I find I have a new addiction, cooking large pieces of meat. Some may remember my first Pig Roast 1.0. While successful by any definition, there was like most ventures definitely room for improvement.
Some notable areas requiring an upgrade:
Removing the hair from the hog. This was solved thanks to a donor 500 gallon propane which I quite nervously cut the ends off of with a torch. (This is actually a rather safe practice much to my surprise) The cut off end was then placed on a cut 55 gallon drum with a large propane burner inside. Water was allowed to boil then the volunteer hog took a 2 minute swim. The hair/skin came right off with the help of an old lawn mower blade and an expired license plate. This was a marked improvement from last time.
Turning the spit. Before we were forced to do it by hand. To say it sucked would be a severe and misleading understatement. Thankfully, we have what are called "big trash days" where twice a year people line their curbs with all sorts of free goodies. While diving home one afternoon I spotted a guy tossing a John Deere Powerwheels and the idea hit me so I picked it up and two houses down found the right donor bike, now all I needed were some bronze bushings and some metal, both I had cluttering my own garage.
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The motor is of course 12 volt allowing easy portability. With the gear reduction the shaft turns 100 rpm. I forget the circumference of the tire but by the time power is transferred to the spit we are at 2 rpm, which appears to be ideal. In testing, the unit turned 70 lbs without struggle. This side of pork was about 30 lbs. Having the meat turn at a constant speed without our undivided attention was a godsend.
Notes of interest:
Total cook time was approximately 8 hrs with a finished internal temp of 170-180.
One regular car battery ran the spit the entire time without issue.
I fed this pig out for 4 months, the last month and a half I fed nothing but cracked corn. I now believe this to be a bad idea. While the 1.5" of fat looked good I believe it severely hindered proper cooking. But the cracklings were badass to say the least.
Hog was basted throughout the cooking with canola oil, kosher salt and pork seasoning.
As always, suggestions and ideas are welcome.
Some notable areas requiring an upgrade:
Removing the hair from the hog. This was solved thanks to a donor 500 gallon propane which I quite nervously cut the ends off of with a torch. (This is actually a rather safe practice much to my surprise) The cut off end was then placed on a cut 55 gallon drum with a large propane burner inside. Water was allowed to boil then the volunteer hog took a 2 minute swim. The hair/skin came right off with the help of an old lawn mower blade and an expired license plate. This was a marked improvement from last time.
Turning the spit. Before we were forced to do it by hand. To say it sucked would be a severe and misleading understatement. Thankfully, we have what are called "big trash days" where twice a year people line their curbs with all sorts of free goodies. While diving home one afternoon I spotted a guy tossing a John Deere Powerwheels and the idea hit me so I picked it up and two houses down found the right donor bike, now all I needed were some bronze bushings and some metal, both I had cluttering my own garage.
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The motor is of course 12 volt allowing easy portability. With the gear reduction the shaft turns 100 rpm. I forget the circumference of the tire but by the time power is transferred to the spit we are at 2 rpm, which appears to be ideal. In testing, the unit turned 70 lbs without struggle. This side of pork was about 30 lbs. Having the meat turn at a constant speed without our undivided attention was a godsend.
Notes of interest:
Total cook time was approximately 8 hrs with a finished internal temp of 170-180.
One regular car battery ran the spit the entire time without issue.
I fed this pig out for 4 months, the last month and a half I fed nothing but cracked corn. I now believe this to be a bad idea. While the 1.5" of fat looked good I believe it severely hindered proper cooking. But the cracklings were badass to say the least.
Hog was basted throughout the cooking with canola oil, kosher salt and pork seasoning.
As always, suggestions and ideas are welcome.
