On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 10:36:49 -0500, RAY wrote:
> Does anyone have complete instructions for Kaluaing a pig. please post here
> or just email me at thanks
It's been three years, it seems to me not unreasonable to repost this.
I used to do an annual pig roast for the labor day motorcycle races
in Spokane, before the party got too big and the host opted out.
You'll need a pig. I'd recommend sixty to eighty pounds for your first.
You'll need banana leaves. Since you're asking this question, I presume
that you don't live where you could just cut your own tree or two.
Banana leaves are available frozen in most asian markets.
You'll need a hole eight inches longer, wider, and deeper than your pig.
Ideally, draft someone young and healthy to dig the hole.
You'll need enough rocks to cover the bottom of the hole. Best is porous
lava rocks the size of cannonballs (six pounders (4 to 6 inches in
diameter) if you can get them. The porosity is supposed to help in some
way I haven't determined, and lava rocks aren't likely to explode when you
heat them. If you absolutely can't get lava rocks, you'll want to cover
the pit with a sturdy grate or thick wire mesh while you're heating. The
shrapnel is quite sharp, and a four inch rock will throw it a few dozen feet.
I strongly recommend either a sheet of plywood (at least 1/2") or a thick,
well laundered, sacrificial sheet (I've never done that, but my mentor
has). More banana leaves are traditional, but are only fair at keeping the
dirt off the pig.
You'll need chicken wire to wrap the pig. Not galvanized fencing, real
chicken wire, which is non-fatal to warm blooded animals. The chicken
wire isn't mandatory, but it'll make your job a LOT easier.
You'll need about one and a half pitsful of hardwood in three to five inch
thicknesses (or whatever will burn to scattered coals in a few hours) plus
enough kindling to make an easy starting fire.
You'll need welding gloves to handle the rocks and the hot pig. They'll
also help handling the chicken wire.
You'll need wire (soft iron picture wire or stainless, you need to know
what it is and where it's been before you put it in your food) and wire
clippers and pliers for tying the chicken wire.
You'll need a serving table that you don't mind getting pig juice all
over.
You'll need thwacking and carving knives, and a cutting board or two. I
use a pair of well-sterilized pruning shears to clip the ribs free.
You'll want a carving assistant, to thwack the pig into big pieces, which
you'll then hunk into serving sizes. (I've heard that when it's Done
Right, the pig can be served with a spoon. You'll still want to break it
down into big pieces that you can hack into serving sizes.)
You'll want a couple of garbage cans or boxes lined with tough plastic
bags for the pig fat and bone, which you'll place convenient to the
serving table before you start dismantling the pig.
For your peace of mind, I would recommend having a standby gas grill and
grilling crew in case of emergencies. You can thwack half-cooked pork into
fast-cooking two inch thick lumps and grill them fast enough to keep the
crowd from turning ugly (been there, done that, but not when _I_ was
cooking).
Lay chickenwire longer than the pig, and wide enough to wrap the pig, on a
washable table that you don't mind if you scratch. If that takes several
pieces of chicken wire, tie them together really well (you and a friend
will be picking up hot limp pig with the chicken wire. You don't want it
to fall apart). Cover the chicken wire with banana leaves, place the pig
face up on the banana leaves.
Slash each of the major joints ('armpits', left and right groin) deeply.
Later, you'll slip a rock into each of the slashes, to help the heat
penetrate the meatiest bits.
I rub the interior of the pig with a sludge of pulped onion and garlic,
olive oil, some whiskey to help it penetrate, salt, and Penzey's jerk.
Except for the cavity, the pig doesn't have much edible surface area, so
the strong spicing is reasonably safe. On the other hand, traditional
seasoning is just salt, and most of the pig is steamed in pork anyway.
Once seasoned, line the slashes and the upper part of the cavity (you'll
shove a rock in that later) with more leaves. Stack with ice bags and
cover with a tarpaulin 'til the pit is ready.
Absolute minimum cooking time is one hour plus three minutes a pound.
Longer will produce limper pig and reduce the risk of undercooking; I
fudge an hour onto the end of that. Add at least three hours for the wood
to burn down to calculate your latest tolerable start time. (That's for
apple and citrus wood. I suspect that oak could take quite a bit longer,
but I've never had the opportunity to try.)
Construct your fire. It's better to layer the rocks in the wood, but
sufficient to line the pit with them. Select four rocks (roughly
grapefruit sized for a smallish pig) for the joints, and a larger one to
fit into the top of the cavity. Put them where you can get to them easily.
Remember that the pit and the rocks will be HOT when you do that.
Light the fire. Poke it around to keep it burning well and evenly, add any
leftover wood where the fire looks weak. When the coals are nearly spent,
scatter them about thinly.
Lay the pig next to the pit. If you've opted for the plywood or sheet
method, lay it on that. Put on your welding gloves. Take the rocks you
identified for the purpose, slip them in to the joints, and the largest as
far up the body cavity as you can jam it. There will be a great deal of
steam, and the heat of the rocks will rapidly soak through the gloves, so
go carefully.
Tie up the chickenwire, drop the pig into the pit. Heap on more banana
leaves if you have them.
PLYWOOD:
lay an even 3" welt of dirt about 2" away from the edge of the pit, to act
as a gasket. Place the plywood on top, scoodge it around a little to get a
tight seal, and cover it six inches with dirt. If you see smoke coming out
anywhere, add more dirt.
When done, scrape off most of the dirt, pick the plywood up from one side
to remove the rest of the dirt. POOF! clean ready to serve pig, but it
lacks elegance. I go for ease over elegance.
SHEET:
Make sure that every exposed rock surface is covered with at least two
layers of banana leaf. Soak the sheet, shake it out, cover the pig. Bury
at least six inches.
When done, carefully remove the dirt down to the sheet, lift what's left
of the sheet off/ It will likely suffer some burn damage, so don't count
on it to hold together if you haven't cleared all the dirt.
TRADITIONAL:
Lay on _lots_ more banana leaves. The banana leaf layer must be dirt
proof. Then bury with all the dirt you took out of the hole.
When done, dig _very carefully_ down to the top layer of leaves, removing
as much as possible of the dirt. GENTLY pull the top leaves aside to
remove the last of the dirt. This isn't as easy as it sounds, the leaves
will have dried and shrunk from the heat. Dirt can be rinsed off before
carving, but it's not pretty.
Lift the pig onto the serving table, which you have wisely placed near the
pit. Snip the ties. (It is possible that letting the pig rest for ten to
twenty minutes would improve it.) Either roll the pig off the wire (hard,
but convenient) or roll and tuck the wire under the pig (easier). Begin
hacking up the upper half of the pig. I usually start with the foreshank
and shoulder, then the rear shank and butt. By that time I'm far enough
ahead, and the pig is cool enough, that I can take the time to snip off
the ribs and slice them apart, and peel out the loins (loin along the
backbone outside the ribs, tenderloin inside. The tenderloin will be the
most highly seasoned bit and the tenderest. Set aside your serving from
that.) When you've exhausted the top half, roll the pig over and start
again.
Do NOT carve the pig inside, or on or over anything you can't wash. If
properly cooked, the pig will be fat and tender and the juices will pour
off the table. Pork fat is hard to clean out of concrete. Prefer an area
of bark dust, accept lawn, or if you have to, lay down a large tarp.
Most of all, Don't Panic.
Martin
--
Martin Golding DoD #236 | Oculis exciditis porcus dimidius facti
| (When the eyes drop out, the pig is half done.)