Roasted Pig On A Spit Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare the pig: Wash it, including the cavity, under cold running water, and towel-dry thoroughly, the way you would dry a small child after a bath - ears, armpits, chest cavity, face, legs, backs of knees.
• Sometimes there are imperfections remaining after the slaughtering and processing of the animal. Use dish towels or sturdy paper towels to rub away any dark spots on the ears, any little bit of remaining bristles around the mouth. Like that yellow, papery flaking skin you sometimes find on chickens, which can be peeled off to reveal tender, fresh skin underneath, a similar bit of crud can remain on pigs' chins and under their belly flaps. Clean this little cutie as if you were detailing your car! The purple U.S.D.A. stamp, however, is indelible. But not inedible.
• Bard the pig with all 20 garlic cloves, making deep incisions all over with a thin filleting knife and shoving the cloves into each pocket; include the cheeks and the neck and the rump and the thighs and the loin down the back and the front shoulders, all areas of the small creature that have enough flesh to be able to receive a clove of garlic. (Sometimes I find I have to slice the larger cloves of garlic in half to get them to slide into the incision.)
• Rub the entire pig in oil exactly as you would apply suntan oil to a sunbathing goddess of another era, when people still were ignorant of the harmful effects of the sun. Massage and rub and get the whole creature slick and glistening. I do this directly in a very large roasting pan.
• Wash and dry your hands. Take large pinches of kosher salt, and raising your arm high above the pig, rain down the salt in an even, light dusting all over. You can start with the pig on its back and get the cavity and the crotch, and then turn it over and get the back and the head and flanks. Or vice versa. But in the end, the whole animal is salted evenly and lightly, snout to tail.
• Arrange the pig in the roasting pan, spine up, rear legs tucked under, with feet pointing toward its ears and its two front legs out ahead in front. Sometimes the pig needs a sharp, sturdy, confident chiropractic crack on its arching spine, just to settle it in comfortably to the roasting pan, so it won't list to one side or topple over.
• Put the potato deep into its mouth, and place in the oven, on the bottom rack, and roast slowly for about 4 to 5 hours, depending on the size of your pig. (Plan 15 minutes of roasting time per pound of pig; if you have a 20-pounder, then you'd need about 5 hours total cooking time.) Add a little water to the roasting pan along the way if you see the juices are in danger of scorching, and loosely tent the animal with aluminum foil in vulnerable spots - ears, snout, arc of back - if you see them burning. For the last half-hour, raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees, and cook until the skin gets crisp and even blistered, checking every 10 minutes.
• Tap on it with your knuckle to hear a kind of hollow sound, letting you know the skin has inflated and separated from the interior flesh; observe splitting of the skin at knuckles - all good signs the pig is done. Or use a meat thermometer inserted deep in the neck; the pig is ready at 160 degrees. Let rest 45 minutes before serving.
• Remove the potato, and replace it with the apple. Transfer the pig to a large platter; nestle big bouquets of herbs around the pig as garnish. Save pan juices, and use for napping over the pulled meat when serving.

Steps:

• To make brine, combine salt, sugar and 1 gallon of water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir until salt and sugar have dissolved. Let cool. Place spices in a zip-top plastic bag and smash them with a heavy object. Combine all brine ingredients, plus another 4¼ gallons of cold water. Remove any stray hairs (a disposable razor works well); wash the pig and place in large container. Pour enough cold brine over pig to cover. Leave for 24 to 48 hours, adding ice to keep cold. The day of your roast, remove pig from brine 90 minutes before you plan to start cooking. Dry the pig inside and out with clean paper towels. Season pig cavity aggressively with salt and pepper, rubbing in as you go. Add a few good handfuls of herbs and the garlic to the cavity. Thread the spit through the pig's mouth and out the other end, and fasten securely per manufacturer's instructions. Close the belly cavity using wooden skewers that have been soaked in water. Using pliers and stainless steel wire, tie the rear legs snugly under the body, and then secure the forelegs forward, near the snout. Pull wire as tight as possible. Prepare your fire adding charcoal slowly as you go. You should be able to hold your hand at spit level for ten seconds-any hotter and the skin will char before the meat's cooked. Poke pig all over, just deep enough to penetrate the skin, using a sharp paring knife. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap aluminum foil around ears, tail and feet. Place spit over the fire. Baste the pig every 30 minutes or so with olive oil and manage the coals. If it's a manual spit, turn pig every three to five minutes to cook evenly. Remove the foil after a couple hours. Your pig should take between four and eight hours, depending on heat of your coals and wind. Test for doneness by sticking an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of a rear haunch. 140 degrees is ideal if you like your pork medium-well and juicy. Let rest for 30 minutes.