There are many occasions when you want to celebrate the company of good friends, but no better time than a wedding. Why not step out of the box at your outdoor wedding reception and plan a hog roast? There are several different ways to prepare a feast for your wedding, but a hog roast will delicious, fun, and memorable for all you guests.
The tradition of roasting whole animals began in Italy centuries ago. Pigs or hogs don't require close attention during the cooking process, so this will free you to enjoy the wedding. If you start the roast early in the day, it will ready to serve by reception time.
You can prepare a feast for your wedding one of several different ways, with a hog roast. Choosing the kind of meat is where you begin. If you want a fancy breed pig or hog, try ordering it through a food service company. Remember, depending on the breed and age of the animal you choose, you could have anywhere from a 150 to 250 pound hog.
There are several ways to prepare a feast for your wedding when you plan a hog roast. You may cook it in the ground, over a fire pit, or prepare it on a smoker. Any method you choose will take several hours to complete. You will want to refrigerate your animal, but bring it to room temperature prior to placing it over the heat. Prepare it with plenty of kosher salt, pepper and fennel seed. You may want to pour wine or beer over the roasting meat to help keep it moist and give it a richer flavour. Mop it during the cooking process with barbecue sauce, or whatever sauce you prefer. Rule of thumb on the cooking will be about one hour for every 25 pounds of meat.
You can cook it "casket-style" by preparing a plywood box, lined with stainless steel. You will press the pig flat, holding it in place with metal racks or mesh. Put it in the ground and cover it with hot charcoals. If you decide you want to cook a smaller pig, 12 to 15 pounds, it can prepared in your oven at about 250 degrees for about five to six hours.
If you choose to prepare your wedding feast over an open pit, choose a safe location with a circumference of about 10 feet. Use brick or gravel inside the fire ring, line it with rocks or stones to hold in the heat. Arrange your charcoal and kindling. Once you set the charcoal, keep it hot by adding more charcoal and kindling during the cooking process.
You will be cooking directly over a burning fire, and should have a rotisserie that can turn the pig while it cooks. You might even choose to stuff the hog with potatoes and sausage, or Fuji apples, adding some scrumptious side dishes to your feast. The hog will be done when it is golden brown, and reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees in the shoulders.
If you decide to put the hog on a smoker, foil-line the grates to prevent flare-ups, and leave the vent opened fully during the cooking process. The pig will be done in about eight hours on a smoker. The meat should fall off the bones using any of these cooking methods.
You can line your tables with plywood, allowing your guests to "belly-up" and when the feast is done, simply trash the greasy plywood, or you might prefer a buffet line, allowing guests to prepare plates, forking the tender morsels from the smoker or pit.
Author Resource:
Spitting Pig are a Lancashire based company who offer excellent hog roast catering across the country from a number of different bases so you can have the freshest products available.
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