Roasting a whole hog can be considered an ancient tribal ritual that was practiced by people who live in every corner of the world. This form of barbecue is extremely popular in the modern world as well, as people across the globe continue to enjoy the tradition of the pig roast. However, you need to be careful when choosing a pig for roasting purposes. If you are not a pig farmer, you may have some difficulty when seeking and selecting a hog for your party. Here are some methods that can be used to find a hog for your roast that fit today’s lifestyle.

If you are from a rural area, looking for a local pig farmer can be considered as one of the best option available to find a pig. You can often more easily locate a pig farmer in the rural areas of the country. Then you can get in touch with the farmer and seek his assistance to purchase a whole hog. You will not be able to find suckling pigs throughout the entire year. However, the local pig farmer you select will do his best to fulfill your needs. We recommend one-pound live weight per person expected at the party as a good rule of thumb when determining what size hog to order. Keep in mind that when “dressed” (once the innards are removed and the pig is ready to cook) the hog will lose approximately 30% of its live weight.

For those in non-rural areas, the farm direct route may not be a possibility. If you are such a person, you can consider starting by talking to your local butcher. Often a full service butchers will be able to fulfill your requirements. In the event that your local butcher cannot fulfill your request, he usually will be able to recommend another source that will help point you in the right direction. It is typically better to stay away from supermarket butchers as they receive pre-cut meats from their respective distributers. If they have access to whole pigs for roasting, they are often frozen and will require a few days to thaw. Therefore, you should be careful in order to get in touch with butchers or dedicated meat markets in your local area.

People who live in urban areas can also think of visiting ethnic markets. A large percentage of ethnic cuisines incorporate cuts of meats that are not commonly seen in other markets. Therefore, you will be able to purchase whole animals like whole pigs and suckling pigs from ethnic markets in certain cases. If you visit many areas of Latin American, Asia, Mexico, Korea and China, whole animals are quite commonly available in their meat markets. You will be able to find whole pigs at an affordable price. They will take necessary measures to order them specifically for you, even if they don’t have any whole pigs in stock at the time.

Today’s technology offers another option that has made it easier for the people to purchase whole pigs for a roast. You can find a wide range of online pig farmers on the Internet and this will keep you away from the fuss of going out to the market. You can simply stay in front of your computer and look for hog farms by searching online for pig farmers. Some offer direct purchasing options. Other search types will provide the nearest locations. These farmers commonly can provide a large range of sizes and weight options.

We hope that this helps you in your quest to achieve the perfect pig roast! Both our La Caja China and La Caja Asadora Roasting Boxes are tried and true ways to find whole hog roast nirvana, with thousands of successful roasts being done in these roasters every year in countries all over the world. In addition, we at Latin Touch also carry a full line of spit rotisserie models, ranging from mobile stainless steel whole animal rotisserie units to classic tripod roasting styles. Shop Latin Touch for all your roasting and grilling needs, and subscribe to our Newsletter for weekly cooking tips, discount codes, promotional items, and more.