# Cooking whole hogs in underground pit



## cowgirl

http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/...derground.html






The method of cooking meat in an underground pit has been around for years. The meat turns out so tender and juicy with just a small amount of effort. There is no need to tend the fire, turn the food, add wood or coals. The underground pit does all of the work.

You can use this method to cook anything from whole hogs, venison quarters, turkeys, briskets, to pots of beans. You can even do them all at once. You just need a hole in the ground large enough to hold them.

When doing a large hog, (this one was over 200lbs)...we start burning the wood at about 7 PM and try to get the hog in the ground by 10PM.
After the hog is buried, there is nothing left to do until morning. About 10 AM we check the meat.

Smaller hogs take anywhere from 8 to 12 hours.








Prepare the hog of your choice for cooking, you can skin the hog or scald and scrape, which ever you prefer. When not eating the skin, we have even used a blow torch to remove the hair. It also removes a layer of skin and works perfectly.

Dig a pit large enough to lay the hog in and deep enough for a 6 to 8 inch bed of hot coals. 
The hog will lay on top of the hot coals, so the bed needs to be deep enough to lay a sheet of tin over the top of the hole to cover the hog.

This pig was over 200lbs.








You need to burn enough wood to make a 6 to 8 inch bed of hot coals. This usually takes 2 to 3 hours. (It's a party in itself!)

After you have a nice thick bed of hot coals, place a sheet of tin on top......the seasoned and wrapped meat goes on the sheet of tin.

A word about tin........do not used galvanized. If you HAVE to use galvanized, burn it with a blow torch or on a fire before using.
Same with chicken wire, some folks say that the heat is not high enough to give off harmful fumes, but you can burn the tin and wire with a blow torch to play it safe.

Also, hang onto your tin for the next cookout, you can use it over and over.








The old timers used wet burlap to wrap meat. It's getting harder to find around here, so I use foil.
I like to season the meat with my favorite dry rub, also I like to place apples, onions and brown sugar in the cavity of the hog.....it adds so much flavor. You can add anything you like.

After the meat is seasoned, wrap it in wet burlap OR foil, also use a small amount of chicken wire. The wire helps hold the tender meat on the bone and also helps when it's time to remove the hog from the pit.








A large sheet of tin is placed over the hot coals, the wrapped hog is placed on top of tin.
Another sheet of tin is placed over top..........then buried with dirt. Cover the whole sheet of tin with dirt.
Make sure the edges of the tin are sealed with dirt, if you see any smoke coming out from the edges of the tin, put more dirt on it. You want an air tight seal.
This makes sort of an underground oven.

Let this cook overnight for large hogs, at least 8 to 12 hours for small ones.









The finished pork is fall apart tender. You can place the whole hog on a table and let people serve themselves, or pile the meat on a tray with sauces on the side. 

Any leftover pork freezes well.......makes great sandwiches, tamales, enchiladas, etc..



This was taken from my measly little blog....http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/index.html


----------



## lisacsco

Now that would be a great thing to do with some friends.  You made it easy to understand for someone who has never done anything like that.

Thanks, great job!!  (Love the blog too)


----------



## blackhawk19

That's cool, great narrative and pictures


----------



## gypsyseagod

great thread- i haven't done it since leaving hawaii. no foil then,used burlap & taro & banana leaves.


----------



## short one

Very nice post Cowgirl. One thing we did different when I helped with roasts of this kind was after raking the coals down, we would cover the coals with sand a couple three inches deep to kill the heat and let us place the meat in the pit easier. Just my .02 worth. Again this is a very informative thread.


----------



## cowgirl

Thanks folks.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




I did leave out one picture....I can't find one of the whole thing buried. It looks like a pile of dirt. lol

Thanks Lisa, I might add to that blog when cold weather sets in. 

Gypsyseagod...Wish I could still get some good clean burlap...I do like to use it better than foil.

Shortone, sand sounds good too. I don't have any here on the farm, but could get some pretty easily. I might have to give it a try. Thanks.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Blackhawk, welcome home, hope you had a great weekend.


----------



## goat

I have seen the meat placed in wet burlap sacks and placed directly on the coals.  It did not burn the sacks, just hook a wire loop in the top of the sack and lift out of the pit.


----------



## deejaydebi

Great job Cowgirl! Nice play by play!


----------



## cowgirl

Yeah goat, that wet burlap seems to steam the meat while cooking. It comes out so moist.
Now days feed comes in plastic bags or by the ton.......I miss the good old burlap.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Thank you Debi!!


----------



## chadpole

Cowgirl, you did a great job on  this thread. It was very informative and for anyone who has not done this before ,it gave them the details to get started on a hog themselves. I used to do hogs this way until I made a trailer smoker that would hold a couple of them. I guess you could say I got a little lazy after I did it in a drum smoker. The problem we had was not getting enough help. For just two people doing all the work it would just about kill ya. When time came to serve up the hog you wanted to find a place to lay down and sleep instead of have fun with the crowd that showed up to eat. I'll bet alot of folks on this forum can relate to this. People love to come eat ,but try and get them to help you cook and see who shows up.Anyway good job!!  I wished I was younger again so I could do this method  again.


----------



## walking dude

you try looking up tater sacks?

used to use them for putting catfish, when i run lines........doesn't stress em as bad as a stringer does



d8de


----------



## cowgirl

Thank you chadpole..
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Having a tractor to dig the pit sure is a big plus....also starting it in the evening and letting it cook all night is another must.
At least I can sleep while it's cooking.
With the cinderblock method, I have to keep an eye on it and add coals every hour.
I've never had trouble getting volunteers to help with the fire and getting the large hogs into the pit..that's nice.
I am able to clean a hog by myself too, so that's not a problem.

I know what you mean though.....it takes some work....my cinderblock pit is pretty darned easy to use (without any digging
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 )

But there is something about the meat from a pig that has been buried.....it's so tender and juicy and ..........hmmmm I don't know, special? lol!


----------



## cowgirl

Walking Dude, I will try to find some. Thanks for the tip!!


----------



## deejaydebi

Gee and I had to go all the way to Hawaii to eat buried pig! I should've gone to Oklahoma!


----------



## moltenone

wow that was very informative i'm going to have to do this thanks for the 
post .


mark


----------



## cowgirl

LOL! Debi, If I had a choice, I'd go back to Hawaii and eat one on the beach. Mine are pretty good, but I can't compete with the beach. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Mark, thank you! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 The underground method works great for other meats too. Sometimes I bury turkeys, briskets, hams, venison roasts and pots of beans all in the same pit. I just let them cook over night.


----------



## ron50

That's a lot of great information, thanks for sharing it :)


----------



## cowgirl

Thank you Ron! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





When I get to know you folks a bit better, I'll share my stories of floating down the river in an 8' stock tank...(country fun at it's best) 
It's not really smoking forum material, but it does involve cooking on a hibachi. lol


----------



## moltenone

cowgirl what kind of temp is maintained in a pit like this?

mark


----------



## cowgirl

I honestly do not know Mark. The coals get no air, the tin over the top has to be buried so that no air can get in....no smoke escapes.
This way no flair ups can occur. 

You have to burn quite a bit of wood to get a nice 6 to 8 inch bed of hot coals...they have to last all night.
Sorry... I do not know what temperature the pit maintains.

Hmmm, I have one of those remote thermometers....I might have to give it a try.


----------



## moltenone

thanks for the info,please let us know if you do the temp thing.


Mark


----------



## monty

Cowgirl,

I am going to sticky this thread. All I can say is excellent work and thank you for sharing so much great info!

Cheers!


----------



## cowgirl

You're sure welcome Mark and I'll keep you posted.
	

	
	
		
		



		
			







Wow! Thank you srmonty.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




I wasn't sure if it fit on this forum but there seems to be some interest in the method. I hope folks give it a try.


----------



## goat

We still have wool sacks here.  For those who said "WHAT".  Wool sacks are long burlap sacks where the wool fleeces when sheared from the sheep are placed in to take to the Wool House.  Also around Uvalde, they raise a lot of onions and they are placed into burlap sacks.  Still available in this neck of the woods.


----------



## cowgirl

Hey goat...my neighbor has some of those large wool burlap bags. Wonder why I didn't think of those before. I know I can get some unused ones.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!


----------



## goat

It is not my intention to hijack this wonderful thread, but I will tell a short fish story.  One night we were fishing for white bass on the Pecos River.  Around midnight they started biting.  We were placing our catch into a burlap sack.  That sack had a hole in it and the smaller ones swam out.  We still ended up with a sack full before the night was over.


----------



## cowgirl

I like a good fishing story. Thanks goat!


----------



## blacknbluedog

Hi. Great post. I recall seeing burlap in the garden section of our Home Depot. 
I hail from Hawaii and we have a similar method of cooking pig as someone stated earlier. We call the oven an imu and the pig is kalua pig (or turkey, pork butt etc). Other Pacific islanders have similar methods. If you are intersted I can tell what I know of this method. I must warn you though that I am not an expert nor have I ever done it before. My father and his brothers would make it for Christmas and New Year parties. I only watched and ate.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




Brian


----------



## cowgirl

Mmmmm, I'd love to hear about it Brian! 
And you have a beach...sigh.


----------



## moltenone

hay cowgirl,one question(for now)how deep is the pit?

mark


----------



## cowgirl

Mark, It varies depending on the size of the hog. You have to plan on 6 to 8 inches for the coals....then measure enough to be able to lay the wrapped hog or meat in it and still get a sheet of tin over the top without touching the meat.
It's kind of a start digging, measure the pig and go from there deal. It's better to have it too deep than not deep enough.

Hope I didn't make this as clear as mud!


----------



## deejaydebi

Ah kalua pig! Very ono-licious! I used to live it Waipahu near the sugar mill when it was still running. Cheap rent because of the God awful sickeningly sweet smell when they'd burn the sugar cane ergh! Back then Waipahu was like living in the boonies. Nothing but local old timers and this one dumb haole' would live there!


----------



## geek with fire

Hmmm....this post gets me to thinkin' (which most times isn't safe for those around me).  A whole hog is just too much meat for my lazy self to work with, but I'm wondering if the same thing couldn't be done with a boston butt?  I suppose you'd need something a bit more stout to shield the heat since that thick hide is gone, but other than that I think it would work.....yea?  Smaller hole means less digging.


----------



## gypsyseagod

same principle just size... yer a geek so go calculus on the size. actually for a 10lb butt- 2'x 2'  & 3' deep- line w/ lava rock or coals under & over....


----------



## gypsyseagod

ai ya da kama aina kine eh debi....oh talk pidgin again...... it's ono( i miss that saying) - thats hawaiian for it's great.thanx for taking me back debi....


----------



## cowgirl

I've done hams, turkeys, briskets in the same hole together. They turn out great.
A boston butt would work fine, some of the pigs I've done are skinned instead of scalding and leaving the hide on. You could even start it in the morning for an evening meal....a boston butt wouldn't take as long as a large hog.  Don't forget to throw a pot of beans in there too.


----------



## blacknbluedog

Sorry for the delay.  I tried posting twice last night but got logged off and the posts were lost.  I guess I write too slowly. If anyone can add details or corrections please do so.  This is what I can recamember. First dig the hole/depression about two feet deeep and a little longer than the oinker.  In the depression put kiawe wood and river rocks.  Kiawe is similar to mesquite.  The right kind of rocks (found in streams) will not pop or explode when heated.  This is very important as the wrong rocks will cause injury.  Light the fire and let burn till the rocks glow cherry red and only coals are left.  Add some of the rocks to the open belly section of the prepared pig.  Wrap the pig with chicken wire. Place banana stump (trunk of the banana tree) banana leaves and ti leaves over the coals.  Place pig over leaves.  Cover pig with more leaves and then burlap.  (Some people use blue tarps instead of burlap.)


----------



## blacknbluedog

Cover it all with dirt.  If any smoke escapes cover the area that the smoke is escaping from with additional dirt.  When unearthing the pig the chiken wire serves as a handle and also keeps the pig from falling apart.  My brother in law who now lives in Washington state has used this method of cooking pig and has substituted corn stalks for banana stump and leaves.  I dont know how he identified the right type of rocks to use.  I have heard of people using fire bricks instead of rocks.  That is about all I know bout making kalua pig... now as for eating it I am really an expert.
Brian


----------



## cowgirl

Thank you for posting this Brian. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




Next time you attend one, could you get some pictures for me? Or better yet.....invite me over!


----------



## deejaydebi

Nice post Brian! 

I lova dat kalua pig wid som lomi lomi salmon! Ono-ilious bradah! da pig melts in you mouth like budda man! Mmmmmmmmmm! Trow in some bananna mango pie for desert and you be in heaven! Shaka bradah!!


----------



## step-n-fetch-it

Thanks for the posting cowgirl! As a young whipper-snapper, I remember my dad and friends cooking some venison hams in an underground pit. Even as a youngin', I remember that was the best tasting meat I ever had!!! And I have always remembered how tender it was and how good it tasted.
With your posting, I'm going to seriously attempt to do the same (but maybe not with not a whole hog!!).
Thanks for the motivation.


----------



## cowgirl

You're sure welcome step-n-fetch-it.  It's an old method of cooking food, but it's still a good one in my book.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	




Hope you try it, and remember to take pictures for me!


----------



## blacknbluedog

Arggh. I got logged off again and lost my entire post.  Will try to send pictures if ever I get to see one again.  Its not too common nowdays.  There is another cooking method called huli pig. Basically rotisserie style.  The skin becomes crisp.  Anyway until I learn how to make longer posts without getting logged off I will keep it short.  Maybe someone else on this forum from Hawaii has pictures.
Aloja
Brian


----------

