Thread: Whole pig on a spit Dunedin

Hello all,

I've just had a request from a local community to cook meat for a gathering of about 100 people. The theme of this event is 'farm to table'. My job us to prepare and cook a while pig over a spit, which is something I haven't done before. I have some questions!
1. Would a 60kgish 2yr old female kune kune be suitable? (There will be other meat and food) I have kunes in my back yard and always wondered what they taste like.
2. Are there any tips out there from somebody who has done this before?
3. Is there a Dunedin local that has a setup already in their backyard that would be suitable for getting hair off a pig? Happy to pay. The local butchers I've called aren't very keen.
The event is in February. We are designing and fabricating a charcoal spit currently.

I'd appreciate any advice please!

Ive done a bit of this with my own spit which I made.

Ive never cooked a Kunekune before. Ive heard that they arent that nice to eat, but Ive never tried to cook one before so unsure about that.

Right so the spit part. Yep, have you got a design in mind?? I don't use the charcoal types. Mine was LPG fired and did a great job.

Don't try to spit venison. I've never had any success with doing it that way. It seems to be too lean for spit roasting and it never seems to go well. Lamb and pork are the go.

lets have a look at yr design before we go into anything further

I’ve cooked x2 sheep on a Manuka fired spit a few times. It takes a long time as you don’t really want high flames, but a deep pile of continually fed embers. Once my fire was going, I fed it with shorts of Manuka so I could target certain areas of the meat. Basting with some home made concoction works too. I’m guessing kunekune would be very fatty so meat yield may not be that great, but fat dripping on embers should help the heat. I now use a blowtorch to singe any pig. The job stinks but skin surface can come up nicely by scrubbing with dairy brush after singed hair is scraped off. When I scalded pigs in an old bath, my go to temp was 72C. Too hot and you may have the skin/fat blubbering off. Finally, my rotisserie was powered by an electric motor thru two old washing machine gearboxes back to back, about 1 rpm. A mate still uses it.

Kunekune are terrible eating

I’ve never done a whole pig but have done a whole sheep for our street party. I only use charcoal, a whole animal is cool but time consuming cutting up. The easiest meat is rolled boneless. also get it cooked early and let it rest, it will keep warm for hours with just a few hot coals.
This as for a work do of about 50-60 people. Two rolled beef, two rolled pork a side of home kill lamb and four chooks. Sausages for the kids.

I've only thought about this for a couple of hours this morning, so no plans drawn up yet. This one is going to be charcoal.
I was going to keep it cheap and simple. An old barrel cut in half length ways, holding a bed of coals and catching drips. Then a rotisserie suspended above somehow, with the ability to raise and lower. But I'm not familiar with this sort of BBQ so I'd appreciate your input into my ideas tac a1.

Don’t worry about adjusting it up and down just adjust your fire.

Ryan, are you speaking from experience? I've heard mixed opinions about kunes. Some say they're the best pork they've eaten, some say they aren't good.

Whatever you do don’t put the Kunekune on for a feed. They have more body fat than Rushy after Christmas dinner.

Thanks 2post. That's helpful.

Okay so it sounds like I'd better find a different breed of pig than kunekune!

These kune's are a bit leaner than most, because they primarily eat grass, very few scraps, and they roam about on 7 acres of land so they're relatively fit for a kune. I've heard kunes dont get bred for meat because they're very slow growing, but many who have eaten them say they taste amazing. A quick google search verifies this. So i don't know! Love to give it a try though.

I've never done a whole animal either but agree with 2post, individual roasts are easy for carving and cooking as well as allowing some variety of flavors. Photo shows 2 lamb legs, 4kg beef rump & 11kg pork leg. Cooked over coal 6 hours. This fed 80ish people with bread, salads and the usual sides

Get a wild 50kg pig,skin it.Wrapp up and slow cook.Islander way,cooking above ground,UMU stye,slow cooker=buitifull meat.Got any islanders down there that can help you?

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Kunekune are terrible eating

Agree they are not good - normally balls of fat -if doing a whole pig - open it right up and say a 60 kg porker 7-8 hrs