[Sca-cooks] Has anyone roasted a pig on a spit?

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> Hello all, I am Yeke Delger, Chevetain of the Barony of Stromgaard Cooking
Guild,
> Kingdom of An Tir. As the Chevetain of this newly founded cooking guild
(6/03), I have
> been asked to roast a whole pig on a spit at our upcoming Fall Festival &
Sergeantry
> Trials. I have never done this before, and so far as I can find out
neither has anyone else
> in our Barony. I have been subscribed to your email list for a few months
now and have
> come to realize so many of you are great cooks and done many things
(cooking wise)
> that I have never even thought of doing. So have any of you roasted a
whole pig on a
> spit? If so, how high above the fire pit does the pig need to hang for
cooking? I will be
> cooking a 75 pound pig for 24 hours over a bed of hot coals continually
turning the spit.
> Will that be sufficient enough time? I do have a meat thermometer on hand
to check it,
> but I don't want to find out at 3pm on Saturday that the pig is only 120º
and needs to be
> served for dinner at 6pm and there is no way it will reach proper temp by
6pm. I did read
> a horror story about how someone else cooked a whole beast only to find
out a few
> hours before serving that there was no way it would be finished on time
and the had to
> cut it in three and cook it in the oven and put it back together and hide
the cuts before
> serving it. Being we will be camping there will not be a stove to save me
if it will not be
> done by 6pm. Well, any help anyone can give me would be greatly
appreciated.
>
> Yeke Delger

Well, I've done it- years ago, but rather than a spit, we used a cage- the
reason being that if you tie it tightly enough so that random bits don't
flop around, it's tied so tightly that it's very difficult for the interior
to get done. The thing is, that in period, large fireplaces were used so
that in addition to the coals below heating the meat, heat was also
reflected from the walls of the fireplace. When moderns try to do it out in
the open air, it gets a bit of heat as it passes over the coals, then cools
off a lot on the rest of the round.

If you've never done it before, I'd suggest renting or borrowing a pig
cooker and following instructions. If you do that, 24 hours should be enough
to get the thing cooked. And reserve now, because the things get to be very
popular in the fall.

Wish I could come help, but An Tir is a bit of a run from the EK...but, I'm
betting even out there, there'll be a good ol' boy around who knows how to
do it, and will likely help you, if comped and fed sufficient beer...

Phlip, thinking, Oh, no- ANOTHER smithing project...

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....