A whole dressed roasting pig ready to roast weighs between 80 to 120 pounds when prepared correctly by the butcher.
Roasting a whole pig for celebrations, parties and even sales events is a common activity in many parts of the country. There are a number of ways to roast a pig, and each requires a different piece of equipment. Building an above-ground pit at home is cost-efficient and produces a very good roasted pig. Very few materials, tools or technical knowledge are required to assemble an above-ground homemade pig roaster.
Instructions
1. Select a spot for the pit that is located on a gentle slope.
2. Measure a space 5 feet long and 4 feet wide. Locate the pit so that the 5 feet length is parallel to the slope. The idea is for grease from the longer side of the pit to flow downhill.
3. Dig a 5-foot-long trench that is approximately 6 inches deep and 3 feet away from the side of the pit. Fill the trench with kitty litter or sawdust. The grease that runs downhill will collect in the trench, where it will be absorbed by the absorbent material and you can dispose of it as necessary. After the pig is roasted, the trench can be cleaned out and filled in with the soil that was removed when it was dug.
4. Place concrete blocks end to end five blocks long, four blocks wide and two blocks high. This size of pit will accommodate two hogs with an average weight of 100 pounds each. The pit will easily accommodate one pig that is larger than 100 pounds or one that is butterflied, or split lengthwise, and spread open into two halves that are still connected.
5. Cover the bottom of the pit with heavy aluminum freezer foil. Space out 12 regular size construction bricks evenly across the bottom of the pit on top of the foil.
6. Place a heavy coarse sheet of screen wire or fine steel grate on top of the bricks that reaches from side to side and end to end of the pit.
7. Rest three pieces of 1/2-inch rebar, approximately 5 feet long, on top of the concrete block walls of the above-ground pit. The lengths of re-bar, available from home improvement stores, are evenly spaced across the width of the pit so that another piece of fine steel grate can be placed on top of them. The pig will be placed on top of this grate during the roasting process and the grease will drain through the grate.
Tags: feet long, fine steel, fine steel grate, from side, steel grate