# Open pit cooking times for large animals like pigs and bulls - Is there an equation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-pit-cooking-times-for-large-animals-like-pigs-and-bulls-is-there-an-equation/495851 "2009-05-09T15:08:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-pit-cooking-times-for-large-animals-like-pigs-and-bulls-is-there-an-equation/495851/1 "2009-05-09T15:08:35Z")
How do you calculate how long it will take to cook a large animal on an open pit spit type arrangement? ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-pit-cooking-times-for-large-animals-like-pigs-and-bulls-is-there-an-equation/495851/2 "2009-05-09T18:39:53Z")
Not an equation, but there is a process: 1. Ask someone who’s done it before. 2. Do that. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-pit-cooking-times-for-large-animals-like-pigs-and-bulls-is-there-an-equation/495851/3 "2009-05-09T18:52:50Z")
Computer froze and I posted too soon. At Stanford they roast a whole pig every year, and it apparently takes 24 hours. I believe they put it in a big hole and cover it with coals. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-pit-cooking-times-for-large-animals-like-pigs-and-bulls-is-there-an-equation/495851/4 "2009-05-09T19:03:27Z")
I’ve always heard 24 hours for a pig-pickin’, which is the closest thing to open pit cooking that I’ve ever actually been to. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-pit-cooking-times-for-large-animals-like-pigs-and-bulls-is-there-an-equation/495851/5 "2009-05-09T19:55:28Z")
A search for “recipe” +“camel” revealed several listings about the legendary “stuffed camel”, but none could vouch for authenticity. Another oftimes cited entrie is the whole roast ox. A couple of sites mentioned “12 hours” as the cooking time, but the description made it sound like the meat was being carved off the outside and served as it cooked. Several recipes cited, some obviously fanciful and others ambiguous, mentioned boilng the meat as opposed to spit roasting. Altogether, a topic badly in need of authoritive research. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-pit-cooking-times-for-large-animals-like-pigs-and-bulls-is-there-an-equation/495851/6 "2009-05-09T20:30:36Z")
I asked a local whole hog BBQ guy once (grill/smoker) and he said he put the pig on at about 4:00 A.M. for a festival or party in the late afternoon. So that’s approximately around 8-12 hours for the roasting/smoking and final prep breakdown. He spoke in approximations, and I think that is the convention with whole animal roasts, as there can be many variables… sort of like the old saw, “it’s done when it’s done”. But generally, from what I understand of roasting a hog is that when you insert an instant read heat thermometer into the thickest part of the ham and it reads a consistent temperture of 160F then it is done (140F for beef). So I guess one would smoke/ roast the hog between 6-12 hours depending on fire temperature, hog size, and airflow and check the temperature periodically, a few hours in. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-pit-cooking-times-for-large-animals-like-pigs-and-bulls-is-there-an-equation/495851/7 "2009-05-10T13:47:44Z")
12 hours for a pig is the standard for every spitbraai I’ve been to. 8 for a sheep.