Good question, although roasting pigs is its "bread and butter" so to speak, you can actually do much more with it!
The PigOut roaster is an all in one cooking centre where you can roast, grill, steam, hot hold, and smoke a variety of meats and vegetables.
Whole roast pigs, lamb, venison, chickens, turkey, hip of beef (or even alligator!) directly on the roasting pole using the provided clamp system.
Use the different accessories like the rotisserie baskets, grill racks or chaffing pans to further expand your methods of cooking.
Once you start experimenting you will find that the roaster is anything but a machine to solely cook pigs and is sure to be your new favorite piece of equipment.
The 5ft roasting pole can accommodate up to a 160lb pig, capacity for roasting whole animals is more about size than weight.
If it can fit into the machine and spin freely the roaster can cook it!
The rotisserie basket accessory allows you to roast 40 whole 3lb chickens, 12 striploins of beef, 4 suckling pigs, 7-12 turkeys, 160lb of pork butt or 32 racks of ribs.
The machine itself is equipped with a custom designed US Bison motor made with all metal gears and enough torque to tow a truck.
Basically what we are saying is, this machine can handle almost anything you throw at it.
The roaster has been specially designed and tuned to output over 600°F of constant indirect heat in ideal conditions.
Our recommendation for pig roasts is to allow 20lb per hour of cooking at a temperature of approx. 425°F (high heat setting).
Whole chickens and poultry take approx. 1.5hrs to roast at the same temperature.
Please be sure to use a digital temperature probe and check the internal temperatures as per your local health department’s guide lines for cooked meat.
Due to the placement of the burners and the 304 grade stainless steel body, no food will burn to the bottom of the roaster.
At the end of your roast simply place a bucket lined with a garbage bag under the 1” drain valve.
Open the valve and scrape out the liquid fat.
Using steel wool, dish soap and hot water the roaster polishes up to looking new again in minutes.
You can use a power washer or hose to rinse the machine clean.
Be sure to close the drain again before your next roast or you will have a big mess on your patio!
In case of stubborn stains or high abuse, oven or BBQ cleaning chemicals can be used where required.
The only thing we wouldn’t recommend using the roaster for is for searing (i.e. steaks, burgers etc.).
Since the Roaster cooks using indirect heat you will not likely achieve the grill marks and char you are looking for.
The indirect heat works great for chicken, sausage or roasting whole cuts of beef.
Our clients are always finding new recipes they use on the roaster from lasagna to apple crumble, so don't be afaid to get creative!
Typically, you get about 6 hours of burn out of a standard 20lb BBQ tank of propane.
With that, one tank can easily cook a 120lb pig!
That being said, you are looking at roughly $20 or less of propane to roast your pig, compared to upwards of $80-100 of charcoal to do the same job.
You can see how using a Propane Roaster quickly becomes more economical!
Tip: If you dont want to sacrifice that BBQ flavour of using charcoal...
Equipt your roaster with the Smoke Box Attachement to add wood chips and encorporate that "Southern Smoke" flavour into your roasts!
The roaster is equipped with doors to cover your roast as well as a glass window to allow you to watch your roast cook without opening and losing heat.
With the doors closed rain and snow will not be an issue when roasting. The only element that can affect roasting times is wind.
To combat that, you can use a piece of aluminium foil to wrap around the open-air gaps on the ends of the machine
this will help reduce the wind from dropping your roasters temperature.
In sub-zero conditions your propane tank may also freeze up.
It is a good idea when roasting in these conditions to keep the tank off of the ground and wrapped in a blanket to keep it from freezing up,
or you can choose to roast in a well-ventilated building such as a garage or shed.
After your roast is cooked, carving can take place inside on our Table Top Carving Stand
or alternatively the Roaster can be wheeled right into your event space to carve directly off of the machine!
For planning purposes, we recommend 1lb of whole pig for every guest you are going to feed.
There is approximately 50% meat yield to the whole pig so a 100lb pig will yield 50lb of cooked meat.
For a dinner portion this will allow 1/2lb of cooked meat per guest, which allows you to feed 100 guests with a 100lb pig.
If you are having other proteins or just having pig roast on a bun your yield will be 1lb pig for every 1 ½ persons.
This is a great way to earn some extra income with minimal labour. Simply create an ad on Kijiji, Craigslist or your local classified or social media. Create a booking form or use the one provided in the B.I.B package. Be sure to get your clients name, address, email, phone number and credit card number as a deposit for the roaster in case of damage or theft. You can include the raw pig that is seasoned, scored and mounted to the roasting pole or choose to rent it without proteins.
If you do rent it with the pig included, wrap the pig in clear plastic and place into the insulated carry bag. Provide roasting instructions (available with B.I.B package) as well as give the client a walk through of how the machine operates and the steps involved in roasting and carving the pig. Be sure to include the cleaning instructions and request that the machine is cleaned out prior to pick up/ drop off. For 20mins worth of work in putting the pig on the pole this is a sure way to bring in some easy revenue.
Absolutely, you can pre-cook and reheat so long as you have a facility to keep the roasted pig refrigerated overnight. Pre-cooking a pig the day before you need it and reheating makes early lunch catering hassle free. This method is ideal for up to a 140lb pig – for reheating you need to allow at least 2 hours, roast on high to regain the crackling skin.
Reheating a pig is an easy way to avoid cooking through the night if you have an early morning or lunch event. If you are not a morning person, like myself, you won’t want to begin cooking a 140lb pig at midnight to be ready for early the next morning. Simply roast your pig the day before, ensuring that it has reached a minimum of 72 degrees celsius or 160 degrees fahrenheit, then reheat the following day on medium for approx. 2 hours or until the roast has come back up to temperature. Turn the roaster up to high heat for roughly 30 minutes and this will ensure your crackling is back to crispy and as good as it was just freshly roasted. It is quite unbelievable, you cannot tell the difference in flavor at all.
On receiving your shipment your roaster will be securely packaged on a boxed pallet. There is some assembly required, simply attach the roasting box to the wheeled chassis and bolt together with the included parts. Inside the box you will also find 1 roasting pole, 1 carving tray, 2 spine clamps, 2 4-prong clamps, 2 leg triangles and 1 hex tool for securing implements to the pole. This is everything you need to cook whole animals, poultry and cuts of beef. Our most popular add on accessories are the rotisserie baskets, grill racks and smoke box, however we do have plenty of other accessories that can be found on the "Propane Roaster" product page.
Once payment has been received, we can send your shipment directly to your doorstep. Shipping in Canada and the Continental United States takes approx. 5-10 days. Your sales representative will be able give you approximate date for receiving your roaster once it has shipped. Tracking information will also be provided to you so you can monitor where and when your roaster will arrive.
Our roasters are proudly built by hand in St. Catharines, Ontario Canada, designed by caterers for caterers. Using only high quality 304 grade 16-gauge medical/food grade steel and tig welding. Our attention to detail, quality of materials and dedication to excellence is what sets us apart from other roasters on the market.
Yes, we always carry a stock of parts and accessories. In the case that we are out of your speficed part or accessory, we can have them manufactured to order and delivered to you within 10 business days in continental USA and Canada.
We have been manufacturing roasters in Canada for over 10 years, with our grand debut happening in 2008 at the National Restaurants Association Show in Chicago. After all of this time, we still have not had a single burner or weld replaced on any of our roasters sold across the world!
Yes absolutely, we offer financing options through third party institutions. This being said we offer different financing or leasing options depending on if you are intending to purchase for personal or professional use, as well as if you are located in Canada in the USA. Due to having various different partners we are able to help set you up with the best possible options and rates depending on your particular situation. Please speak to one of our friendly sales representatives and they will advise you on methods of payment or provide you with the specific financing application depending on your situation.
Small suckling pigs are more expensive per lb. BBQ pigs (generally 80-120lb) will cost you between $1.50 - $2.50 per lb. Call your local butcher and inquire with them for availability and pricing.