Pig Roast - Tips, Hints??

[Pam]

Has anyone here ever hosted a pig roast?

I have found companies/caterers who will do it for you at around $1,000 and up.

I'm looking for advice from brave souls who rented the roaster and slapped the pig on all by themselves.

How did it work out for you? Was the meat edible? How long to cook (I'm guessing a minimum of 8-10 hours.) What else did you serve??

Thanks!

 

[debster812]

Hmmmm, my invite must have been delayed in the mail.

Sorry Pam, no advice from me.

 

[mommytotwo]

My husband had done it before and it took a long time. I would say around 5 hours at the least for the other portion and it cooked almost all night long. For the last part of it, they just cut it up, people took it home, and they grilled it on their grills.
They seemed to really enjoy the pork, but I stayed away from it. He had made his own special sauce that he kept basting it with.

 

[jennyl772003]

I know my parents have hosted one themselves.

You have to start the pig pretty early. The other issue is that carving the pig is SUPER messy. Like dripping off your elbows messy.

it takes quite a bit of time away from socializing to do it. My parents served your regular picnic fare with it.

 

[Pam]

Hmmmm, my invite must have been delayed in the mail.

Well - there was one invite that came back postage due....

Actually, I am thinking ahead to NEXT YEAR for my son's graduation party!

Thanks, everyone!

I am starting early to gather the facts and DH and I will make a decision later on.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

 

[Pam]

Well, at least it's not the pig from Green Acres!!

 

[L107ANGEL]

OMG!

 

[lfeikert]

We own a hog farm, our best friends own a roaster so we do hog roasts as kind of a hobby. I'm not sure where you're located but around here $1,000 is OUTRAGEOUS! We usually get between $300 and $400 depending on how big the hog is. That's pork only though, we don't do any other catering. If you are planning on serving a lot of people which I'm thinking a graduation party would be, my advice would be to have someone do it. Unless you're pretty confident with what you are doing. You don't want to run the risk of serving your guests undercooked pork. Also, it is time consuming and can be a bit tricky to cut off the bone unless you've done it a few times. If you do decide to do it yourselves, definitely have the hog quartered or something. Don't try to do the traditional "roast it on the spit" approach. That takes FOREVER and it's hard to be sure it's cooked through everywhere. Any other questions, just ask! I'll try to help and if I don't know, I'll ask DH!

 

[helenabear]

Well - there was one invite that came back postage due....

If that's the case, where is mine????

It can't be much harder than roasting a possum though

Seriously though, good luck

 

[Pam]

We own a hog farm, our best friends own a roaster so we do hog roasts as kind of a hobby. I'm not sure where you're located but around here $1,000 is OUTRAGEOUS! We usually get between $300 and $400 depending on how big the hog is. That's pork only though, we don't do any other catering. If you are planning on serving a lot of people which I'm thinking a graduation party would be, my advice would be to have someone do it. Unless you're pretty confident with what you are doing. You don't want to run the risk of serving your guests undercooked pork. Also, it is time consuming and can be a bit tricky to cut off the bone unless you've done it a few times. If you do decide to do it yourselves, definitely have the hog quartered or something. Don't try to do the traditional "roast it on the spit" approach. That takes FOREVER and it's hard to be sure it's cooked through everywhere. Any other questions, just ask! I'll try to help and if I don't know, I'll ask DH!

Lisa! Wow! Thanks for the info! We are located in Western Pa. I've checked about 3-4 places so far and that's pretty much the going rate around here.

If we had the barbecue man come and roast the pig and provide 4 sides, plus buns, plates, etc. - it's $10.95 per person for 100+.

If we just want him to come do the pig - it's $6.95 per lb. for less than 100 lbs. and $5.95 for 100+ lbs.

I am guessing at least 125 people - probably more because the kids just show up and crash each other's parties! What size of pig would I need?

 

[Pam]

If that's the case, where is mine????

It can't be much harder than roasting a possum though

Seriously though, good luck

Your invite came back with the words written:

"CRAZY STALKER" Do not leave any mail from this person in my mailbox.



What up with that, Lainey??

Gosh - possum, I think that's one meat my crazy guys have never tried to cook. They have roasted a beaver, though. And yes, I know that I just opened the door to *all* kinds of comments.

Like I said earlier, we have 11 months to figure this out. I'm just trying to line all of my ducks (or in this case, pigs) in a row!

 

[MosMom]

How could you eat little Piglet? Piglet will punch your lights out the next time you have a character meal with him!

 

[lfeikert]

Glad I can help! The $10.95 a person is probably not to bad if they are doing 4 sides, buns, and plates. You'd probably need about a 200lb. hog.

If you really wanted to try to do it yourself, you could roast the hog the night before and then put it in electric roasters overnight. That way you wouldn't be so busy on the day of the party, plus, cooking it on low in the roasters overnight would help ensure that the meat was fully cooked.

Anything else

 

[Honu]

$10.95 for roasted pig and 4 sides is a screaming deal, or squealing deal in this case. We pay our caterer upwards of $30 pp for that meal/service. We've done it a couple times at work and after watching it, there is no way I would ever attempt it on my own. Messy and time consuming is an understatement. I have them roast the pigs off site now and bring one whole to shred here and the other already shredded. It takes too long to serve otherwise.

 

[kimmikayb]

I'd serve beanee weenees with the roasted pork

 

[MosMom]

Mmmm Beenie Weenies spell class!

 

[Honu]

I'd serve beanee weenees with the roasted pork

Okay, but don't forget the canned corn.

 

[disneyfan67]

I've been to 3 pig roasts and let me recomend to have done by pros who do it for a living. The other posters who have commented on the mess when it's time to carve it up, aren't kidding. It takes a hardy soul, IMO, to carve up a pig, let alone one that can feed a 100 people or more. The meat isn't the star of the roast, it's the sight of the pig being roasted that adds to the atmosphere or coolness of the event.

If you get the pig that roasted by a pro with all the fixings, including sauces, clean up afterwards, then it's a pretty good deal for a 1000 dollars. The cook time is at least 8 hours and the guy who does it for a living will be there early in the morning to set up and start the whole process. You really have to know what you're doing and I would be kind of scared to try something of this magnitude on my own. It's quite a sight to see a full size pig with head attached, being taken out of the plastic wrap/tarp it came in from the butcher and be set up for cooking. I'll never forget my first time seeing that. Good luck on whatever you do.


Eddie

 

[monsterkitty]

You may get some good ideas from this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1161792



Seriously, if you have an Asian Market in your town, contact them. We have done pig roast and have gotten the pig from them.