How to Cook a Pig in the Ground

Few tastes in this world compare to the first bite of kalua pork that’s just fallen off the bones of a pig you’ve spent two days preparing and roasting.

Like the pitmasters of the American South, the Hawaiians know that to create a meal worth remembering for the rest of your life, you can’t cut corners. And what could be more rewarding than cooking an entire pig underground in a traditional style and feeding 100 of your friends with a meal they’ll talk about for weeks after?

Cooking a pig in the ground is not easy. It requires gathering an array of supplies, difficult manual labor, and considerable planning and time commitment. It’s an ancient method of cooking, but with a few modern twists and technological helps, you can increase your chance of success on the first try. And when you pull your first pig from the ground and spread it across a table for your gleeful guests, you’ll be counting the days until you get to do it again. In short, it’s well worth the effort.

Here in Folly Beach, South Carolina, our occasion to host a traditional pig roast (and luau!) came when the crew of the Hokulea, an ocean-going voyaging canoe modeled after the Polynesian ships that sailed between Hawaii and Tahiti, visited on their way up the East Coast. I invited them to the party to see how our hog would measure up.

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For our feast, I recruited Chef Alex Lira, a man who has smoked more than his share of whole hogs, to join me in an attempt at this classic technique. We put the pig on the ground at 9am on the day of, and then hit the water to welcome the Hokulea into Charleston Harbor, before the crew joined us for an evening of celebration. Our exchange of aloha was warm, and their compliments on our pork were sincere. What a night!

You can create some of this same Hawaiian magic with hearty amounts of supply hunting, preparation, and patience.

1. Study Up

Cooking a pig in the ground is more than just a novel way of cooking food — it’s a cultural experience and one that you’ll best appreciate if you familiarize yourself with its methodology.

The pit that you cook the pig in is called the imu, and the meat that it prepares — noted for its soft, moist consistency — is called kalua pork.

For help understanding the cultural significance and proper techniques, Chef Lira and I recruited an expert Hawaiian, Gordon Lee, Jr., who talked us through the various steps over the phone and then joined us for the luau. Lee’s grandfather was an imu digger in Hawaii, and that knowledge has passed to each successive generation.

Those tips he gave us I now pass on to you, reader. Read through all the steps before embarking, and take plenty of notes. Read it at least once more, and then get to work.

The most important ingredient for cooking a pig in the ground? Plenty of aloha put into every step. (While the word is a greeting, is also means love and affection.) So take your time and enjoy this!

2. Gather Your Supplies

You’re going to need an array of materials. I’ll list them and then go into a greater detail for a few of them below:

• A location near a hose
• A whole pig
• A banana tree or substitute (cabbage and corn husks)
• A pound of rock salt
• At least three burlap bags
• A sheet of canvas, at least 8’ x 8’
• Chicken wire, about 8′ (order non-galvanized online, if you have time)
• Aluminum foil
• Solid rocks or bricks that won’t hold water inside
• Shovels
• Post-hole digger or fire tongs
• A very sharp knife
• A saw (for banana tree)
• Lots of firewood – about an eighth of a true cord will work. In layman’s terms, at least a half full pickup truck bed worth, or 20 bundles from the grocery store. It’s easiest (and cheapest) to call a local supplier and have them deliver.
• Leather gloves
• A few feet of flexible wire (to tie the legs together)
• 12 to 20 feet of chain
• A wireless thermometer or two (not required, but helpful)

Pig: A 100-pound pig will feed roughly 100 people, so plan your pig size according to your guest list. If you can find a local heritage or natural farmer, it’s worth the extra cost. If not, a commodity hog can usually be found from a local butcher for around $2/pound, with prices varying depending on where you live.

You want a whole pig with the head and hooves on. It should be gutted and cleaned, but don’t have the butcher snap the spine (which is common when purchasing a whole hog, to make it lay flat on a grill).

Pick it up the day before you cook and arrange to store it in a nearby walk-in refrigerator. We asked a friend who owns a nearby bar. You can also ask if the butcher is available for early pickup the morning of.

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