What a weekend! Cooking the 2nd pig of the year in the furnace of destiny was a long day with delicious results.
Starting at 7:30am, the day began with a tidy-up, fire setting, chopping firewood and stocking the esky. Stage 2 involved making a spice rub, mop sauce and preparing the chickens ready to stuff inside said pig. With the fire lit at 11am, it would take 2 hrs to cool down ready for the animal, with the oven keeping a constant temperature of 160º for the rest of the day.
Once the pig arrived at 11:30am it was time to rub in the slice rub. A mix of Tasmanian pepperberries, bay leaves, fennel seeds and rock salt. A quick mop of sauce was applied inside the pig and over the chickens. Ears, snout and tail were covered in foil to prevent burning and away she went into the hot oven.
By this time, the fire was out and the heat retained in the floor tiles and dome provided enough heat for the next 5hrs of roasting. Whilst ‘Edna’ sizzled away (audible from behind the oven door) we went to work on the final touches of the Marrow Barrow, readying the GoPro mounts and making sure the serving platter was secured in placed for Edna’s debut across ‘Porkrush’ Road.
After 5 hours of sizzling and basting it was time to kick start another small fire in the back of the oven to provide some extra heat for the crackling. Once crackling was achieved, Edna was loaded up, strapped in and wheeled the 250m trip to Nick Thwaite’s place ready for a great night of pork, beer and good times.
The pork turned out just perfect, combined with vietnamese rolls and hand-made coleslaw, Edna was a winner. I can’t wait for Pig 3.0 – any takers?!
