Pork can be smoked in a hole in the ground that is filled with hot hardwood coals. Whole pigs are placed into the hole on sheet metal and covered with a layer of insulating dirt. As the coals smolder, the hot smoke rises up through the metal sheet and cooks the pork. Pit roasting or smoking is a delicious way to cook a whole pig and create tender pulled pork for large parties and family gatherings. You can smoke pork in a hole overnight or start early in the morning to have it ready by dinner. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Dig a five-foot-deep hole that is twice the size of the pig. For instance, if the pig is two feet by four feet, the hole needs to be four feet by six feet. Line the bottom and sides of the hole with bricks. Fill the hole with firewood and start a fire. Let the firewood burn down completely for three hours or add wood to the fire until there is an 18-inch-deep layer of hot coals on the bottom of the hole.
2. Apply a dry rub. Quarter three red apples and four onions with a paring knife and insert them into the cavity of the pig. Wrap the pig with tinfoil. Cut a piece of clean chicken wire to the dimensions of your pig with wire cutters. Place the tinfoil wrapped pig into the center of the sheet of chicken wire and push on the sides of the wire to bend them around the sides of the pig.
3. Cut two pieces of ribbed tin siding to the size of your hole. Lay one piece down over the coal bed. Set the pig down onto the tin siding. Set the other piece of siding on top of the pig. Fill in the hole and bury the pig and tin siding with dirt. Smoke the pig for 12 to 16 hours. The pig will be done when you can pull the meat off the bones.
Tags: chicken wire, Fill hole, four feet, hole with