I often get asked what makes a good Hog Roast!
Well in my opinion the ingredients, the drink and obviously the weather! We cater all over the South of England but already this year we have roasted more than 20 pigs, 5 lambs and served huge amounts of Sausages, Burgers, Steaks and Chickens.
We recently catered at our exclusive venue Eastland’s Estate where the bride and groom wanted a Hog Roast. We needed to cook 2 pigs for this event as there were 130 guests attending and a pig can feed around 60 guests comfortably.
The Hog
The pig comes prepared from our local butcher (Swandean Meats) and then we get the task of inserting a pole through the middle of it and putting all the clamps and braces on the pig to hold it in place when it cooks on the spit, this is a very important part of the preparation as if the pig is not on the pole properly it can split or come off when cooking and cause all kinds of problems!
We then rub the pig with water and salt to keep it moist and stop the pig from drying out and burning, we also score the meat in certain places, the belly, legs and shoulders to help crackle the skin.
The pig is then put onto the machine, these vary most of the modern ones have motors on them that turn the pig as it cooks. We hire our machines in from Classic Event Hire based in Rustington, Phil and Wayne are great guys and the they have invested in brand new machines this year…. they even have wheels on them so you can pull the machine around with ease!
the average cooking time is 6 hours depending on size, some larger pigs can take longer, I believe its always best to cook a little longer if unsure then be under cooked as RAW PORK is defiantly not good! we test by inserting a knife into the back legs and pushing it right in and then touching the tip of the knife to make sure its hot, if so then its cooked.
You are then ready to carve the pig, ideally if you can leave it for about an hour then the meat will rest and stay very moist as the juices are setting as the meat cools slightly….!!
We serve our hogs with Home Made Apple Sauce and Stuffing in a Bap with lots of exciting salads, chutneys and pickles…. perfect for that party or corporate entertaining
If you are looking for a Hog Roast then please get in touch, you will not be disappointed!
Master chef Dan Clarke specialises in exquisite food, Sublime Drinks, great entertainment and a service that is professional and friendly.
