How to cook the perfect Hog Roast
“The most crucial step is securing the pig to the spit. Dead pigs are heavy, and unless they are extremely well secured, they have a tendency to flop around as the spit turns if you don’t secure them properly. The slideshow will teach you a method that involves strapping the spine to the spit to ensure your pig stays nice and secure.
The cooking itself is a lazy process. Once you get the coals under the pig and the pig turning (most spits have an electric motor to rotate the pig automatically), you can sit back and relax, tending to it only once every half hour or so to ensure that the coals are still hot and the pig is not over or under cooking.
Low and slow is the goal. If your pig starts taking on a burnished color within the first hour, you’re going too fast. Either slow down the rate at which you are adding coals, or raise the pig a few inches from the heat source (most spits are also adjustable in height).
The last half hour is where all the skin-crisping crackly magic happens, and requires high heat, so you’ll want to pile on the coals at the very end, rotating the pig as necessary to expose every inch of skin to the intense blast of heat. If all goes well, it’ll bubble into blistery pustules that crackle and dissolve in your mouth. Yum.”