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T.G · 03-04-2010, 11:42 AM

Couple of cooking notes based on how Papi cooks pigs in his.

-Marinate the pig. As one could expect, being Cuban, Papi marinates them in in mojo: orange juice, garlic, oregano, and a few other spices - there are many variations on mojo but a sample recipe can be found here. He literally buys the pig before noon, takes it home, throws the pig in a trash bag, pours the marinade in with it, then ties the bag off and leaves it in the bathtub overnight - giving it about 18-20 hours worth of marinade time.

-Loading the pig into the wire cage: most everything about the china box is a two person job, for the most part, it's simply not a one-man cooking apparatus, but this part can even be a three person job. Load the pig on the bottom rack, have someone press the rack down while you flatten the pig out and set the hooks to hold the racks together. The stock s-hooks are meh, they pop loose easily, and if you have to flip the pig, you could loose a few, so Papi supplements them by using pieces of wire coat hangers. Since the coat hanger loops are twisted closed, they can't pop off like the s-hooks. Just keep a pair of linemans pliers around for both twisting and cutting the hangers.

-After you have it in the cage, stuff chopped garlic into the meat at various locations. Doesn't seem to be very scientific, just stab the pig and put a spoonful of garlic and tiny bit of oregano and maybe some cumin in the wound.

-partway though the cook, you'll probably have to lift the coal grate off and dump the ashes from the collection pan.

-right at the end, like the last 30-45 minutes, he'll dump the ash grate and stab the skin a few times here and there to one, check doneness, two, allows the fat to fun over the top of the skin for crisping, Then, when the meat is almost done, dumps another half bag of briquettes on and lets it fly on the temperatures to brown and crisp the skin.

If you use it alot, you might find that the coal grate and ash pan are kind of flimsy, so you'll need to get someone to weld some 3/4" square tube steel around the lip of the ash pan and the coal grate, along with a few pieces of bent rebar for new lifting handles on the coal grate.

03-04-2010, 11:42 AM	#9
T.G Grrrrrr Join Date: Mar 2009 First Name: The Other Adam Posts: 15,561 Trading: (37)	Re: China Box / Pig Roast Couple of cooking notes based on how Papi cooks pigs in his. -Marinate the pig. As one could expect, being Cuban, Papi marinates them in in mojo: orange juice, garlic, oregano, and a few other spices - there are many variations on mojo but a sample recipe can be found here. He literally buys the pig before noon, takes it home, throws the pig in a trash bag, pours the marinade in with it, then ties the bag off and leaves it in the bathtub overnight - giving it about 18-20 hours worth of marinade time. -Loading the pig into the wire cage: most everything about the china box is a two person job, for the most part, it's simply not a one-man cooking apparatus, but this part can even be a three person job. Load the pig on the bottom rack, have someone press the rack down while you flatten the pig out and set the hooks to hold the racks together. The stock s-hooks are meh, they pop loose easily, and if you have to flip the pig, you could loose a few, so Papi supplements them by using pieces of wire coat hangers. Since the coat hanger loops are twisted closed, they can't pop off like the s-hooks. Just keep a pair of linemans pliers around for both twisting and cutting the hangers. -After you have it in the cage, stuff chopped garlic into the meat at various locations. Doesn't seem to be very scientific, just stab the pig and put a spoonful of garlic and tiny bit of oregano and maybe some cumin in the wound. -partway though the cook, you'll probably have to lift the coal grate off and dump the ashes from the collection pan. -right at the end, like the last 30-45 minutes, he'll dump the ash grate and stab the skin a few times here and there to one, check doneness, two, allows the fat to fun over the top of the skin for crisping, Then, when the meat is almost done, dumps another half bag of briquettes on and lets it fly on the temperatures to brown and crisp the skin. If you use it alot, you might find that the coal grate and ash pan are kind of flimsy, so you'll need to get someone to weld some 3/4" square tube steel around the lip of the ash pan and the coal grate, along with a few pieces of bent rebar for new lifting handles on the coal grate.