(^38) September/October 2019
FROM
TOP
:^ FLI
CKR
/BRA
NDON
ZEM
AN;^
GET
TY^ IM
AGES
/EMI
LYSO
PHIE
2
In addition to the
pig, which I was already
raising, Brian told me to
get 80 pounds of regular
lump charcoal, three
large rolls of aluminum
foil, and a roll of chicken
wire. He had everything
else we’d need.
With the party set
for a Saturday at 3 p.m.,
I planned to slaughter the pig Friday evening and get everything prepared that
night. After removing the pig’s head and entrails and skinning it, I had one fat hog
carcass. I’d fed the hog food scraps from the cafeteria at the school where I teach,
and my suspicions were correct: I’d overfed this animal. I’ve never seen so much
fat on a pig!
A Season for Everything
I wrapped the trimmed pig in a
couple of garbage bags and drove
over to Brian’s house late Friday
afternoon. Brian and I had spread the
word, and a couple of buddies came
over to “help.”
The first trick to in-ground hog
roasting is to trim almost all the fat
off the animal. Brian said all that
extra fat would slow down our cook
time too much. This animal had 2-to-
3-inch layers of fat in some places.
We trimmed it off, but it didn’t get
wasted. I set aside the cleanest and
thickest pieces of fat to freeze for
future sausage making.
After we trimmed the hog carcass,
we cut a crisscross pattern into the
meat — a giant grid pattern of cuts all
over the entire animal, front to back
and top to bottom.
Brian made all of us close our
eyes as he mixed up his secret dry
rub recipe in a giant bowl. (He
added garlic powder, onion powder,
seasoning salt, and cracked pepper,
but that’s all I know, and that’s fine
by me. The guy is a master at what
he does, and I want to respect his
secret.) Once the rub seasoning was
mixed, we all grabbed handfuls of
it and rubbed it all over the pig,
working it into as many of the cuts
as possible.
Next, it was time to wrap up
the pig. I was impressed with the
homemade hook and rebar system
Brian rigged up. We hooked some
rebar through the hog’s rear legs,
Brian pulled up his skid-steer
loader, and he lifted the hog above
our heads. Then we picked up the
rolls of aluminum foil and spun the
hog around, wrapping it up like a
really tight cocoon. Up, down, back,
forth, zigzag, the whole nine yards.
Afterwards, we could’ve sprayed
it with a fire hose and it would’ve
stayed dry. We then laid out the
chicken wire on a nearby table and
transferred the hog over to it. Brian
neatly wrapped the hog in a layer of
“Can you handle the meat?”
she asked. Yes! That was exactly
what I’d hoped she’d say. This was
a perfect excuse to host the pig
roast I’d always dreamed of.
elle
(Elle)
#1