tekobo

Thank you all for being so kind with your comments, particularly when the results were not the sort you would choose to post on Instagram let alone on a forum such as ours with people who are obsessively good at cooking. The arrangements were complicated by the COVID restrictions and we managed the risks carefully. All bar one couple had had their first vaccines and the young couple who hadn’t had taken a lateral flow test. We had one couple stay with us for the whole time for 2.5 hours while others cycled around us, building their own sandwiches to go. Two couples ended up together in another garden eating their share while another were able to dash back to customers in their shop with their bounty to eat when they had a lull. One couple were late for their slot, arriving after everyone had gone and didn’t leave until I threw them out at 2200, having sat around the Solo stove for hours. What none of the pictures can convey is how much joy and pleasure one little piggy can deliver. I get a rush from hushed wow’s and the quiet that descends when people are eating and loving their food. I wasn’t sure about putting the pig’s kidneys in the stuffing but the sweet soft onions and the herbs and spices turned that stuffing into a thing of wonder. Only one person didn’t have some and that was on account of the bread crumbs and his being a coeliac. Here is to life and the great love that friends bring.

Soooo. I have learned a lot today. We also had a lot of fun. Had friends arrive at 15 minute intervals to have a drink, make up their sandwich and go, making way for the next couple. Seven different couples were seen. Hurrah. What did I learn? Trying to pull the sternum together with thread didn’t work for long. The stitches burst and the stuffing came out. Luckily it just landed in the tray beneath and cooked off very nicely indeed. Next time I might stuff a bit of foil in at the top to keep the stuffing in the lower section which wasn’t quite so hard to keep shut. The pig shrank during the cook and started to twist within the cradle. I should have tightened up the prongs when that started to happen. If you want a pretty looking presentation pig then cook it on the main grate or maybe on the spit rod. The prongs on the cradle do bite into the meat. Don’t be disappointed if the skin doesn’t seem to be crisp when you take it out. The skin crisped up while it was resting, strangely. I also learned that rotisserie piglet is INSANELY DELICIOUS. Kidney stuffing was loved by all, salsa verde and a celeriac and apple salad and soaking your bread in the pan from under the meat was all that we needed. Unpretty pictures, very very tasty food.

Need to get back to my cook but here are some quick responses to your various messages above: @BOC - I thought I would need to bend the handles on the double drip pan too much to achieve clearance and so I didn't bother. Using just the middle of the fire basket and putting a tray on top seems to be working well... @Syzygies - much more to respond to there on places to eat and places we have both been to. I shall revert. @Troble - cooking a hog flat looks like fun. May try that next time. Not sure if it is OK to post photos of the book though. The author might prefer us to buy it and might even come after you re: copyright. @Braai-Q - I thought you were giving me serious advice about crispy skin. Mark spotted that you were being funny.

I lay in bed for half an hour this morning, trying to decide on how to proceed. Would I be more likely to get crispy skin on the spit rod than in the cradle? If I was to use the spit rod then I could use the double drip pan under the pig, no problem but that would change how I configure the fire basket. Decisions, decisions. I got up and I decided. As you will see in the photo below, I used the divider that comes with the 32 on the left and I added in the divider from my 23 on the right. Coconut shell briquettes in the middle to make sure that I had enough fuel for the whole cook. Afterwards I piled some charcoal on top for a bit of a smoke flavour. Next I tried different configurations of grates and roti cradle and decided to use the half grate that comes with the 32, with its foil wrapped Dennis tray on top to catch the pig juices. The main rationale for this configuration is to avoid having fat dripping directly on the coals during the cook. I may go for a high heat spin without the tray at the end, just to add extra colour and crispness if needed. I went and rescued the pig from it's undignified slumber in the dry ager. This is why I need a larger dry ager like @Basher's. I took @Braai-Q's advice and took the cloth wrap and label off before preparing the pig for its final journey. It came with its kidneys and I had a couple of pig's kidney's in the freezer. I made up some stuffing, loosely following Fergus' recipe and adding a bit of fennel and Panko breadcrumbs to long sweated onions, chopped pig's kidneys, pig mince, sage and garlic. The sweated onions had to come to a marmalade like consistency according to him. Next I raided The Husband's tool room for the upholstery needles and tools that he put aside for butchery. I wished I had watched more closely when I saw people sewing up pigs on telly. In the end I used a tool, that I think is called an awl, puncture holes in the skin so that I could pull the needle through. Had to resort to a curved needle when trying to pull the sternum tight. This is where it started to get real. Pleased that I decided on the cradle. Nothing like locking your pig in with a few turns of an Allen key to make you feel on top of the world. The piggy wasn't spinning as smoothly as it should so I swapped the motor out for a stronger one. We also switched it on and off to get it to rotate clockwise, reducing the chances of the end fitting rotating outwards and locking the spit in place. Here is the piggy, one hour into the cook. Temp 150C. Looking good.

As you can imagine, I got bored after the first six books or so. I also realised that I was missing a couple of Fergus Henderson books that included suckling pig. Like @BOC, I have been thinking of a pig for a feast but a) I can’t have that many friends round yet and b) I don’t quite have the courage to try Fergus’ quail stuffed pig for my very first go at roasting a whole pig! That took me to a more Italian take on a pig with thoughts of porchetta in buns. Thank you @MassimoDG for sharing the your Sardinian recipe and pictures. From all that I have read, it seems like 350F or 180C for 3-4 hours is what I should expect. I will use a baste with oregano, garlic, animal fat and oil that I made up a few days ago and will be following this advice from Fergus: Sit the pig on an oven tray* in a sphinx like manner, then rub some oil on it as if it is Ambre Solaire on a good friend’s back. Season liberally and place in a medium oven for 3 to 4 hours. You want a pig at the end that offers no resistance to your carving. Gather friends** and have a feast. *Oven tray - commit to the rotisserie instead, it should reward you with thin, crunchy skin, like creme brûlée. **Gather friends - adjust to suit prevailing COVID regulations.

...made it as far as my house. I’ve looked at previous KK whole pig cooks and I see that most people cook them on the main grate. This little piggy fits nicely on the 32. However, I would like an all round crispy skin and so am planning to try the rotisserie cradle. It fits nicely. Planning to cook this pig tomorrow. It’s a discounted present from the farm that I have been buying from and sharing with friends all through lockdown. Planning to have friends come and pick up a pig sandwich tomorrow afternoon when it is ready. Two by two so we do not violate the Rule of Six in the garden. I used the eat my books website to find out which of my cookery books have suckling pig recipes and now have the fun of choosing one. Wish me luck!

What a beautiful dog @Bruce Pearson.

Naaa. I made it sound more complicated than it actually was. I just sat the pan on the grate handles. Cleaned up just fine @tony b using the soak overnight in dishwasher liquid with hot water. Yes, it did take a scrub and some elbow grease. I promise to compare with using PBW next time. Yup, the temperature did drop. I used all charcoal for the chicken cook and filled the whole 32 basket for the very first time. Burned through most of it - unusual for me. When I come to do the suckling pig cook I might go for coco shell briquettes to be sure that the fire lasts for the whole cook. I got in touch with Dennis this morning to ask about the clash between the cradle and the handles of the double drip pan. He talked about tapping the handles slightly to bend them out of the way. I recall someone else talking about that elsewhere on the forum. Will give that a go if I do decide to use the cradle instead of the spit for the pig cook.

Good trick - find something more expensive to buy first. I'm on to you. This is just a precursor to convincing Mrs S that a 42 is not too expensive after all. That said, beautiful truck. I love the idea of being able to chuck things in the back of a truck and go. Congratulations.

Really beautiful piece of kit @Basher. Good luck with your mission to convince your wife that you were fine to go shopping without the final OK from her. I like the words on your wall. Prepare for a bit of "we do REALLY LOUD".

Woo hoo! I just looked up the Stag @Basher. Great choice. Are you able to set it up now or do you have to wait for some reno to be completed?

Learned that motto at your knee Mac! Keep going and it will turn out right at the end. Yummy looking pizza.

Hey Troble. I put the double drip pan on top of the sticky up bars that you use to lift the fire basket. It turns out my KKs are on a slope and so the right hand side was a lot hotter and drier. The pan is soaking at the moment. Will see how well it cleans up.

What gorgeous food and what a beautifully laid tabl @PVPAUL. Thank you for the tips and I look forward to following you on this journey.

So, here is the recipe that I used to make crumbly semi cured sausage: https://www.thespruceeats.com/finocchiona-tuscan-fennel-salami-2018497. Well, it was a combination of that recipe and this method: https://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=7265 with curing lasting about 4 weeks instead of 4 months. A different texture and taste experience.

Oooh. I think I would be interested in your classmate’s Thai sausage. I have some kaffir lime leaves too although my plant has never produced fruit and is less than 4’ tall. Here our favourite sausages are very simple. Pork and sage wins hands down for fresh sausage and I like to make a semi cured sausage that is half way between fresh sausage and fully cured salami. Will hunt out the recipe. We tasted it once in a bar in italy and could not find it to buy. That’s the sort of thing that is worth making, in my opinion.

Nope, just normal UK size chickens in my 32. No 42, or goat, here yet.

I set up to use the rotisserie today. I wanted to use the double drip pan to avoid flare ups but found that it would not fit underneath the cradle rotisserie - handle clash. I swapped for the rod rotisserie but was worried because the last time I used it, it managed to "unwind" the adjustable point on the left hand side and got jammed in the KK because it was too long to get out. On that occasion I cut the chicken off the rod and unscrewed the end of the rod when everything cooled down. Today I made sure the nut was tight and then I watched when it started to rotate. Sometimes the current sends the rod rotating in a clockwise direction and sometimes in an anti clockwise direction. I tried a couple of times until the rod was rotating in the clockwise direction so that it would not be able to unwind the end nut. Perfect. No problems at all getting the rod out this time. Three chooks. One for us, one for the in-laws and one for friends. The double drip pan did an awesome job of allowing me to baste with oil and fat without flare ups. I noticed the difference, with almost instant flare ups, when I took the pan out to get some fire browning at the end. Very tasty and a great trial as I am planning to cook a suckling pig at the end of the week. We once ate the tastiest potatoes ever at a market in France. They were basted by a wall of rotisserie chicken, multi meats and sausages. Not quite the same today but tasty nonetheless.

The good news for me is that I am The wife and so didn't have to seek a wife's permission in order to get a dry ager. I did have to give up a standing freezer to make room for the dry ager but that was The Husband's only condition of purchase. Maybe you guys will need to figure out something you can "give up" in exchange for getting an ager. I tell you, it is worth it! Now that the long aging piece of beef is out of the ager I might change the temp and humidity to cure some salamis for a few weeks. @S and @M - glad to count you as members of the hacksaw club. Absolutely essential for meat butchery and it is all about preserving your quality knives. Arrive at a bit of bone? Swap out for a saw so as not to damage your knife. Others will catch up to this eventually. 🤪

Well done @Troble. I can feel an Indian summer getting ready to follow on from a hot Mexican spring.

Yesterday was Day 198. Here is the whole sirloin rack when it arrived back in September of last year. I coated three ribs in fat and the rack has been sitting at the bottom of my dry ager for months. I invited friends round last night. The fore rib, one shelf up, was the back up in case the long aging experiment had gone wrong. The fore rib had only been in for about 50 days. Sense of trepidation. I thought I could see some dark mould underneath the fat on the end face of the meat. I need not have worried. It was an amazing revelation to see such clean, beautiful meat on the inside. We did have to trim off the ends. Cooking pictures to make you drool. No plated pictures. We were too busy eating. Salad, sweet potato fries and bearnaise made for a lovely meal. The meat wasn't too funky, just a slight blue cheese flavour. Very very enjoyable.

Of course I couldn't resist. For UK KK'ers - this book is on a number of sites for over £100. I got the best deal, at £49, here https://puritandoors.co.uk/recipe-book-by-ranjit-rai.html

@Troble's beer, stack, beer, stack method is much more exciting than mine! I rotate mine by 60 degrees in each layer so that I return to original position every third piece. Exposes more of the edges to the flame I think. For my most recent cook I realised that carrying an exposed spike down the stairs to the KK was not the best idea I had ever had. Safety tip for the day: put a cork on it if you have to carry your trompo king around and don't have the meat or pineapple stacked to the very top.

@Bruine I think that half grate is a game changer. In combination with the basket splitter it gives you more flexibility and the chance to try out two zone cooking in your 23 or 21.

No restaurant planned but, if we ever get out of these lockdown restrictions, I am planning a themed banquet a month. Big trestle tables in the garden and menus themed by country. I cannot wait to see and feed my friends again!