1st Annual Pig Roast is in the books (lots o' pics....beware)

[BobR]

After test driving the cajun microwave a few weeks back in anticipation of this day we made a few minor mods to our box.

We sealed it with high temp silicon and added a drain. Next year we will have an all metal, double walled, insulated, and bigger box. We have plans!!

It is always nice to hang out with people who share a lot of your own values, it makes conversation much easier.



We had wanted to get the pig on Wednesday, but the butcher couldn't have her until Thursday at 3pm, which cut into our brine time by at least a day.

Petunia's last ride. She did very well, not a peep out of her. 



The brine barrrel had to have the lid cut off. It is a 55 gallon food grade barrel that once held a sodium lactate solution. I can pick them up for 5 bucks from a source here in Spokane. They come in very handy for H2O storage.



Barrel is ready, let's check Petunia. Yep she needs a tiny bit of clean up, but all in all, she came from the butcher very clean.



Into the barrel.



Let's make some brine solution. Salt, brown sugar, garlic, cloves, peppercorns, some more garlic and a few bottles of cheap wine that was gifted but will never make it to the table.




To Be Continued

[BobR]

We kept making brine, and adding water to the barrel until we had enough to cover Petunia, and to float an egg. Floating an egg has been my salinity check for years for turkeys, so I figured it would work for a pig.



After getting enough brine to submerge her in, we put in a couple of bags of ice and covered the barrel with a sleeping bag and weighted the lid. More ice was added about 12 on Friday and that lasted until the cooking day.

Saturday morning she was removed from the brine, allowed to come up to room temp, and had both hams and one shoulder injected with different flavors. One ham got apple juice/sugar/salt and Worcestershire sauce, the other got an injection of orange juice/lime juice/cumin/oregano/salt. The one shoulder got some commercial injection. I really couldn't tell any difference in the flavors once we cooked her.

The fire was lit, and Petunia was ceremoniously transported to the alter of pork for her big day.




The box is supposed to be able to handle a 70 pound pig, ours was 67 pounds and she fit, barely. But, we didn't have to remove any appendages from her, so all was good.



We spread out the coals and retired to the deck to a reward for a job well done.



To be continued.

[BobR]

We let her cook for 2 hours before doing any peeking, we should have peeked sooner.  

She was starting to get a little blackened on the areas closest to the lid, but was only about 130 degrees in the ham. So, we covered her with foil to allow the heat to work, but not toast her tender parts any more.



In the meantime, we had people coming who had no idea where we were, they needed a visual cue. We ran up a 30 foot streamer with a balloon on the end and a couple of pigs in the middle. We took it down the road to the gate, on the right side of the pic.



We continued cooking for about 5 hours, from 10am to 3pm, adding about 8-10 pounds of charcoal every hour. about 3:30, the thermometer read about 180 degrees in the ham, so we flipped her over to crisp the skin. You just can't beat freshly crisped pig skin I have discovered, yes, even better than bacon.  



We added more charcoal to bring up the heat and kept a close eye on the skin. When it was about right we removed Petunia from the alter so she could be enjoyed by the 50 or so people who were standing around drooling.



To be continued

[BobR]

After removing her from her box, we took her to the seat of honor, flipped her on her back so she would be easier to carve, and told people it was time to eat. Well, we didn't have to tell them twice!





At the end of the night, I did primitive butchering, knife and hands, to clean the rest of the meat off of the carcass.



The remaining parts got carted off to the edge of an alfalfa field in hope a coyote or two would investigate and possibly meet their demise.

I was surprised at the performance of the box. It did a very good job of cooking the pig, in a reasonable amount of time. We figured about one hour of cooking to every 10 pounds and it was very close. The fat that cooked off was collected by a chef at the party, he said it was full of goodness.  

It worked so well, and was a great gathering of people, that it will become a yearly event.

bob

[Fly320s]

Well done!  Makes me hungry just reading it.

[Hutch]

Most excellent AAR.  The pictures bring it to life.  I've never tasted a piggie done in this fashion.  Any hint of smokey/barbecue-y flavor?

[BobR]

No smokiness when done this way. We threw in a packet of chips but they really didn't do anything for it. When we build a much better box, I may put a small firebox on one end of it so I can run smoke through it. I just can't lose too much heat or it will take forever to do a pig. I may go with a commercial unit, like this , but it limits my smoke choices, and will cost as much as the materials to make a bigger, better, all metal box..

bob

[grislyatoms]

Excellent! Looks like a great time, and that pig looks damned good! Pig pickin's back home were always a blast.

[BobR]

As a bonus, by lying her out on her back, I was able to save the backstraps until the end of the night when I finished picking the meat off of her! Nobody thought to cut under the backbone to get to the meat there. Nobody took the cheek meat either, must have been a bunch of city people.

bob

[Ben]

Nice job Bob! Also the Gadsden flag is a plus. :)

[wmenorr67]

Good job.  Thanks for sharing.

[grislyatoms]

Nice job Bob! Also the Gadsden flag is a plus. :)

Ditto.

[grislyatoms]

And is that a Delta Elite I spy on your side?

[BobR]

Also the Gadsden flag is a plus.

Those flags belong to my friend who hosted us. At my house I fly the First Navy Jack, after all, I was in the Navy for quite a while. 
If it wasn't for that, the Gadsen Flag would fly daily.

And is that a Delta Elite I spy on your side?

It is, that has been my daily carry for about 8 years now.



I still love to show it off!

bob

[grislyatoms]

Those flags belong to my friend who hosted us. At my house I fly the First Navy Jack, after all, I was in the Navy for quite a while. 
If it wasn't for that, the Gadsen Flag would fly daily.


It is, that has been my daily carry for about 8 years now.



I still love to show it off!

bob

Very nice! I'm going to get one sooner or later...

[Ben]

You got Ted Yost to work on it?! Lucky dog. Very nice pistol. I have one I got after they were first introduced. One of these days I want to get it into the shop to have the target trigger I had put on it replaced with a good carry trigger job and get an ambi safety, then start to get it into the CCW rotation. Yes I veered the thread. :)

[BobR]

You got Ted Yost to work on it?! Lucky dog

Not much luck involved, just a whole bunch of time (16 months) and an even bigger pile of paper with a picture of a dead postmaster on each of them. We were invited to a wedding in Phoenix while the gun was down there, so I took the opportunity to visit it, and chat with Ted for a while. My wife thought we went for the wedding....ha! I am contemplating doing up another one, pretty much like this one. After all, shouldn't everybody carry a brace of Delta Elites in a double shoulder rig? 

bob