ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

[asimenia]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

Thanks for the info - but the pig would have fallen to pieces if I had tried to turn it over - the meat just fell from the bone. I really don't care about the skin as I get a freaky 'guilt trip' even if I pull a bit of skin off a chicken and eat it!

[C5dad]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

Link was not properly working. Here is the link

Cooking Instructions | cooking instructions

or click HERE

That roast pig looks way good!

[DrakeRemoray]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

That is a good looking pig! Perhaps you could have thrown the whole thing on the BBQ after it was cooked to crisp the skin. That is essentially the method I use when I roast a whole pig in our Caja China http://www.lacajachina.com/cooking-i...pork.htmlAfter it is fully cooked, we boost the temperature and turn the pig skin side up to crisp it.

[lwood]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

Looks great asimenia, too bad about the skin. That's my favorite part. I think leaving the lid off the entire time would have made it crispy. Or maybe just part of the time.

[asimenia]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

Thanks all - brickie in oz - your 'like' has been noted!
Dino - Kala Christouyenna kai Kali Kronia! I've already up-turned the Greek celebrations - without me (the Brit) they wouldn't be 'karaoke singers', Wii champions, or even know what a 'Christmas cracker' is! I had them wearing paper hats - even my mother in law (77) who has problems walking threw down her walking stick and belly danced with her grand daughter!
I must say the pig was easier than doing a turkey (which Greeks are not keen on) - My side of the table had brussel sprouts, carrots, peas, gravy etc - their side had salads, tsatziki, bread, meat, potatoes etc - so we were all happy!

[Dino_Pizza]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

Merry Christmas Asimenia and congratulation on little piggy in the outdoor pizza oven. (Not to mention: showing the in-laws that non-Greeks can cook meat too ) The pic looks great and I bet the meat was delicious. You may just have created a family tradition with your Christmas Pig in the outdoor oven!
Yasou!
Dino

[brickie in oz]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

LOL@Lburou
The meat was excellent - I could taste the marinade (which I made up as I went along!) Unfortunately because the pot had it's lid on all through cooking the skin was not edible. Never mind - saved us a heart attack or 2!
As we've only ever cooked pizza - and thrown in the odd pan of veg or a piece of pork after the pizzas - we were very impressed with our piggy!
And so were our guests and believe me a family of Greek (meat loving) in laws are not the easiest to impress with meat dishes!!
They are expert lamb on spit chefs!

Wheres the like button.....

[asimenia]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

LOL@Lburou
The meat was excellent - I could taste the marinade (which I made up as I went along!) Unfortunately because the pot had it's lid on all through cooking the skin was not edible. Never mind - saved us a heart attack or 2!
As we've only ever cooked pizza - and thrown in the odd pan of veg or a piece of pork after the pizzas - we were very impressed with our piggy!
And so were our guests and believe me a family of Greek (meat loving) in laws are not the easiest to impress with meat dishes!!
They are expert lamb on spit chefs!

[Lburou]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

That is what I want to to....Like your thermometer, I want to go straight to cooking piglets

Looks very appetizing!

[bris-pizza-oven]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

looks great how was the end result???

[asimenia]

the finished result

Merry Christmas everyone!
The pig went in at 11pm - we last added wood about 5pm - I woke up early (6.30am - which was not easy to do after drinking a bottle of wine last night!) not to see if Santa had been but to see if piggy had cooked.
And here is the finished result - I have have a meat thermometer with helpful little pictures on and the needle went straight to pig and stayed there!

[asimenia]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

Decided I'm going to cook piggy in the oven outside and just keep fingers crossed- we've been lighting fires since yesterday as hubby found a damp spot due to torrential rain we had. That rain got everywhere! I will post step by step photos to either a happy ending or a disastrous one - anyhow I still have two chickens put aside for emergencies! We bought a large roasting pot that fits my 7kilo pig in - http://www.kitchencontraptions.com/p...6481_large.php
will place it in the oven before we go to sleep (after midnight - when santa's been) and wait and see what surprise or upset awaits us in the morning!

[asimenia]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

That wouldn't be possible as it's either in the oven or on the spit - I will have too much to do Christmas morning - so it's either left to cook in the oven (fingers crossed over night) or rotating with motor on the spit. We always do a whole lamb on the spit every Easter so I assuming the pig won't be much different apart from the basting. I going out to see if I can get a slightly bigger roasting pot than I already have (18x32cm) to fit the fairly small opening (22cm x 41cm) Butcher seems to think I'll have no problems if I use the Greek style cooking pot either ceramic or other.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

Maybe you could do both. 'Par-bake' the pig in the oven for an hour or two and finish it up on the BBQ.

[asimenia]

Re: ok - bit of a wuss but need to cook pig minus head

We plan to eat about 2pm - that's why I suggested we cook the pig very slowly in the oven overnight - we once made pizzas and then shoved a piece of pork with celery in and left it all night (it must have been about 2kilos) covered and it was very tasty