markdtn
is one Smokin' Farker
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2010
- Location
- Chattano...
I am a Boy Scout Scoutmaster. My oldest son earned his Eagle Scout and wanted me to cook a pig in the ground for the ceremony. I have always wanted to do that so I was happy to do it. I did a lot of research and want to thank all of you, especially Cowgirl, for the advice and encouragement. Following is the story of the days before and the day of.
Before-get a grate ($5 new scrap); buy burlap($?), concrete reinforcing mesh ($8-basically un-galvanized fence), a load of hardwood($45), aluminum foil($15), 30 firebricks($65), and a 4x8 metal plate($75)
Monday-50-60 lb frozen dressed pig supposed to arrive at local meat processor. Begin digging hole
Tuesday-find out pig not delivered, “maybe Saturday”-start to panic, explain my plans, and am assured it will be here Thursday morning. This does not allow
long to thaw, but have no choice. Continue digging hole.
Wednesday-more digging
Thursday-get a call that the pig is in. Breathe small sigh of relief but weather for the weekend not looking great-cold and rainy. Get advice on how to defrost a frozen pig. Hole is finished. It is 3’ deep, 3’ wide, and 5’ long.
Friday:
2:00 leave work early, go get pig ($165). It is misting rain.
3:00 arrive home with frozen pig and a chest full of ice; put pig in bathtub to thaw. Change water every 20-30 minutes.
3:45 start fire small using weedburner and bacon grease. Add wood hourly until 9:00
6:30 pig is sufficiently thawed so I ice it until 9:00. Misty rain still coming and going.
6:45 My parents arrive from 200 miles away. My mother has bought a large cooler of fruit and items to decorate a cooked pig.
9:00 take pig to kitchen table to dress it. Covered the table with a disposable painters dropcloth. We rubbed the outside with olive oil. We injected it with a mixture of white grape juice, apple juice, turbanado sugar and salt. We used a dry rub in the cavity. We put potatoes, onions, garlic, and corn on the cob into the cavity. We wrapped it in aluminum foil, then wet burlap, then the concrete mesh.
10:00 we put the grate into the pit. We have a beautiful 12” bed of hardwood coals, mostly Oak with some Hickory and Apple. We put the pig in it’s cocoon onto the grate. We put the plate over the hole and cover the edges with dirt until no smoke comes out.
Up until now I believe we did everything right. Here is where it all goes sideways.
Saturday:
7:30 I feel the plate and it is warm, not hot. It is 38 degrees outside so I think it is OK. Big mistake. Had I dug it up now I could have still had it for the party.
8:00-11:45 fire up the Klose 20x50 BYC and do 6 whole chickens and a pork loin. Got some good Hickory and they all turn out well.
12:00 dig up the pig. It is obvious when the hole is opened that there is not a lot of action in there. The coals are out, the top layer you can feel warmth but no heat. We lift it out with no need for the wire handles. There are red juices coming out. We take it inside to access the situation. I was prepared for this with 15 packs of pulled pork in the freezer, but never believed this would cause me to need them-I always thought it would be burnt not underdone. We have to leave at 1:40 to go set up for a the 4:00 event. There is no way this pig will be ready. Dad and I decide it is not ruined, it has stayed hot enough.
12:15 We put the pig onto the BYC and put more fuel in the firebox. My dad agrees to stay until 3:40 and add fuel. At the same time we are furiously defrosting 15 packs of frozen pulled pork.
1:40 we leave for the Ceremony
3:40 Dad loads up the firebox with wood and almost closes the damper.
4:00 Ceremony. Goes well. I am very proud of my son. About 100 people come to share the event.
5:15 Dinner. My mother uses the cooler full of fruit to decorate the pans of previously frozen pulled pork.
7:30 arrive back home and check the pig. It is done, but I sacrificed some of the meat with having no chance to wrap it.
7:40 Take it off, throw away the onions, garlic, etc. and start pulling the good meat. I get about a pan and a half. It tastes good.
Sunday-invite the whole congregation to share the leftovers. I froze about 5 bags after that.
Lessons learned
1-my soil will not allow complete blockage of smoke. I should have left some small air flow to the hole.
2-Not sure I will try a pig in the ground again. My family says I should, but I may just go with the concrete block pit or just put it on the BYC.
3-A backup plan is always a good thing. The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared”
Thank you all again for your advice and encouragement. Hopefully this will help somebody to have a more successful cook that I did.
http://s241.photobucket.com/user/markdtn/media/Pig/8_zps475fe95e.jpg.html
Before-get a grate ($5 new scrap); buy burlap($?), concrete reinforcing mesh ($8-basically un-galvanized fence), a load of hardwood($45), aluminum foil($15), 30 firebricks($65), and a 4x8 metal plate($75)
Monday-50-60 lb frozen dressed pig supposed to arrive at local meat processor. Begin digging hole
Tuesday-find out pig not delivered, “maybe Saturday”-start to panic, explain my plans, and am assured it will be here Thursday morning. This does not allow
long to thaw, but have no choice. Continue digging hole.
Wednesday-more digging
Thursday-get a call that the pig is in. Breathe small sigh of relief but weather for the weekend not looking great-cold and rainy. Get advice on how to defrost a frozen pig. Hole is finished. It is 3’ deep, 3’ wide, and 5’ long.
Friday:
2:00 leave work early, go get pig ($165). It is misting rain.
3:00 arrive home with frozen pig and a chest full of ice; put pig in bathtub to thaw. Change water every 20-30 minutes.
3:45 start fire small using weedburner and bacon grease. Add wood hourly until 9:00
6:30 pig is sufficiently thawed so I ice it until 9:00. Misty rain still coming and going.
6:45 My parents arrive from 200 miles away. My mother has bought a large cooler of fruit and items to decorate a cooked pig.
9:00 take pig to kitchen table to dress it. Covered the table with a disposable painters dropcloth. We rubbed the outside with olive oil. We injected it with a mixture of white grape juice, apple juice, turbanado sugar and salt. We used a dry rub in the cavity. We put potatoes, onions, garlic, and corn on the cob into the cavity. We wrapped it in aluminum foil, then wet burlap, then the concrete mesh.
10:00 we put the grate into the pit. We have a beautiful 12” bed of hardwood coals, mostly Oak with some Hickory and Apple. We put the pig in it’s cocoon onto the grate. We put the plate over the hole and cover the edges with dirt until no smoke comes out.
Up until now I believe we did everything right. Here is where it all goes sideways.
Saturday:
7:30 I feel the plate and it is warm, not hot. It is 38 degrees outside so I think it is OK. Big mistake. Had I dug it up now I could have still had it for the party.
8:00-11:45 fire up the Klose 20x50 BYC and do 6 whole chickens and a pork loin. Got some good Hickory and they all turn out well.
12:00 dig up the pig. It is obvious when the hole is opened that there is not a lot of action in there. The coals are out, the top layer you can feel warmth but no heat. We lift it out with no need for the wire handles. There are red juices coming out. We take it inside to access the situation. I was prepared for this with 15 packs of pulled pork in the freezer, but never believed this would cause me to need them-I always thought it would be burnt not underdone. We have to leave at 1:40 to go set up for a the 4:00 event. There is no way this pig will be ready. Dad and I decide it is not ruined, it has stayed hot enough.
12:15 We put the pig onto the BYC and put more fuel in the firebox. My dad agrees to stay until 3:40 and add fuel. At the same time we are furiously defrosting 15 packs of frozen pulled pork.
1:40 we leave for the Ceremony
3:40 Dad loads up the firebox with wood and almost closes the damper.
4:00 Ceremony. Goes well. I am very proud of my son. About 100 people come to share the event.
5:15 Dinner. My mother uses the cooler full of fruit to decorate the pans of previously frozen pulled pork.
7:30 arrive back home and check the pig. It is done, but I sacrificed some of the meat with having no chance to wrap it.
7:40 Take it off, throw away the onions, garlic, etc. and start pulling the good meat. I get about a pan and a half. It tastes good.
Sunday-invite the whole congregation to share the leftovers. I froze about 5 bags after that.
Lessons learned
1-my soil will not allow complete blockage of smoke. I should have left some small air flow to the hole.
2-Not sure I will try a pig in the ground again. My family says I should, but I may just go with the concrete block pit or just put it on the BYC.
3-A backup plan is always a good thing. The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared”
Thank you all again for your advice and encouragement. Hopefully this will help somebody to have a more successful cook that I did.
http://s241.photobucket.com/user/markdtn/media/Pig/8_zps475fe95e.jpg.html
