Thoughts on a "Roasting Box"

[smknhotmama]

I've always been interested in a La Caja China cooker.
Anyone own one know of soemone that does...so on...or your thoughts in general on the matter are always appreciated!

[MilitantSquatter]

We've got quite a few members who own or have used a La Caja China or similar . I am sure they will chime in with good feedback.

Lots of previous threads too...try the google search at the bottom of the screen.

Good Luck !!!

[smknhotmama]

Thanks...will do.

[swamprb]

I paid $40 for a used #2. Cooked chickens, butts and picnics on it. The birds were done in the time advertised, but the pork took twice the time. Cost for a small pig or availability has been its only drawback for me. As cool as they seemed at the time the materials don't reflect the price tag. I scored on mine, but would not consider $350+shipping to own one.
It is a fuel hog, but if you did Dutch Oven cooking, add a grill or rotisserie, it might be a more efficient outdoor cooker. There are a few others that have them, but SIDE and Leeper are the only guys with the piggypron.

[CraigC]

They are very popular in south Florida as the cuban folks love to cook whole pig in a dug pit. Since you generally hit water a few feet down, the alternative to the pit is La Caja China. The sole purpose is whole pig or suckling pig (Xmas eve tradition for most cubans). They don't seem to be really into spice and smoke. If you pick up a cuban cookbook, you will find very little use of hot stuff which is popular in other Caribbean Islands. Their favorite Q sauce is called Mojo, which is heavy with garlic and lime or sour orange. I love the stuff and the Mojo is a great foil for the fatty pork. They also love the crispy skin that results from the coals being above the meat. These surely use a lot of fuel.

Craig

[early mornin' smokin']

we have one, it isnt smoked meat by any sense of the word, more like roasted. But chopped up, seasoned and sauced, its pretty damn good, a 75lb usually uses about the same amount of kingsford.

[Hugh Jorgan]

Oy yeah, these things were a fad around here in the early eighties. We called them Cajun Cookers. never had anything but chicken out of them. Everybody else is right, they use a LOT of fuel. The one my buddy had we would just build a fire on the top instead of using charcoal. Ours never had bottoms. We put the chicken or whatever in foil pans on the ground and the cooker was really just a big lid. I had chicken from one most recently 5 years ago. The guy didn't know what he was doing though and it was undercooked. Might as well use the oven in my book.

[Leeper]

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ght=Caja+china

Here is a link from one of last summer's cooks if you want to see it in action.

It is best to think of this thing as a large oven with a charcoal grill on top vs. a large smoker. I love it when I have the need for it but honestly it only gets used 3-4 times a year for me. It isn't that much money to pick one up but I wouldn't buy one if I was debating between a UDS, BGE or WSM.

As the guys above said, there are plenty of threads on this thing, give them a read. If you have any more questions I would be happy to answer them.

[big brother smoke]

WE cooked on me ex La Caja at the bash 2 years ago. I cooked several pigs on her!
Do a search aon sao cal bashes!

[Norcoredneck]

Originally Posted by big brother smoke

WE cooked on me ex La Caja at the bash 2 years ago. I cooked several pigs on her!
Do a search aon sao cal bashes!

Man Stef you would have thought I had typed this. Was your girlfriend making MOINK while you posted this?

[big brother smoke]

Originally Posted by Norcoredneck

Man Stef you would have thought I had typed this. Was your girlfriend making MOINK while you posted this?

I usually look over my post before pressing submit. I were distracted