Cooking times within the splendid sphere of the hog roast do, indeed, vary. To say that there is an exact and uniform figure that denotes when each and every hog is finished, as regards cooking time, would be a falsity.
As our pigs, although sharing relatively uniform weights, are individuals, it means that no one pig will take the exact same amount of time to cook as another.
Time of year makes a difference in regards to this very relevant question. Due to the swing in temperatures experienced during different times of the 12 month calendar, along with the variety of precipitates that fall from the sky, the cooking times experienced by our chefs, in relation to the pigs they are expertly preparing, does, indeed, vary. The generally accepted standardised ‘for ease of argument’ response to the question in hand is 6 hours. Being generally accurate, the six hours while the pig slowly cooks is a time that is often filled with substantial amounts of expectation, glee and aroma infused smells which drift gently yet purposefully away from the hog roasting or spit roasting machine.
The hog roasting machine manufacturing project that the Spitting Pig Company embarked upon two decades ago has culminated in a machine range which constitutes the very cutting edge in terms of hog roasting technology. Due to this, our burners and roasting systems, coupled with the design of our machine chassis, our cooking times can be seen as highly consistent. Where our glass panelled doors facilitate very good thermal properties, along with allowing guests to observe cooking in action and allowing catering aficionados the same opportunity, they also join very closely due to the strict tolerances we observe during the physical manufacturing process. This means that a further degree of heat retention on behalf of the spit roaster, hog roaster or combination roaster can be achieved. It is, essentially, the issue of heat management that is directly responsible for the time it takes to cook a hog, or any other meat for that matter.
Outside, which is where the majority of our functions both take place and are catered for (although we can situate ourselves indoors happily) the hog roast machines are dependant upon the wind and the breeze in relation to cooking times and their projected accuracies on behalf of both the people who operate them and those who look on in eager anticipation. A significant wind is not a problem for us, as our gazebos and outdoor solutions in relation to matters of the weather are very sound. The wind, however, does play a part, as it can whip away some of the heat and thus add time to the roasting and preparation period experienced by the pig within the machine.
But on the whole, you must not worry about such things too much. If we are catering for your event, our expert chefs take such shifts in the weather and location as variables which must always be considered, and thus often accounted for. If you are hiring a machine from us, feel free to add an hour if the weather is terrible and cold.