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Post by Paws on Mar 21, 2006 10:45:07 GMT 12.75
Sent to me by my Internet friend Dave or Otterkins who is from that friendly Northern 51st state! Noticed a recipe for roast pig on your site. Here's another way of doing it. Sounds like a lot of work, but it isn't really. Most of the time is just waiting for the pig to finish cooking. Go off hunting or fishing while it's cooking. UNDERGROUND ROAST PIG Instructions: The night before dig a pit 10-15 in" deep. Find small (1 to 2 lb.) lava or other porous rock and some hard wood. (Hickory, Oak, Mesquite etc.) Layer wood and rock to make huge mound in the pit and set on fire about 3AM. Coals and white hot rocks will be ready about 7. Check each hour. Salt/Pepper pig inside and out; rub hard. Add any further seasonings you like. Wild sage rinsed, drained and stuffed in the cavity is quite nice. Be inventive here. I bet a whole sliced pineapple or halved apples would be great in this! Pig should be at room temperature. Cover rock/embers with wet corn leaves or husks - 3 to 6 layers. Wet grass can also be used, but be careful what variety is chosen as some can leave an odd or bitter taste to the meat. Seaweed can also be used. Cover this with layers of wet burlap sacks. Start at the outside and layer like shingles on a roof to the middle. Put pig on a small section of small wire fence like you use to keep chicks in. With tongs put several hot rocks in pig cavity near thickest part of meat. Spread one layer of corn leaves on burlap and place pig in the middle of the pit encased in the wire. Once cooked, you will never get the pig out of the pit in one piece if the wire wrap is not used. Place more leaves over the pig and then cover with burlap again starting from outside and like roof shingles to the middle. Shovel the dirt back into the pit completely covering it. Don't leave any holes. Sprinkle lightly with a garden hose or watering can. Steam will escape but keep well covered. About 4 or 5 in the afternoon it will be done. It’s also fun to put in a few chickens/whole fish/goats/potatoes/vegies all wrapped tightly in foil. Very carefully shovel dirt from the top of the pit. When the middle burlap is seen start rolling it back toward the sides and ends. Pig will be thoroughly cooked with meat falling off the bone. Put on a large wood trencher on the picnic table and let the guests pick their own pieces. This is the most succulent and tender pork you will ever taste! Eat Hearty!!! Otterkins
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Post by brittonfaith on Mar 21, 2006 10:54:28 GMT 12.75
Oh sounds so good! I'm drooling already. ;D
I have a question and excuse me if it's dumb. (I've been the queen of dumb questions lately.) But, I've never done a hog pit before. Do you skin the pig first? I've heard of it being done with and without hide.
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Post by Paws on Mar 21, 2006 11:17:09 GMT 12.75
Up to the cook! In the Philippines one of the very favorite parts was the crackeling skin. After the pig is pit cooked they move it to an open grill where the air and heat crisp up the skin. They fight over the tail and ears. I think probably my preference is to not skin it; however, if we are past pig and into hog (which technically happens at 200 pounds body weight) I would at least scrape the hair off the hog if not skinned. By the way Faith, do you guys have access to burlap?
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Mar 21, 2006 12:09:10 GMT 12.75
I don't know about Faith but I don't think you can find burlap around here. I can remember that Grandpa used to get his cow feed in burlap or as we say in Arkansas ToeSacks. But I haven't seen any in a long time
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Post by brittonfaith on Mar 21, 2006 13:35:22 GMT 12.75
Burlap is readily available at larger fabric stores. Before everything went to plastic and paper bags, we got our feed in them too. Here in Ohio they're gunny bags or as some of the old timers around here call them, oat pokes.
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Post by Paws on Mar 21, 2006 15:44:59 GMT 12.75
Thanks guys. I have not seen burlap for some time. Lots of that plastic make believe burlap around but no jute or hemp or what ever that stuff is. I could use some twenty and fifty pound bags for reenactments too. ;D
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Post by Two Tales on Mar 22, 2006 7:46:06 GMT 12.75
Now them are two terms I aint heard in a coons age, Gunny Sack and Oat Poke...last time I need some burlap had to go to jo-ann's for it and that just aint right Paws, I post they way we used to do a hog in the ground...later....
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Post by Paws on Mar 22, 2006 8:24:12 GMT 12.75
I want to hear it TT! I been to Joannes Fabric looking for small flower print to convert to flour sacks. Got lucky and ran into some cheap pillow cases at Family Dollar that were perfect. Never thought to look for burlap there.
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Post by Toby Benoit on Mar 22, 2006 10:38:41 GMT 12.75
That's the way Daddy learned to do it from a guy he worked with at the power plant years ago when I was a kid.
The man's name was Tippy and he was from the Virgin Islands. He taught dad to soak whole ears of corn, unshucked over night and fill the pigs body cavity with them and let them roast with the pig. Taters wrapped in foil cook up just right too in there.
We still do it at least once a year. Usually Dad has a get together just before hunting season, lots of years on labor day and will bury a wild hog. He always skins it, but has talked about scalding one and doing it with the skin on. I bet it's turn out real good.
He marinates it with a mojo sauce he makes out of sour oranges and OOHHHH BOY is it good!
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Post by Two Tales on Apr 5, 2006 6:15:56 GMT 12.75
I aint forgot ya'll...I had it all writ up and then lost power..so I have to do it again...think I'll write it in "word" the cut and paste it...may take me a few more days, been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest around here for the last couple of weeks...I want to get it right without...having to many questions asked afterwards...in other words a kinda step by step...incase ya'll want to get'er done ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Paws on Apr 5, 2006 7:03:41 GMT 12.75
TT you are starting to sound like me man! The oven is packaged, not mailed; but packed. Next is Whitetailhunter's book! Sheesh, only been since August! Next is Addison's bear, Brian's wood, ....
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Post by brittonfaith on Apr 5, 2006 7:11:05 GMT 12.75
Was I ever thinking of you all this morning! I was heading over to mom's and there was a farm estate auction. I knew the family so I stopped by to see what kink of "goodies" they had. There on the hay wagon was a stack of, I'd guess, over 2000 nice clean burlap bags! And of course I didn't have my bill fold with me. DANG!
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Post by Two Tales on Apr 5, 2006 19:42:30 GMT 12.75
Faith,
Ya'll means ta tell us that you don't keep a couple of bucks folded up in your shoe....now what kinda country girl are ya.... ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by brittonfaith on Apr 6, 2006 5:04:54 GMT 12.75
The kind of country girl that don't wear shoes unless by court order! ;D ;D ;D I used to tuck a little mad money down inside my blouse. But it kept getting lost and I couldn't find it until I decided to change shirts....
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Post by Paws on Apr 6, 2006 5:06:12 GMT 12.75
You mean you couldn't get anyone to help you look for it?
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Post by brittonfaith on Apr 6, 2006 5:07:31 GMT 12.75
;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Two Tales on Apr 6, 2006 5:23:24 GMT 12.75
Faith honey,
sorry about that, I re read the post and see you was headed to your mom's house..thought you was going to town...one of my Dad's second cousins used to keep money and odds and ends of things tucked away in there..her br...er....shirt, that is...heck she even had a .25 cal darrenger in there...("just in case" as she put it)...you know a li'l gun tucked in between the "BIG" guns.... ;D ;D ;D
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Post by OLKoot on Apr 6, 2006 14:05:52 GMT 12.75
Never got to do a pig, but I did do plenty of steaks and chops in a similar manner....Potatos or Mickies as they call it here are done in a pit or in the BBQ down deep amongst the coals...
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Post by Two Tales on Apr 8, 2006 19:56:54 GMT 12.75
As promised:
Back some time ago I used to help out cooking pigs and oxen in a pit…first thing was to have enough dry wood on hand…then we would dig a pit about 8 feet long and 5 feet wide and about 7 feet deep, we start a couple of smallish fires on the ground and ad some wood to it then place them into the pit...after that we kept the fires burning until the pit was nearly full of hot coals…then we were ready for the critter to be roasted done them stuffed with taters, sweet corn, fruit and nearly any thing you can think of…once we filled a hog up with chickens, always gave it a rub of salt and a bunch of other spices…
we started with the burlap thing then progressed to a tank (watering trough) with a corrugated steel lid...some of the folks didn’t care for the ashes that always ended up in with the meat and tatters…so we built a tray about 3 ½’ wide and about 5’ long with 8” sides...we attached sides to this with pins…the top when assembled was just big enough to slide down over the tray...we used ½” black pipe and a “L” shaped pin to hold the sides and top together...we also welded 4 chains to the top and used a bucket lift to put it in the ground and take it out…having a cousin that runs a back hoeing business is helpful...
we’d dig of a goodly amount of the coals using the tractor and then lower the, I guess you’d call it a box in to the pit and then cover it with coals, then some dirt…and let it cook over night and next AM…then dig it out pull the top off and station serving stuff around the saw horses we used to set it on and let folks just dig in…the meat just kinda fell away from the bones and you just went up and pulled some off on to your plate…
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Post by Paws on Apr 10, 2006 7:11:10 GMT 12.75
You know Ralph that technique sounds like it was invented by a bunch of folk who worked at the cemetery! ;D
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