How to Obtain a Whole Hog for your Pig Roast
There are many different ways you may obtain a whole pig. In rural areas, contacting your local pig farmer may
be your best bet. If this isn't possible, you can also try visiting a
specialty meat packer, grocery store meat department,
neighborhood butcher or even some ethnic markets (especially in Latin or Asian markets).
In any case, tell the vendor you would like him to prepare a whole pig for spit barbecuing. The pig should be
scaled and dehaired, not skinned. (The skin holds the meat together while cooking.) Allow 1 pound of dressed, (head-on pig)
meat per person for average appetites. When ordering a suckling
pig, figure on 1-1/2 lbs. of pig per person. Slightly less meat
may be needed if you will be serving all the meat in sandwiches.
If you want to serve as much meat as possible, have the butcher remove the head of the pig measuring the 48 or 56
inches from shoulder to rump. Tell the butcher he should not hang the pig vertically. The weight of the pig hanging vertically
would stretch it out beyond the 48 or 56 inch limit. Also, be sure the butcher takes the pig out of the freezer at least a day
ahead of time to allow for thawing.
| Weight |
Length |
Cooking Time |
| 50 lbs |
40" |
4 hours |
| 60 lbs |
44" |
4.5 hours |
| 70 lbs |
46" |
5 hours |
| 80 lbs |
48" |
5.5 hours |
| 90 lbs |
52" |
6 hours |
| 100 lbs |
56" |
6 hours |
| Length and Cooking Time are approximate. |
To fit the pig into the spit basket, the length of the dressed pig cannot exceed 48 inches if using
the RL-2460 or 56 inches with the ROTO-BQ-R.