La Caja China

[Hogwally]

     My folks were visiting this weekend, so the wife invited her family and some friends over and we had a big pig roast.  I've done it the old fashioned way before, but I'd seen this somewhere and decided to give it a try:

http://www.lacajachina.com/

     Don't know how many of you like to have big cookouts, but if you do you might want to give it a look.  Cooked a pig that was 86 lb. alive (about 55 lb. or so after gutting and taking the head off)  in 4 hrs. and 15 minutes. It was easy to cook and really not that bad to clean up either.  The pork turned out excellent, I injected it with a cuban sour orange marinade and rubbed it with mojo.  It needed more salt for my taste, but that was a minor issue.

[Saniflush]

What kind of mojo did you rub it with and is that legal in South Florida.

[Godfather]

    My folks were visiting this weekend, so the wife invited her family and some friends over and we had a big pig roast.  I've done it the old fashioned way before, but I'd seen this somewhere and decided to give it a try:

http://www.lacajachina.com/

     Don't know how many of you like to have big cookouts, but if you do you might want to give it a look.  Cooked a pig that was 86 lb. alive (about 55 lb. or so after gutting and taking the head off)  in 4 hrs. and 15 minutes. It was easy to cook and really not that bad to clean up either.  The pork turned out excellent, I injected it with a cuban sour orange marinade and rubbed it with mojo.  It needed more salt for my taste, but that was a minor issue.

Should have left the head on.

[Saniflush]

Should have left the head on.

That was Wally's way of "gettin' head".

[Townhallsavoy]

I've always wanted to roast a whole pig.  Seems like a daunting task, though.  Also, if you screw it up, that's a lot of wasted money and food and time. 

Ever try it the Hawaiian way of burying it on a bed of hot coals?

[Hogwally]

     I didn't leave the head on because there were going to be some kids there, city kids, and I didn't want to freak them out.  The way it goes in the box, you have to split the front half of the backbone and lay the pig in flat.  When you split the head that way it looks kind of spooky, like a two-headed monster.
     Mojo is another cuban marinade, probably my favorite part of cuban food, except maybe green plantains. (I don't like the ripe sweet ones).
     I have never tried the pig in the ground method.  I've done them on a spit in a smoker before, and that is just too much work and takes way too long.  I talked with several people, and they told me if you follow the directions on the box, the pig comes out perfect every time.  I like things that are idiot proof.
     We had about 25-30 people here, and we have about 15 lb. of meat left over.  Going to be pork sammiches for lunch for a while.

[Godfather]

     I didn't leave the head on because there were going to be some kids there, city kids, and I didn't want to freak them out.  The way it goes in the box, you have to split the front half of the backbone and lay the pig in flat.  When you split the head that way it looks kind of spooky, like a two-headed monster.
     Mojo is another cuban marinade, probably my favorite part of cuban food, except maybe green plantains. (I don't like the ripe sweet ones).
     I have never tried the pig in the ground method.  I've done them on a spit in a smoker before, and that is just too much work and takes way too long.  I talked with several people, and they told me if you follow the directions on the box, the pig comes out perfect every time.  I like things that are idiot proof.
     We had about 25-30 people here, and we have about 15 lb. of meat left over.  Going to be pork sammiches for lunch for a while.

I am married to a cuban so this is pretty much a weekend for me.

[Hogwally]

  Yeah, my wife is half Cuban and half Dominican.  Arkansas Redneck and Latino make an interesting mix.  I'm not sure if she feels more weird with my family or me with hers.  I think they hear my accent and feel sorry for her because they think she married a tard or something.  Trying to explain Razorbacks and the Hog Call to her Dominican mother was an interesting conversation.