
it open. If you're going to stuff the pig AFTER it's cooked (i.e., fresh
fruit), make sure you keep the cavity open and well oiled.
    Be aware that cooking it is only the beginning - cutting and carving is
a royal pain. Let the pig rest for at least a half hour (more if you can)
after removing it from the fire before beginning to carve. If it's going to
be one of those buffet situations, put 2 carvers (1 on each side) or it'll
be a hell of a bottleneck.

    Sieggy

> Greetings all,
>
> I have some friends who are planning on spit roasting a whole pig for 4th
of
> July. The has been or will be professionally butchered. But aside from
> running a spit through it and turning it throughout the day, what should
> they know?  How long do they need to cook it?  How would you season it and
> what would you baste it with?
>
> Thanks for your assistance,
> Ysabeau of Prague
>
>
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