Postponed Pig

[CraigC]

I didn't realize, until I picked up the pig and brought it home, that it wouldn't fit in the Horizon. After debating what to do, I rented a Caja China and pushed the cook until tomorrow. I'll post pics then.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

At first that sounds a little bit disappointing, perhaps not so much.

The only time I have seen a Caja China 'que roaster was by 3 guys from Miami. That means you will need a volunteer to help. I am willing to step up to the plate on this one.

Lots napkins for good eating and lots of pics please. Happy New Year!

 

[CraigC]

At first that sounds a little bit disappointing, perhaps not so much.

The only time I have seen a Caja China 'que roaster was by 3 guys from Miami. That means you will need a volunteer to help. I am willing to step up to the plate on this one.

Lots napkins for good eating and lots of pics please. Happy New Year!

Come on down! It is only a 30#(almost) pig, so with Karen's help we'll manage. To add insult to injury, a copper pipe in our small bathroom decided to give up the ghost. Good thing the HD was open.

 

[rodentraiser]

OK, everyone on DC, Craig's hosting the New Year's Day party!

 

[buckytom]

Absolutely! I'll be there by the afternoon.

 

[CraigC]

Some pics.

Pig after injection.

Pig with rub.

Caja China.

 

[rodentraiser]

Oh, dear. I could deal with that if it just didn't look like a pig.

 

[lyndalou]

Oh, dear. I could deal with that if it just didn't look like a pig.

That's what I was thinking.

 

[GotGarlic]

Oh, dear. I could deal with that if it just didn't look like a pig.

It's a suckling pig. What should it look like?

 

[CraigC]

I figured the low response was because it is mostly a whole pig (the trotters will be part of the "broth" for soup dumplings). So, I guess Peking Duck and whole fish are taboo as well?

 

[Dawgluver]

(Packs suitcase and heads to FLA). Would happily share in the feast, Craig!

 

[GotGarlic]

I think it's pretty cool ? I'm not a big fan of Cuban flavors, but when I was a kid, my parents had a big party for the company my mom worked for at the time. The main dish was a full-size hog that my dad procured from a neighbor; his grandparents raised hogs for a while when he was growing up, so he was used to being around them. (We lived on a small farm for a couple of years.)

So, at about age 10, I went with him to get the pig, not really realizing they were going to slaughter it that day. Did it right there in the field. My dad brought it home and hung it in the garage to bleed out, then they dug a pit in the yard and roasted it for a couple of days, then finished it on a spit. It was really good

Long story short, whole animals don't bother me How did the cook go? What did you have with it?

 

[Addie]

When you spend part of your young life on a farm, there are some parts of life you learn to accept. Lesson one! Do not name your pet unless it is for the stud book only. Our two pigs were named Him and Her. And I hated feeding them. Lesson two! Sooner or later all the animals are just fodder for the chopping block.

 

[Andy M.]

Any pics of the finished product before you finished it off?

 

[rodentraiser]

It's a suckling pig. What should it look like?

I could have done without seeing the head, even from upside down. That's just me. I still get creeped out taking the shells off shrimp. I can't stand to touch those legs. And I can barely clean the stuff out from inside a store bought chicken.

My mother and my aunt laugh about the chickens they used to kill and the ones that would run around the yard after their heads were chopped off. They think I'm a wimp and they're probably right.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

It just takes time to get used to it, rr. I'm 65 and I still have issues with mixing raw ground beef and eggs together with my hands...

...Lesson one! Do not name your pet unless it is for the stud book only...

Our butcher told me about the time his kids asked for a calf for a Christmas gift. He told them it was OK as long as they named it "Pot Roast" knowing full well it would BE one someday.

 

[medtran49]

Craig has a very long day today. He's got to drive way up north on his work run, went to bed early and left shortly after 4 a.m. this morning, and probably won't be back until close to 6 this evening, maybe even later. And, he'll probably have to take the caja china back when he gets home as they weren't open Sunday or Monday. Told him I'd take it back if he'd put it in the car and if they'd unload it (after he called them today), but he didn't put it in the car.

We had baked beans done either in the caja china with the pig or in the BGE that he was using to light the coals, not sure since I didn't go out while he was cooking, and cole slaw as sides. He did get a picture of the finished pig, but didn't check to make sure it was okay, and then later found it was extremely blurry. I thought it was really good, very moist and pulled beautifully.

He pulled apart the middle third and back third. I told him I'd pull the rest and I did pull the body part, but frankly couldn't bring myself to do the head, so I wimped out and left that for him. RR, you should have seen it before he splayed it out like in the picture. I tried to look at it as little as possible before, especially when it was all curled up in the box it came in. Logically, I know our meat comes from animals but I'm not really fond of seeing them whole either.

 

[buckytom]

I hate it when you go to a lot of trouble cooking, but then the pictures don't come out.

Many years ago, my buddy and I used to Q a whole hog every year on his birthday. We'd set it up on Friday night and take shifts basting it and tending the coals through the night and during the following day until it was ready to eat. His guests would begin to arrive around the same time and campout in his backyard until Monday.

Since everyone was usually really wasted by Saturday afternoon (psychedelics were often involved), it was always my job to butcher the finished beast. In order to keep people away while I was chopping, slicing, and pulling, I'd lop off the head and place it on a pike outside the kitchen "tent" where I was working. That worked pretty well in keeping grubby fingers from picking at the thing.

The best part was that no one wanted to have anything to do with the delicious meat from the head, so that was always mine.

Med, will you guys be utilizing those bits, like the cheeks and the muscles around the face?

 

[medtran49]

I
Med, will you guys be utilizing those bits, like the cheeks and the muscles around the face?

I'm sure we will, not sure what though. Suggestions? Thought about just telling him to chop the head off and we'd make head cheese when he was having the dilemma about the smoker not being long enough, but then he decided to rent the caja china.

 

[buckytom]

Head cheese is a good one.

One of the best things that I made one year was the bits of head meat mixed simply into pasta alio oglio, with a good amount of black pepper.