Question re hog roasts

[feindVicarInATutu]

Ok I find the whole concept of a hog roast a bit icky- I just couldn't eat it , to carve up and eat what still looks like a piggy I just couldn't do

But I wondered today - is the pig butchered? Like are the innards removed before it goes on a spit ?

The logistics I wondered about.

I'm virtually veggie these days so I just couldn't partake ....it's always struck me as terribly macabre anyway to carve chunks off a whole animal ....I couldn't

It's like when I see suckling pig on a menu ....no ta .....couldn't

I feel exactly the same as you. I think it's vile.

I don't know why it's such a popular thing tbh ....makes me shudder. I'll have the salad thanks !

I find these sort of takes weird. You are “virtually veggie” so presumably you eat some meat and fish? They are animals just like the pigs at hog roast, but they are ok as they are visually so far removed from appearing like the live creatures they once were? Why is it less moral to eat a pig in this form than in bacon and sausage as part of a full English? Either eating animals is so awful you don’t do it, or eat it with the knowledge that it was once a whole animal slaughtered for consumption.

Yes, the innards are removed before the pig is cooked. It's just like a load of joints, chops and steaks that are still in one piece rather than having been cut up into smaller servings.

Agree that describing yourself as 'virtually veggie' because you don't eat meat every day and (it sounds like) you only eat it if it no longer looks like an animal is somewhat hypocritical.

Even when I was a vegetarian I found it hippocratic when people were squeamish about their meat looking like an actual animal. If you eat meat, be aware it was once a breathing, living, cute creature.

We had a hog roast for a school function. The company that did it got the hog from a local farmer, it was slaughtered in this country and had full traceability for how it was raised etc. I think if you do eat any animal product, even milk or eggs, it's important to know where your food came from and how it was raised and treated.

If this is vile and icky, then by all means don't partake but if you're not vegetarian, then it's important to be honest with yourself about what you're eating.

I am not a great fan but do think understanding what we are eating is important. Knowing that our burger was a living creature makes us more responsible and respectful. I think if you can't face that then vegetarianism is the only way.

The pig is butchered yes so that it's "innards" as you've put it are removed. Often, in my experience anyway, the kidneys are left and the guy who operates the spit has these for breakfast as obviously you have to start the spit going hours before you want to eat the pork. Kind of a cooks perk if you will! If you eat meat, doesn't really matter when the meat has been carved off the animal does it? It's either done when the meat is raw or when it's cooked so I can't see the issue to be honest.

I don’t get it, so you eat meat and fish you just want it not to look like an animal so you can pretend?

Can’t wait for the hog roast at my friend’s village fireworks tomorrow!

The hog is gutted and prepared as it would be for a butcher to separate the individual cuts. The flavour of a hog roast beats a small joint hands down! NOM.

If you don't like meat, don't eat meat. Expecting your meat to not look like an animal is bonkers when that's precisely what it is!

It's similar to cooking a chicken spatchcock style - insides gone, animal arranged in a way that makes cooking in that style easier. You can choose to have it without "offending" bits so no head or legs etc, depending on your butcher too.

It's a great way of cooking pork, so tender when done right and great crackling. Easy to serve to large crowds too!

I could absolutely go a roast pork sandwich right now. Might need to plan a Sunday roast!

Whenever I've seen a hog roast, it's always had most of the meat carved off it sitting in trays ready to be served, so yabu.

My Dad once spit roasted a young pig for a family party (not sure how many weeks it was) and it wasn't so much seeing it roasting on a spit that got to me.

It was seeing it wrapped in a tea towel, in a little bed in the fridge that jolted me!

But I put on my big girl pants, and it was delicious. Those of us who eat meat would do better to understand the process and attempt to find local produce where possible.

Have you ever eaten a whole roasted cauliflower 😯
they are fab. Lamb is superior though.

I am vegan so perhaps not the right person to respond to this thread!

A hog roast doesn't bother me any more than bacon etc does.

If anything, it bothers me less to see meat eaters actually in the presence of the thing their meat actually comes from? If that makes sense. As a PP said similarly It's accepting and owning what you're doing. Someone who'll eat parts of an animal that have names that aren't simply 'bit of pig' or 'minced up cow' yet won't eat it if they can see the whole animal, is a bit odd to me. You surely know where those products come from. But won't eat it if it looks like the animal it came from?

I eat the no chicken chicken burgers from Aldi . My diet is mainly veggie but not vegan . I realise it's probably hypocritical- maybe that's what has made me think about where food comes from - sentient creatures, and yes it makes me feel like I don't want to eat them .