The meat on a roast pig is picked from the carcass for serving.
Roasting a whole pig can seem intimidating on the surface, but unless you are slaughtering and removing the organs yourself, it's a very simple process. The Hawaiian style of roasting a pig involves creating a rock pit lined with hot coals and hardwood and laying the pig right on top of the heat source. Some luau traditions even include burying the pig beneath the ground to cook. You can roast a pig in your own backyard by placing it on a spit on grill grates and get the same result. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Fill a bathtub with cold water. Add the pig to the tub. Add 40 pounds of ice and four cups of table salt to the tub and swirl the water around to mix the salt well. Allow the pig to sit in the brine overnight. Add additional ice as necessary.
2. Remove the pig from the brine and dry the carcass as much as possible. Set up your fire pit, with either a grill grate or spit located above the coals. Truss the pig around the front and back legs and around the torso in several places if using the spit method.
3. Rub the surface of the pig, as well as inside the cavity, with salt and ground black pepper. Cut small slits into several spots on the pig's skin and insert garlic clove slivers, if desired.
4. Wrap the entire pig in banana leaves if you wish to follow Hawaiian-style tradition. Wrap the pig in chicken wire to hold the banana leaves in place.
Tags: banana leaves