[Sca-cooks] Roasted pig

[Patricia Collum]

I was thinking of you this weekend. I went to visit my sister-and-law this
weekend in northern Arizona, only to find her husband roasting a 250 pound
pig over an open fire! It turns out he does this every year for his company
picnic! By the time I left, the pork had been taken to a picnic for 240
people and completely consumed. I might talk him into doing this at an
Estrella war, even though they are not SCA; if I can find about 230 more
friends who want to share in the meal!

Cecily
----- Original Message -----
From: <j2rhat at comcast.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 9:19 PM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Roasted pig


> Hello again to all, it is I, Yeke Delger. Well, the time finally came for
me to roast the pig I
> was asking you all about. Olwen's friend Ed and his wife sent me great
information on
> what to stuff it with and a rub to put on it, along with exactly how they
did it a few weeks
> ago.
>
> The stuffing consisted of 5 #'s of carrots, 3 #'s of onions, 2 heads of
celery, Lots and lots
> of garlic, sage, and rosemary. The rub was 2 c of garlic powder, 2c of
onion powder, 1c of
> course ground pepper, 1c of paprika, 3c of kosher salt ( I know it is
ironic, it was all I had
> in a large quanity), 1c of fennel ground, 1 qt of olive oil.
>
> I stuffed and rubbed it on Tuesday night and sewed the pig closed with
thin stainless
> wire.
>
> As luck would have it, there is a burn ban on in our area, so we had no
choice but to rent
> a pig roaster after all. I was some what relieved that I did not have to
bribe the constab to
> turn the pig every fifteen minutes all night until My Lord and I got up
for the 4am constab
> duty. So, with the pig roaster, I decided I did not have to put the pig on
until 8am or so.
> Saturday morning we got everything set up and got the pig going with a
generator to turn
> the spit so I didn't have to do it all day myself. The pig was started by
8:30am, this was
> fine because I allowed an hour extra if we needed it. The pig was cooking,
the motor was
> turning the spit, the generator was chugging along...    About 9:30am, the
generator ran
> out of gas, the pig stopped turning, the grease was dripping on the
coals... before I could
> get out of the chair and take two steps towards it, the flames were
flaring up under the
> pig. By the time I took the 8 or so steps to where the generator and motor
for turn the spit
> was located, my beautiful pig was ablaze. In my slight panic, I started to
crank the spit by
> hand, (as I said in my panic), I turned the pig very quickly, flinging the
pig grease all over
> the inside of the pig roaster. We now had a proper inferno. Flames
shooting out at me
> trying to turn the spit, causing me to retreat several times as another
gentleman was
> shaking his 12oz water bottle on the flames trying to knock them down. On
one
> abandoning of the spit I dragged our back up generator over and tried to
start it.
> Forgetting to turn on the gas valve or setting the choke. Now the flames
are shooting out
> and around the top of the roaster, 6 to 8 feet in the air (remember burn
ban, no open
> flames, under trees, surounded by very dry grass field in which we are all
camping in). I
> think you may realize my panic and fear now. So, we have 3-12oz water
bottles, all have
> been thrown on our "inferno" showing no result. I, in a last ditch effort
grab the fire
> extinguisher fully knowing if I use it we will not be able to eat the pig
and all the work I
> have done so far would be for naught. Somebody was looking out for me
though
> because I was struggling to find the pin in the extinguisher as two more
gentleman
> rushed up carrying 5 gallon water jugs and got the thing under control. By
then we got
> the back up generator started, and the spit was turning, the pig was
black, but it looked
> like it was only a flesh wound and I thought and hoped the meat would be
fine.The rest of
> the cooking was uneventful, thank goodness. At 4:30pm the pig reached an
internal
> temperature of 160 degrees, we removed it, put an apple in it's mouth and
had a
> presentation to the Baron and Baroness, who promptly sliced off a piece.
With the Baron
> moaning in pleasure, the Baroness informed us it was to die for (good
thing, I thought
> that morning one of us may die because of this pig). They offered pieces
to a visiting
> Baroness and several Knights, before we took it away and carved it. I can
say a whole 72
> pound pig takes an hour to carve. The pig got rave reviews, and most
people found the
> "crispy" skin to be wonderful. The Baroness, thought it was such a great
idea I had to
> sear the pig early and then cook it slowly the rest of the day.
>
> I recommend everyone try a whole pig at least once, but if you borrow
someone's quiet
> generator make certain you find out exactly how much gas it has when you
start. I knew
> my loud generator we used for a back up was full of gas and would run at
least 4 hours.
> The one we used, because it was quiet and would not interrupt court, we
had no idea
> what it had in it and the owner of it was off site getting his gas can
filled.
>
> So, thank you all again for all your help. The pig was superb and there
was none left. I
> have now been named as the official Baronial pig roaster, along with my
other jobs and
> titles. I think I should just be called "Sucker", I never know when to say
no. Therefore, I am
> currently Chevetain of the Cooking Guild, Chronicler, on Retinue,
Chirugeon, and
> Autocrat for our Founding Revel in February. Yes, I also work full time
outside the house,
> in construction.
>
> In Everyone's Service,
> Yeke Delger, AoA
>
> P.S.
> (I got my AoA, since I last wrote you all. But beinging Mongolian, there
is no title for Lady)
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