This winter a local Greenhouse Client booked a Pig Roast lunch for his 150 staff. A 160lb pig roast was called for, these were hungry guys: Roasting overnight was required so that the pig would be ready in time to serve at 11am
How we did it:
How to Roast a 160lb Pig
We secured the Pig on to the Roasting Pole in the afternoon, the clamping system would ensure that the large roast would stay firmly on the pole during the overnight roasting. With our experience 1 guy can do this in about 30 minutes however with large pigs it is easier with 2 guys!
I don't know about you but we like our sleep so this baby was spending the night alone! At 12 midnight the pig was put onto roast, the roaster was positioned in the trailer to keep it out of the chilling wind and cold night time temperatures hovering near freezing point.
Waking at 6am we checked the pig, it was at 140 degrees F and looking good. We changed the cylinder of propane and left it to roast for a further 3 hours, as the meat was near to ready we stopped the motor and kept the cooking temperature at 380/400 degrees.
At 9am the Pig was at 170 deg F and ready to be taken to the event. For travel we disconnected the propane and electric hook up and lifted the hex end of the pole out of the engine mount resting the pig on her front legs down in the roaster. We then tightened the pole securely in place with a strap and secured the roaster for driving to our event location.
Arriving at 10am we hooked the propane back up and put the roaster on high to ensure that we had crispy skin.
At 11am as speeches were taking place we put the pig into the carving position above the roaster and started by cutting away the crackling skin on the near side with scissors, following this the Chef started to carve up the meat and placed a chafing dish full of meat on to the buffet along side a couple of salads and fresh buns.
Chef continued to carve the pig and the workers ate and ate and ate until 12:30pm when it was down to the bone, the workers took away the bones to make stock and the head was claimed for Head Cheese. The ears were divided between 2 guys, one for himself and the other for his dog!