Pig sizes

[Silvercreek]

My nephews have talked me into roasting a pig at my place for the May long weekend.
My question is:

-Approximately how big is a 50 lb pig - length / width / height and how large of a piece of expanded metal will I need to cook it on.

-I was planning on having the pig "butterflied" and possibly cut in to 2 pieces
(split the front and rear ends at the start of the rib cage).

Any help is appreciated.

[bigskinner]

Stand outside of Walmart for 5 mins you,ll see some dandys goin in and out a ther

[fatboyz]

A fifty pounder is about 36" with the head on. I roast mine in a cooker I made with one of those old oval fuel oil tanks used for home heating. If you butterflied it open it would be about 24-28" wide.
This one is about 60 pounds.

[hillbillyreefer]

Originally Posted by fatboyz

A fifty pounder is about 36" with the head on. I roast mine in a cooker I made with one of those old oval fuel oil tanks used for home heating. If you butterflied it open it would be about 24-28" wide.
This one is about 60 pounds.

^^^nailed it.

[Rockjockey]

Mmmmm pig roast.

Silvercreek,
Where are you going to get the pig. I was thinking of doing a roast this year for the guys out at the rig this summer. It has been a while since I rotated one on my cooker and not sure who sells whole roasting pigs anymore. The last one i got was at Rangers in Barrhead. Where are you going to get yours at if you don't mind me asking.

RJ

[hillbillyreefer]

Any small town abattoir should be able to supply whatever you need. Hutterite colony's are a good place to ask too. Check kijiji, small herd producers will also work with you on size and delivery to an abattoir for you.

[gtr]

Originally Posted by Silvercreek

My nephews have talked me into roasting a pig at my place for the May long weekend.
My question is:

-Approximately how big is a 50 lb pig - length / width / height and how large of a piece of expanded metal will I need to cook it on.

-I was planning on having the pig "butterflied" and possibly cut in to 2 pieces
(split the front and rear ends at the start of the rib cage).

Any help is appreciated.

50 pounds is very manageable. Three by two feet grill. I would not cut it up, as it makes more to handle. You will be hooked after your first roast. Good luck.

[stirfry1]

If you can, try to get a full market sized animal. Cost per pound is way better.

I cant remember the exact cost but we used a 100 lbs half last year and it was

not much more than a 50 we did the previous year. I thought the meat

quality was way better.

[Silvercreek]

Originally Posted by Rockjockey

Mmmmm pig roast.

Silvercreek,
Where are you going to get the pig. I was thinking of doing a roast this year for the guys out at the rig this summer. It has been a while since I rotated one on my cooker and not sure who sells whole roasting pigs anymore. The last one i got was at Rangers in Barrhead. Where are you going to get yours at if you don't mind me asking.

RJ

I am getting it at Barrhead Meats which is right on main street.

[257wbyhunter]

Anyone in central alberta can check the warburg hutterite colony they have there own meat shop there and can custom order a pig how ever you want it. Might be cheaper buying right from the supplier.I buy boxes of pork chops there and they are excellent.

[sharpstick]

Darcy at Real Deal Meats in Edm can hook you up with whole hogs as well.
Great meat shop and super guy to deal with.

[Slash8]

pigroast9.jpg

Here's a 65 pounder from a few years back. Stuffed with chopped cabbage prior to getting run through with the rotisserie. Open fire and unbelievable flavor.

[rubyone11]

Originally Posted by fatboyz

A fifty pounder is about 36" with the head on. I roast mine in a cooker I made with one of those old oval fuel oil tanks used for home heating. If you butterflied it open it would be about 24-28" wide.
This one is about 60 pounds.

I bet that tasted delicious!

[Blastoff]

I have been to a few and helped with piggy fries, do them hole just like in the pictures, my opinion only 100 pounds is too big depending on your crowd.

[fatboyz]

We do 2-3 a year. One for our SAR group, one just because, and one for a block party we host in the Cul de sac every year. Treat the neighbors to one of these and you'll never get a complaint from anyone for dragging something dead into the driveway and spilling blood all over the road and sidewalk or for welding and grinding at 7:30 on a sunday morning!!

[xxclaro]

What kind of wire are you guys wrapping it in? I have a couple of those oval tanks sitting around waiting to be made into something, what kind of heat source and rotating device did you use?

[Rockjockey]

Thanks Silvercreek
That is Rangers. Goog to know they are still supplying them.

[Rockjockey]

xxclaro,
I use chicken wire. One thing I do different is skin and behead the pig and then wrap the chicken wire bound pig in tinfoil. The last hour I pull off the tin foil and smoke it and slather it in BBQ sauce.
My heat source is propane. I took a couple pieces of 3/4 pipe and drilled little holes into it for the gas. Kind of like the old time log starters. Seems to work good, but I might modify it this year and put some BBQ burners in it so I can vary the heat from the front end of the pig to the hinds.
My is turned with a small 1/4 horse motor and reducer gear box that was surplussed from Princess Auto. I have a new reducer gear box and a 1/2 horse that I need to fab up this spring.
I also have a rectangular frame contraption that I use to squeeze the pig down so it doesn't flop around once it starts to get close to being done.
One other thing is I use a counter weight on the end of the spit to balance the pig. I find I can get it close without the counter balance but it is a bunch of screwing around. With the counter weight it is a simple matter of sliding the weight out on the arm until porky spins nice and evenly.

RJ

[fatboyz]

Originally Posted by xxclaro

What kind of wire are you guys wrapping it in? I have a couple of those oval tanks sitting around waiting to be made into something, what kind of heat source and rotating device did you use?

I built mine right from scratch. For the Rotisserie I used a piece of 1" carbon steel, and made two forks from carbon steel that slide on the main rod. I used a pillow block bearing on one end and the other goes into a 35:1 angle gear reduction. That has an 18"combine pulley welded on. It's driven by a belt and furnace motor with a 2" pulley. Heat source is a homemade burner with a 3 1/2" heavy wall pipe running down the center with slots cut into it cross wise every 2". I used the burner part of a salt bath heater and added a line to a propane bottle. A tiger torch shoved into the open end of the pipe would work too. I wrap it with one wrap of mechanics wire, then completely with chicken wire, then another good wrap of mechanics wire. Takes about 1/2 of a 20 pound bottle of propane to cook a 75 pound hog. I run it at 375F. Takes 5-6 hours. (and 4 beers).

[birdee]

4 BEERS
you aint doing it right.
1 every hour is 6 or more

[fatboyz]

Originally Posted by birdee

4 BEERS
you aint doing it right.
1 every hour is 6 or more

My system is a little hillbilly and temperamental, if rate of beer/hr gets too high the risk of loss of eyebrows and hair on your arms increases greatly! I have had a few "lean flash overs" when you have low intake oxygen and have a build up in the lid. When you open the lid the in rush of air causes a fire ball.

[13mileranch]

Originally Posted by fatboyz

My system is a little hillbilly and temperamental, if rate of beer/hr gets too high the risk of loss of eyebrows and hair on your arms increases greatly! I have had a few "lean flash overs" when you have low intake oxygen and have a build up in the lid. When you open the lid the in rush of air causes a fire ball.

It's the same with the Big Green Egg. They call it "burping" the cooker.
Your set up looks neat. Obviously works well. I'm going to try and build one with firebrick. Still in the planning stage. I will post pics when I start building.

[bigskinner]

Originally Posted by fatboyz

I built mine right from scratch. For the Rotisserie I used a piece of 1" carbon steel, and made two forks from carbon steel that slide on the main rod. I used a pillow block bearing on one end and the other goes into a 35:1 angle gear reduction. That has an 18"combine pulley welded on. It's driven by a belt and furnace motor with a 2" pulley. Heat source is a homemade burner with a 3 1/2" heavy wall pipe running down the center with slots cut into it cross wise every 2". I used the burner part of a salt bath heater and added a line to a propane bottle. A tiger torch shoved into the open end of the pipe would work too. I wrap it with one wrap of mechanics wire, then completely with chicken wire, then another good wrap of mechanics wire. Takes about 1/2 of a 20 pound bottle of propane to cook a 75 pound hog. I run it at 375F. Takes 5-6 hours. (and 4 beers).

b b b buttttttt , where do you make the GRAVYYYYYYYY ., gotta have gravy

[Ivo]

What's the chicken wire for?

[13mileranch]

I am in the process of designing a lump charcoal roasting pit for hogs etc.. Probably the largest hog we would roast would be 80 lbs. I need some suggestions on what distance I should give between the back wall (fire brick) of the pit to the centre of the rotisserie rod so the hog would be able to rotate freely.

My guess would be around 18 inches but if someone can help that would be great.

[Looper]

This is what I made to cook pigs. Thats an 80lb pig. Also use to smoke/dry summer sausage. Works very well except skin is not crispy and too smokey to eat.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[tbiddy]

Use one of these to roast it:

https://www.lacajachina.com

Last time I looked, I think there was somebody if red deer that rented them. Was awhile ago though.