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[scaporale]

I am having a round the world party in june.  Each person/couple represents a country and sets up an area around my yard.  The must have a drink and food from that country.  Each person gets a passport and then travels the world eating and drinking.  My wife and i are going to do cuba and do a cuban Pig Roast.  Has anyone cooks a whole hog before?  I have done smaller 12-15lb pigs and 23+lb briskets (in texas) but never a 30+ lb pig.  I plan on butterflying it and cooking it over a low fire ~200F till prop. internal temp. in the thickest ham.  Then rake the coals up to 500F and finish quickly to crisp the skin.  Any other suggestions? 

[Jacob Burton]

I know that some people brush the skin of their pig with a mixture of sugar, salt and spices, dissolved in some water, and then caramelize it at the end of the cooking with a blow torch.

I've seen this down a few times, but have never actually done it myself. Any Hawaiian's in the audience?

[kimdd3]

I've seen it as well, but the process requires a lot of work.

You need to dig a hole in the ground, at least several feet deep, so that you can fit rocks in the bottom and allow for the whole hog to rest inside of it comfortably. Then you need to place the entire hog inside the "ditch" on top of the rocks. The problem is this: getting the coals to be on top so that it cooks from the top down so it allows for a low and slow temp. I've seen apparatuses (apparatii?) for doing this the traditional cuban way, but they do cost alot of money.

In terms of spices, cuba uses alot of sugar and spices for their pork, but I could never figure out exactly what they are.

[Jacob Burton]

Hey Scaporale,

If you get a chance, a photo tutorial on how you actually did this would be great. If you send me the pictures and your instructions I'll post it on the front page of the blog.

[labradors]

No activity in this thread for quite a while, but for anyone interested in Lechón Asado (Cuban Roast Pig), check out THIS PAGE for pictures and information about roasting the whole pig and either THIS PAGE or THIS PAGE for recipes usable at home, without the whole pig (the second recipe is the one I use, since it tastes like what I've actually had in Cuban-owned-and-operated restaurants).