It must be said there is much at stake if you end up making a pigs ear of the job at hand (mind the pun). The disaster of cooking the hog incorrectly not only can result in your guests being utterly disappointed in what promised to be a feast but you will look utterly stupid as you try to salvage what burnt meager crusts of meat you have left after you poorly judged the cooking time. Even worse you end up under cooking the pork and either end up poisoning your guests or be brave and tell them the food is not going to be ready for another few hours. These outcomes are very uncommon for unexperienced non chefs. And not only will it tarnish your hosting reputation but it will be a waste of your money and everybody else’s time. Please please don’t let any of these scenarios happen at an important occasion like a birthday party or especially a wedding. How does one tell the bride and groom that the glorious pig has been incinerated. Expect tears and prepare for much apology. So here are the main cons of a DIY hog roast.
Food poorly cooked.
To cook a pig properly requires specialist equipment. Of course this can be hired. However, even if you hire a top quality machine it will not guarantee perfection in cooking. Fortunately with a pig you have roughly 30-45 minute window to achieve the perfect meat tenderness. Any longer the meat will dry out and the roast pork may develop a distasteful chewy quality to it. Timing depends on a number of factors also. The main factor being the size of the pig. A professionally trained chef will know the exact time to cook the animal. For an amateur this may be difficult to judge. A professional will also know the tricks of how to produce the most perfect crackling. For many hot bubbly crackling is the best part of a hog roast meal. Get this wrong to your own peril. Undercooking a pig should never happen. A temperature probe can prevent this but it can’t speed up the cooking process which is what one will pray for if they don’t give themselves enough time to cook the beast. Some pigs take up to 8 hours to cook, so time and preparation is the key. All these factors are troubling matters to the DIY hog roaster with no experience.
Cleaning up.
When you hire a hog roast machine and you sign up to cleaning up after you may have wished you had made better choices. A full hog roast can be a very messy affair. There is buckets of pork stock to deal with and a whole carcass to deal with. Not only that there is the cleaning of the machine which can take up to an hour. Fortunately Urban hog roast provides you with an option to have the machine cleaned by for a small fee.
Exemption from the party/wedding/birthday
Unfortunately, one of the worst things about catering for your event is that you are realistically going to be working all day when everybody is enjoying the party. Don’t underestimate the amount of work that has to be done while your mates are dancing and sinking Jim Beams all night.
Time consuming preparation.
Your friends and family are not only going to want slow roasted pork and crackling, they are also going to want the other extras that are going to need preparing either earlier that day or the day before. Getting your stuffing, apple sauce, coleslaw prepped up is time consuming for some. And those bread buns are going to have to be sliced and buttered.
These are some of the main drawbacks for someone who might be thinking of hiring a machine. Please don’t let this put you off if you are thinking of doing your event catering. Use this knowledge to make a better informed decision of wether or not a DIY hog roast is right for you