Backyard Imu - Tiki Drinks and Food

M MadDogMike Grand Member (8 years) The Anvil of the Sun Joined: Mar 30, 2008 Posts: 11037	M MadDogMike Posted posted on Sat, Dec 3, 2011 6:25 PM On 2008-06-18 06:21, Johnny Dollar wrote: this forth of july, my brother and i are cooking an 80 lb pig in an above-ground "imu" of sorts made by stacking concrete blocks. pictures soon :D J$, do you remember how that worked out? Any tips for me? My brother and I are getting ready to cook an 80-100 lb Luau Pigs for a Christmas party. We had looked at a Caja China and decided to make one from concrete block. So today we picked up a couple of chickens, a 15 lb brisket and 100 lbs of mesquite charcoal to do a trial run. We started with 2x4 foot block box 3 rows high and a iron lid. We put the meat inside, built the fire on top and watched the thermometer. After a couple of hours we could just barely keep the telp at 200 and we wanted more like 250. So we shoveled off the coals and removed 1 layer of blocks (they were not cemented together). With less air to heat, temp was easy to maintain in the 250 range. After reaching proper temp, we cooked for about 3 hours. Cooked perfectly- the chickens were falling apart with a nice crispy skin. The brisket was still a little too pink on the inside. I could have put it back in the pit for another hour or so but I wrapped it in foil and popped it in the oven at 300 for a while. Overall, it was a good learning experience. Figured out how to maintain the temp, how to move the coals so we can turn the pig and glaze it at the end, learned that dragging the lid off drops grit in the meat. The plan to split the pig down the middle, cook half for a party next Friday and then cook the other half the following Saturday for another party. Brush it good about 30 minutes from the end with Teriyaki glaze and cover with pinapple slices. When we pull the pig from the pit, we'll dump the leftover hot coals into the pit, replace the iron top, and put the serving platter on top of the iron lid - should work like a warming table to keep the pork toasty during serving. (Serving platter is a 2x3 foot metal driveway oil drip pan :D ) I will be sure to post pictures of the finished piggie. Be good to yourself and to the ones you love Life is short, smile while you still have your teeth. [ Edited by: MadDogMike 2011-12-03 18:30 ]

On 2008-06-18 06:21, Johnny Dollar wrote:
this forth of july, my brother and i are cooking an 80 lb pig in an above-ground "imu" of sorts made by stacking concrete blocks. pictures soon :D

J$, do you remember how that worked out? Any tips for me?

My brother and I are getting ready to cook an 80-100 lb Luau Pigs for a Christmas party. We had looked at a Caja China and decided to make one from concrete block. So today we picked up a couple of chickens, a 15 lb brisket and 100 lbs of mesquite charcoal to do a trial run. We started with 2x4 foot block box 3 rows high and a iron lid. We put the meat inside, built the fire on top and watched the thermometer. After a couple of hours we could just barely keep the telp at 200 and we wanted more like 250. So we shoveled off the coals and removed 1 layer of blocks (they were not cemented together). With less air to heat, temp was easy to maintain in the 250 range. After reaching proper temp, we cooked for about 3 hours. Cooked perfectly- the chickens were falling apart with a nice crispy skin. The brisket was still a little too pink on the inside. I could have put it back in the pit for another hour or so but I wrapped it in foil and popped it in the oven at 300 for a while. Overall, it was a good learning experience. Figured out how to maintain the temp, how to move the coals so we can turn the pig and glaze it at the end, learned that dragging the lid off drops grit in the meat.

The plan to split the pig down the middle, cook half for a party next Friday and then cook the other half the following Saturday for another party. Brush it good about 30 minutes from the end with Teriyaki glaze and cover with pinapple slices. When we pull the pig from the pit, we'll dump the leftover hot coals into the pit, replace the iron top, and put the serving platter on top of the iron lid - should work like a warming table to keep the pork toasty during serving. (Serving platter is a 2x3 foot metal driveway oil drip pan :D ) I will be sure to post pictures of the finished piggie.

Be good to yourself and to the ones you love
Life is short, smile while you still have your teeth.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2011-12-03 18:30 ]

Post #616132 by MadDogMike on Sat, Dec 3, 2011 6:25 PM