Hog Roast Caterer Blog by Chef and Griddle

A chilly start to the day today temperatures of minus 4. We are off to Clitheroe bright and early to do a hog roast in the grounds of the castle for a local company Sign and Design. They want us to spit roast the pig on site and be ready to start serving by lunchtime so its been an early chilly start. It is only 5am and we are already on site cooking. We are currently all gathered around the hog roast machine keeping warm. We have not done a hog roast in Clitheroe for a couple of years so it will be good to catch up with a few people we have not seen for a while. We are doing the hog today with sausages from Cowmans the butchers, always a treat these sausages and Cowmans have won many awards for their sausages. If you have time check out their website http://www.cowmans.co.uk/ the shop is well worth a visit, the guys start early every day we are off down there at 6 to pick up the sausages, I hope they have the kettle on. Along side the hog and sausages we are also doing piping hot jacket potatoes, whilst a great option for any vegetarian they are also just a very welcome site on a chilly January day.

We have had such a busy year and it hasn’t stopped still full steam ahead and we are always raring to go! We love nothing more than hog roasting and it honestly doesn’t feel like work it really feels and is a pleasure! We were in our home town on Saturday afternoon a shop opening and we were there to give the visitors a treat! That is the beauty of hog roasting the machines run on gas so you can hog roast wherever you wish we set up the machine out side the shop and were met by the shop owner a wonderful fashion boutique and we were asked to supply the guests with some chicken and stuffing sandwiches, potato skins and dips and plenty of hot soup as it was really cold no problem we said! We got the chickens cooking straight away and soon the street was filled with the smell of chicken wonderful there was a few starting to queue out side the shop all keen to see the new designs. Hog roast the n watches as the shop owner said a few words and cut the ribbon of her shop all clapped and went in to take a look we then put the finishing touches to the meal and as the guests cam out most carrying bags of their latest purchases we offered them some food which they were all appreciate of. Hog Roast hire kept the food going and we couldn’t believe how quickly it did go we were astonished all had a good appetite the cold weather certainly does that for you! Soon we were getting ready to set off home as we cleared away the rubbish and left the area the way we found it nice and clean the shop owner said she had had a great success and said we helped make the day a success and the smell of our food was wafting down the high street attracting all the customers in like a magnet she said! We left our calling card and said if she needed us again she knew where to come and she assured us she would that s what we like to hear another result!

We know that when it come to September we cannot take the weather for granted even though we have enjoyed a remarkable summer we all know that Autumn is fast approaching and there could be wind and rain and quite possibly too! So for our event this week, which was an event out door we brought with us our water proof gazebo as last Saturday was a total wash out and we feared this weekend could be the same. Catering for a birthday party in the couples back garden we arrived nice and early and Hog roast hire got the meat on to cook straight away. The pig can take several hours depending on the size so we always make our appearance early and we are always as quiet as possible as to not disturb the residents. We soon had the meat onto cook and took our time laying the tables as we had lots of time to spare. Hog Roast really put lots of effort into the cooking and presentation alike and one as good as the other Hog Roast Hire  always make sure everything is perfect and we make sure all the guests are really happy and we love nothing more than doing a first class job, when the meat was cooked we took great pleasure in carving the meat and savouring every single morsel of the delicious meat and we love to se the reactions on the guests faces when they taste hog roasting for the very first time.  We pride our selves on cooking the very best and we have totally excelled this summer we have worked our socks off travelling all over the place at ridiculous times in the mornings to really late at night we have cooked tons of food and met some really nice people we really have had the best summer possible and today was another great day to add to the others, Autumn Is approaching but we have orders galore it just doesn’t end not that we are complaining we love to be busy and couldn’t be more happy what a great year we have had!

We were catering for a birthday party at the weekend and a very important birthday it was too! a 21^st birthday for a lovely young lady who had just recently graduated from University and about to become an Accountant her very proud parents wanted to throw her a lovely party a double celebration to wish her well also in her chosen career. One hundred family and fiends gathered in her garden as we arrived and set up the machine we had a nice pig and placed him on the machine to roast the guests mingled and enjoyed a champagne reception as the meat cooked and the girls parents both gave a very moving speech. Hog Roast made some salads and dressings as the meat cooked and we were so proud of all our efforts as the guests tucked into the food we placed the meat into sandwiches and made some lovely apple sauce which was really refreshing and really complimented the meat. We also made a lovely dip made with lime one of our chefs new inventions we always love to come up with new ideas and it gives us so much pleasure to see our guests faces as they taste a new recipe and especially when they like it! After the food we cleared away and the band started to play and we were really impressed a lovely folk band, which were actually family of the girl and boy were they good! We also got a slice of cake each, which was exquisite! The girls mother is a baker and the cakes was so moist and scrumptious we got chatting and she mentioned that she made some wonderful buns and supplied lots of shops in the area she asked if we would like to try one of her buns and we said yes they were delicious we tend to make our own and to be honest we have been looking for a baker for a long time and we shook on a deal for her to supply our buns, we do get great perks with our jobs!

August and still the sun is here really we cannot complain as we have had a fantastic summer heat waves as well! Our business has been booming considering Hog Roast has only been in business for over a year and we have enjoyed every single minute of it! West for us on Saturday and catering for a large corporate event and we were so pleased as it was a nice out door event and we do love catering out door. Hog Roast Hire had been asked to bring enough food to cater for seven hundred and we always bring that bit extra just in case we run a little shy as it can happen and we would hate to run short on food. We arrived nice and early the event was a farmer convention an annual event that happens each year so as you can Imagine we had to impress with our meat and we had ever confidence that we would do so, Hog Roast brought three pigs a stack of chickens and beef and lots of luscious green leafy vegetables and summer salad with an assortments of dips, sauces and dressings. Hog Roast Hire greeted the guests to some light refreshments and chatted to them as they arrived meanwhile the meat was cooking away nicely and as usual the pigs were the main source of entertainment everyone was stopping and looking at the pigs and they really thought them a great sight and couldn’t wait to taste! Soon the place was heaving and a lot of hungry mouths to feed we began to carve and plate the meat as our wonderful waiting staff served the food lots of lovely soft buns were filled with meat and salad and topped with dressings and dips the smell was just captivating really wonderful and we were so busy that by the time we turned around the food was nearly gone and everyone was tucking in to their food as we cleared away we got chatting and everyone was full of admiration for us saying we had done a splendid job and all were happy and we were happy too!

We are are quite shocked that we are at the end of  August already time really does fly when you’re having fun and we really are having fun out and about hog roasting, we always say it really doesn’t feel like work and it doesn’t it really is fun! We were catering for a 50^th birthday at the weekend a really sociable chap who we have grown to know very well indeed as he has had a huge input in his day and has visited us on numerous occasions to discuss menu and the likes and that is what we love we love you having an input and love it when our customers are so keen and no more so than this wonderful gentleman! Pork and crackling was on the menu with apple sauce and crispy crunch buns vegetable kebabs and summer salads with an array of dips and sauces potato wedges with a lime dip specially created by the guy him self was also on order. Upon arrival the guy was keen to show Hog roast Hire where we were catering and it wasn’t too long before you could smell the wonderful pork, Hog roast cannot stress enough just how far a pig can go and it does go a long long way there is virtually no waste on the meat and that is really what we want, his guests were all smitten by the sight of the pig and all had a good chuckle the pig was the main topic of conversation of the day! When the guests arrived each were given a nice glass of champagne and hog Roast Hire were asked to have one too but we politely declined as we all need a clear head when cooking as we want the day to be perfect so we raised a glass of orange juice instead to wish the guy well. we had just finished our drink when we started to carve and serve we do believe in serving the meat nice and hot it does taste sensational when first cooked. A good time was had and the guy came and thanked us so much for a great day and we must say we had a great day too!

I always love it when people come up and have a little chat after another successful hog roast event, and more often than not it is people keen to pat you on the back and say how wonderful; they thought the meat was. In fact no-one has ever come up to and said it was anything but brilliant…but I digress.

The other week I was approached by one lady who had been at the event I had catered for. Before she talked to me, she was having a really long look at my hog roast machine. At first I was a little concerned and thought she had spotted something wrong with it, but every soon became clear.

‘That was quite the best meal I’ve had at an event in years’, said the lady. ‘And you cook the whole thing in this (pointing at the hog roast machine)? Well that’s just brilliant!’

I was obviously very pleased that she loved the food but I could tell that she had only just started and was worried about what was coming next. ‘So, can anyone do this?’ she said. ‘Cook a hog roast in one of these at home, in the garden or such? My husband would love one.’

I had had many people coming up me after events and saying that they’d love their own machine, but this lady was quite serious, in fact I thought she was going to make an offer to buy mine there and then. But what I did do was give her the details of our website so she could look at getting her husband his dream hog roast machine. Anyway it turns out they did indeed buy one and they are loving it, but she did get in touch to say that it did not mean she wouldn’t attend future events! Check hog roast Bristol for future hog blogs like this.

As you know we like to keep you up to date with all that is happening in our hog roast world and we are certainly keeping extremely busy of late. It seems to me that more and more people are developing a taste for hog roast, and whilst that is excellent news for all us hog roast caterers, it means that we are so busy that our feet are hardly touching the ground. Just check hog roast Bristol to see for yourself.

A bit of good weather always guarantees a lot of people at the pubs and with us providing hog roast at a beer festival over the weekend, it really has been quite manic. We actually do like attending beer festivals because you do tend to get people who actually appreciate a good beer and know all about what beer goes well with hog roast. It seems that knowing your hops and your regions helps you understand the beer better. One person was quite adamant that he liked a dark porter style beer with his hog roast roll whilst another insisted that his favourite honeyed beer was the perfect match. To be honest, we weren’t bothered…as long as people loved the hog roast, that was all that mattered.

There were some ciders being served up as well and we have heard from quite a few people that cider is an excellent partner for hog roast, which I guess makes perfect sense as apple and pork have always worked well together. Maybe when I next get a day off (which will be in 2017 at this point) I will try the two together and see what I think!

Beer festivals and hog roast do seem to work well together though, which is good because it looks we have about four more lined up over the summer months! Think I better learn more about those fancy real ales in my beer guide!