Pig Roaster

[HogSlayer6]

Folks my nephew is getting married (I tried to talk him out of it) this summer and his mother (my sister) wants to do the whole thing in a Renaissance Theme. Now I have been volunteered to build a spit to rotate a pig on for the event. Now I am a lazy man and eventhough there were no electric motors in Medival Europe, I am willing to forego realism for ease of labor on me. I am thinking about a 1/2 hp motor spining a metal axle (using pulleys and a belt or sprockets and a chain driven by the motor) on two A-frames made from post/logs. Has anyone out there done this before or something like it that I can shamelessly copy and call my own?
Thanks HogSlayer6 (kinda ironic with the username huh?)

 

[Bird]

Absolutely no experience, knowledge, etc. on how to do it, but I'd like to be there when it's time to eat that pig.

 

[Cidertom]

Not what you had in mind, but a few mail order outfits were offering a rotessierie (sp???) that used 2 c cells last summer. might check harbor freight and/ or northern tool

and then again how much would a neighborhood youth be if you offered $$ and a costume.

TEW

 

[Pd986]

I've built a few pig roasters. The first one used a small lawn tractor trans.
as a reduction gear. That didn't last to long. I used a 60:1 reduction gear
on the last two I've built and that works much better. With a 1725 rpm motor
with a 14" pully going to a 2" pully on the input to the reduction gear gets you
4 to 4.5 rpm on the spit (this is about a perfect speed). IF you have any questions or would like to see a picture of my setup, let me know.

Paul

 

[RonR]

I saw one built using several round baler twine wrapping drive chains (salvaged), coupled with a 12vt motor that drove one of the twine wrappers. Hooked to a coupla car batteries, and fed by jumper cables and a running engine once in awhile, it worked good.

ron

 

[HogSlayer6]

Ron

Thanks for the info. If you have a few pix or a drawing of the setup that would be great.

Do I need a set of pulleys or will the 2" drive pulley to the 14" pulley do the reduction ratio you are talking about?

Thanks
Hog

 

[czechsonofagun]

I saw pig roasted in an oven built from cinder blocks with grill in the middle and the whole pig on the grill. Covered with some metal to keep the heat in and charcoal for fire it was excellent.

 

[laurencen]

Hi, I built one several years ago, it was propane fired and does have a grate, a full pig fit easily into it, I used a 1/2 horse 50 to 1 ratio gearbox, the output I had a step pulley 2 to 5 inch and the pole the pig was mounted on had a 16 inch pulley, slowest it turns is about 3 rpm, just right, due to the legalities for propane certification I converted to charcoal, works good, 200lb pig takes 6 to 7 hours, I made the spit adjustable from 18 inches above grate to 30 inches, mostly 24 inches is good, the drive hung from the spit shaft and gravity looked after the tension in the belt, it uses 1 1/2 10 pound bags of charcoal per hour, we do not empty the bag just put the whole bag in and light the bag, you do not want the starter fluid taste in there, stuff the pig with sausage and ham its great, also have a way to open the sides fast to stop burning and a water spray bottle to stop flare ups, have slots to load the spit and pig in not holes on each end, this way a person on each end can remove the pig and you can place on a stand for carving turning as you carve, I have grates similar to oven shelves I wire each side of the pig when roasting, some use chicken wire but you will need something to stop it falling apart.

Good luck its a blast, we can feed 100 plus people easily, have a shelf somewhere at the back for vegitables fresh corn and potatoes

Laurence

 

[HogSlayer6]

Paul and Lawrence

Sorry I missed your posts. If you have any pix or drawings they would be greatly appreciated.

Hog

 

[laurencen]

Hi Hog, this was #1 prototype, its big but works better than a compact, the good one is at the lake, basically the same, on the front there is 2 sections on the top and one on the bottom, I have holes in this one but added slots for the new one to remove the pig, this one required a support below the pig and slide the rod out, quite a feat when its 300 degf and there is spikes going thro that needs removing, we finally got good at sliding the drive off, pulling the rod back out of the hole and then pulling forward could remove the rod but its not as good as slots, the size is 8 feet long, 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, this one was gas fired later charcoal as the new one, if you were closer you could take this one as it sits rusting nowerdays.

It was a crude prototype, done sone half dozen pigs, half of beef and did try a deer

Laurence

 

[Renze]

Someone told me about a roast that rotated the pin by a small fan (turbine) in hte chimney pipe... but they might have read this in the Donald Duck as well... It might be a good Mythbusters project

 

[Champy]

Don't you have a PTO adapter for roasting pigs? I believe it was a spline shaft welded onto a bale spear................

 

[BTDT]

Don't you have a PTO adapter for roasting pigs? I believe it was a spline shaft welded onto a bale spear................

That spins too fast for my liking, I use the post hole digger

 

[gordon21]

Hogslayer: Keep in mind that a normal pig will yield only about 30% useable meat. Pigs come sized as 20#/30# 30/40 40/50/ 50/60 etc Restaurants use the sizes up to 40-50 only. If they are bigger than that, they will not fit into a typical restaurant oven without burning. Larger sizes are good for below ground pits (Cuban style) or above ground spits. A 60# carcass will yield at most 18-20# of meat. Assuming 8oz of cooked meat per person (small portion), a 60# pig will feed only about 35-40 people. If you allow 1# of meat per person, you will feed 18-22 people. The other 70% is skin, head, bones, fat, tail, oink, etc

I once set up an outdoor buffet for about 100 people and cooked 100# of boneless pork butts in the kitchen. The meat was cooked and pulled off in big chunks after cooking and put on a couple big trays. On the buffet table we laid out a 40# pig with the obligatory apple in its mouth behind the trays. The pig was laid out upright with front feet out straight sorta like a sphinx. The back and side skin was intact. Sure enough, someone walked up with an IQ the same size as their belt size and remarked that we got an awful lot of meat outta that pig. A recent poster had a thread about people who can be dumber than dirt. He was so right.

Cover the ears, nose and eyes with aluminum foil while cooking the first couple hours. This prevents them from scorching and burning.

Unless you must have an above ground spit for show, consider the buried Cuban method. 90% less work and great results. No hardware to rig up either.

 

[LeonS]

I agree with Lewis, lbs/porker isn't what you might think. We favor a 40-60 lb'er whether domestic or from the trap. Cooking in an open area is going to be pretty tough considering we cook ours ~8hrs in an enclosed pit(see attach.), I think you may have to do as Lewis did and precook butts and the porker, then set-up the porker on a rotator at the shindig just for show. If you are planning on constructing rotisserie for future use, here is one we built a yr or so back, use a gearmotor from Grainger No.3M126, is 6RPM w/113in lbs torgue, the sprockets(same size) and chain is from there as well. I got the motor specs from a comercial unit we borrow before hand.
Good luck
L*S

 

[AlanB]

Someone told me about a roast that rotated the pin by a small fan (turbine) in hte chimney pipe... but they might have read this in the Donald Duck as well... It might be a good Mythbusters project

Actually, and I am not sure I am remembering exactly right, but I believe Konig Ludwig had that in his little house

Maybe a slightly different scale though.


Neuschwanstein Castle - Castle - Rooms - Kitchen

I cannot find a picture of the mechanism, but remember it enough from probably 10 or 15 years ago that it fascinated me.

 

[49tandc]

I have a "La Caja China" - Fits in a truckbed, doesn't weigh a whole bunch & roasts a 70 lb hog in 3 1/2 hours - perfectly done every time! Everyone usually burns their fingers fighting over the skin. Have done numerous turkeys all at one time inside it too. GREAT for tailgate party - no-one imagines you can do a whole hog in 4 hours. (I use meat thermometer to be sure). I inject with Mojo (cuban citrus & garlic flavoring). Ms. 49 pefers them with the 3-Hs (headed/halved/hooved) - she doesn't like its little face.

Look at the "Cajun microwave" too same principal (meat inside, veggies on top)

Easy to build. Mine is on wheels and sits on its nose when not in use (smaller footprint in the shed). I had to build 1 for each of my 3 sons after they saw how easy to do a whole hog. La caja China place will ship "all the metalwork" and all you have to do is build the plywood box.


La Caja China Box Pig Roasting Grills Whole Pig Roasting Grills Pig Cooker Grills (peruse the entire site - building instructions & cooking instructions as well as pricelist)

Introducing the Cajun Microwave!

49T&C

 

[Pd986]

Here's some pics of one of my roasters. This uses a 60:1 reduction, 1750
motor with a 14" pulley.

 

[Kendall69]

What the Mexicans do around here and the Hawaiians do is bury the pig in a pit.

Dig a small pit get a good fire going and.. well read here.

http://bbq.isgoodfor.us/planning-a-pig-pickin-part-i-of-?/

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/summers/fiji/luau/imu.html

 

[HogSlayer6]

Folks

Thanks for all the input on the roaster/cooker. I have decided to built both a prit and a Cajun Microwave. I built the microwave last night using an old ammo box that I found here on the fort. I went by Lowes and bought some tin flashing and lined the box with that. I already had a piece of metal to use for the fire plate on the top. I just need to attach some handles to the box and the fire plate; build the grate for the meat to lay on; and start cooking.

As far as the spit roaster, I found a picture on the internet of one made out of a metal pole welded to a spare tire. A motor turns the wheel using a long fan belt and the pole is suspended to two upright posts using what looks like a u-bolt.

Once I finish the projects I will post some pictures.

HogSlayer6