Spit for suckling Pig

[TMC]

These things start so simply then...

Lets have a suckling pig for Xmas Dinner

great idea

Oven too small

Much better cooked on a spit over a fire pit or large bbq apparently

Googled spit roast some interesting but completely irrelevant links "relationship advice"

can find hog roast spits which are far too big and cost nearly as much as the suckling pig

Have worked out the stands for the spit so no problem there

So to my question how to make a spit for a suckling pig

Thinking mild steel bar and rod to keep the cost down and it may be a one off use

An American site recommends big jubilee clips 3 to 8 inch to hold the various limbs in place

A couple of U bolts and plates?

not sure as to dimensions of pig apart from about 600 mm long

Size and construction of forked spikey bit still causing some head scratching should i try to design something adjustable?

any general or specific advice really appreciated

[Ian & Hilda Dedic]

Our next door neighbours have got a big barbecue made by a place in Archway, London that supplies skewers for doner kebab places and the like.

There are battery powered motors on one end for turning, but they use cm square bar (or maybe 3/8 inch), and I think it's stainless, (Mild steel will rust especially if treated with heat.

So catering suppliers for the kebab shop market might be your best bet.

Our big spit for a full size pig is a round bar about scaffold pole size diameter in stainless steel, and we have clamps which screw into longditudinal bars to hold mr or ms piggy in place. If you want more details I can show you a picture of our clamping arrangement.

dedics

[John Rumm]

I went to a hog roast this summer and had a look at the machine... This was a setup where you hired it for the day, and they supplied it complete with pig already on the spit etc - all you did was lit it (this was a propane set rather than charcoal), and kept an eye on it for 6 hours or so!

It used a stainless spit with a couple of large U bolts with plates across the ends to retain the chest of the pig in the right place - I don't recall how these fitted to the spit alas. It also had some extra bracketry to keep the legs in place etc. This could all be dismantled as you noshed you way through porky.

The other setup I have seen that worked well for large lumps of pig (say complete legs etc), was a vertical hanging affair. Imaging a tall frame about 5' high with about seven hanging rails running front to back across the width - spaced every 3 inches or so. The food was then hung using meat hooks and steel wires from the rails. The charcoal was in a rectangular cage about 3" thick - and the was suspended in the middle of the roast - the top of the cage was open so you could add charcoal more (IIRC that was on pully blocks with the wires tied off somewhere accessible so you could tweak the height of it). The leg of whatever had the steel wire wound round just under the knuckle of the foot, and was then hung beside the charcoal cage - a bit like those kebab machines in a way. There was no need for a motor or anything elaborate, since a gentle turn of the leg would let it twiddle in alternating directions for 20 mins a time just on the twist in the wire. Apparently the operator said that once the knuckle of the foot started to droop - it was a good tell tale it the meat was "done". You could change the "heat" by choosing a hanging rail nearer or further from the charcoal. Since the meat was beside the coals, you could also top up the coal at any time without worry that the flames would hit the meat.

[Owain]

This site has lots of pics you could copy

fork is at you got a price for suckling pig yet, apparently they can be expensive as farmers would rather fatten them and get the profit on the larger beast.

Owain

[Owain]

Pictures of Mr Piggy on the Spit here

PS Don't use both spit AND roast in the google.

[Piers Finlayson]

it's not just that - most abattoirs charge the same for slaughtering a suckling pig as a 150kg boar!

[Piers Finlayson]

Another option, at least for a full sized pig is something like this:

It might end up with too dry a suckling pig.

I did a half pig roast (i.e. one side) done sort of like this this year, and it didn't go without a hitch.

I used an old brick built outhouse for the "frame". I knocked it down to about a metre in height, and then used mild steel mesh with steel bar stengthing supports to hold the pig. This was then suspended above coals, either side, with drip trays in the middle to catch the fat (to avoid an inferno).

Sadly, inferno ensued when one of the drip trays turned out to be aluminium, and melted, dumping nearly boiling lard onto white hot coals. Cue enormous fire - with flames coming at least 6 foot above the pig. At this point the solid plaster which I hadn't managed to hack off the inside of the outhouse started exploding, showerig guests with plaster.

Eventially we used a 5ft iron bar to drag the flaming pig off the outhouse just as the mesh was distorting, and put it out with copious amounts of water. We lost the crackling, but the meat was just fine.

Next time I'll leave more room for the coals (i.e. have them further away horizontally from the pig) and have all steel drip trays.

[Steve Firth]

Similar to the Italian approach which is to take a young pig - less than a year old, de-bone it, spread the meat with a "mix of secret herbs and spices[1]) and marinade it then roll it up like a Swiss roll and bake it in a brick oven for 12 hours. It's served by slicing like Swiss roll and it's brilliant. It's called porchetta and the recipe that Jamie Oliver has published is just crap[2].

[1] i.e. mostly salt. [2] Quelle surprise.

[TMC]

This site has lots of pics you could copy

fork is at you got a price for suckling pig yet, apparently they can be expensive as farmers would rather fatten them and get the profit on the larger beast.

Owain

yep around £100 for an inported to £120 (for a locally reared rare breed type including abbatoir and delivery charges)

Certainly not cheap but it is for xmas dinner for the family

[Andrew Mawson]

> Have you got a price for suckling pig yet, apparently they can be

I can provide you with a rare breed locally raised suckling pig for somewhat less than that here in East Sussex. If interested de-munge my reply address

They are Gloucester Old Spot cross Large Black which makes a good tasting long pig. Currently 20-25 kgs live weight

AWEM