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Thread: Pit Cooking

  1. #1
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Default Pit Cooking

    One of the things I haven't seen on here is pit cooking. It's something we did quite a bit of back in Illinois and it's pretty easy to do although we took the lazy man approach.

    We would start in the evening by digging a pit with a backhoe about three feet deep and four feet long. Fill it with wood and burn most of the night. This, of course, was a man team sport and we had to have the obligatory beer, summer sausage and cheese. That part is very important.

    Once the wood had burned down to about four of five inches of nice coals..no fire, just coals (maybe 3 or 4 in the morning). Cover the coals with wet burlap then add your favorite piece of pig wrapped in heavy aluminum foil to cover it. Some folks like to bury the pit but then you have to dig it back out (I did say lazy man approach). We just covered it with metal sheeting, tossed some dirt over it for insulation, and went on with our man team sport. By mid afternoon the meat was cooked and ready for the big meal. If you have really large pieces of meat or even a whole piglet the pig then you need to wrap piggy in some type of wire. It makes lifting him out a whole lot easier.

    You can use beef roast if you want but it can burn pretty easily so you have to be much more careful with it. Any meat that has a nice layer of fat will cook without burning. Pork does really well.

    And man is that some good grub. Here's a link I found for pit cooking:

    http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/pit.html
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    Senior Member wareagle69's Avatar
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    great link ric i plan on trying this idea at our annual pig roast this october
    i am going to ask the powers that be to move this thread into the cooking area for ease of finding such good info.

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Oh, in the link, they use heated rocks, which we didn't use. Just as I described above.
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    Rick, Your method is how I cook salmon. I wrap them in tinfoil, with sliced lemon, onion and bacon.

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    Rick, Have you ever used a Dutch Oven, for the same method?

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Did a bunch of pit cooking while living in Hawaii. Used banana leaves to wrap the pig. Some of the most tender meat I've ever had.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I have Hopeak but I've never found a dutch oven big enough to put a whole pig in.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Sounds like about what I have done here in New Mexico. We put sand stone on the coals and then the meat wrapped in foil and more sandstone over that and make another fire on that. After a couple hours you have some good eating.

    Don
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  9. #9

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    We do the whole pig like crashdive said in banana leaves.when the first keg is empty dig up your pig and send the ladies on a beer run, 'cuse it's time to eat.
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    Senior Member Tony uk's Avatar
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    Chef Rick is in da house AGEN !!?

    Nice link Rick
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    (FMR) Wilderness Guide pgvoutdoors's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    Did a bunch of pit cooking while living in Hawaii. Used banana leaves to wrap the pig. Some of the most tender meat I've ever had.
    While I was stationed in Hawaii I to had some of the best pork I've ever tasted, it melts in your mouth.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pgvoutdoors View Post
    While I was stationed in Hawaii I to had some of the best pork I've ever tasted, it melts in your mouth.
    It absolutely does. Took awhile to get used to Poi, but making it was sure fun.
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    (FMR) Wilderness Guide pgvoutdoors's Avatar
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    i don't know a single person that says Poi tastes good. Even the locals treat it as tradition and the tourist just have to try it.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Good for a survival situation I guess - plenty of carbs. With all of the other edibles on the islands, I probably wouldn't worry too much about grinding up taro roots. The thing is, when I was stationed there my idea of survival was makin sure there was enough beer money.
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    (FMR) Wilderness Guide pgvoutdoors's Avatar
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    Oh yes, back in those younger days.
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    PGV: where were you stationed? Kaneohe?
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    (FMR) Wilderness Guide pgvoutdoors's Avatar
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    Yes, I was station there for five years, 1982-1986. I would spend eight months on the Island and seven months deployed to the western Pacific and Indian Ocean.
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  18. #18
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I was there from 76 to 80. Squadron 15 on Ford Isand. Half my time there, the other half out of Guam.
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    (FMR) Wilderness Guide pgvoutdoors's Avatar
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    I had some of my people rotate to Ford Island, fuel specialists. My unit had a mix of mos's. We stopped in Guam a couple of times for resupply. We use to call it "Give Up and Mastur****"
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  20. #20
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    It's an absolutely beautiful island. Did quite a bit of exploring or booney stompin as the locals called it. Some of the best diving that I've done. Nothing like doing a wreck dive in 90 feet of water and have 300 to 500 feet of visibility. Good climate if you don't mind 110 degrees and relative humidity around 90% and a pretty special monsoon season. You are right - if you can't get out and explore, Guam is not a word, just initials.
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