Hi,

If you are gung ho on buying this, why not try the borrowed one first? It is an interesting device, though you may not like the outcome because the skin is not especially crisp.

Regards,

jimswside wrote:they offer an aluminum lined model for over $300, I am curious what difference the aluminum lined box would offer(higher temp, etc?)

Aluminum has greater conductive and reflective abilities than galvanized steel, that said I am not sure that warrants a 50% increase in price. It would be interesting to do side by side testing with both types of La Caja China.

In my 2004 post upthread I state "La Caja China is more about an easy, introductory way for the backyard chef to have a whole pig roast, than BBQ." Still true, but in the intervening 6-years I've both cooked on the La Caja China and been present when others have used the LCC, with proper seasoning, be it marinade, injection, rub or all three, one can produce a moist, tasty crispy skin pig.

I've found a common mistake people make using the LCC is they do not flip the pig skin in the direction of the heat source for the last 30-40 minutes to crisp the skin. This step is essential if one desires crisp pig skin.

Jim, you might want to look into getting a grill accessory which positions a cooking grate over the burning coals, perfect for doing a batch of ABT, wings or sausage while waiting for the pig. Here's a picture of Steve Dolinsky's stainless steel China box w/grilling racks. Just to the left is a standard LCC.

Custom Stainless Steel China Box w/grilling racks



Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Aluminum........

thanks for the insight gary,

Ill do my typical due dilligence, and read and talk to as many folks as I can.

I dug up this old thread in doing some reseach for my first Caja China cook coming up this weekend. Just wondering how much marinade I'll need to make for a 70 lbs pig. I plan on injcting and rubbing the marinade into and onto the pig.

Any tips would be appreciated.

While not BBQ, roasting a pig in the Caja China is amazingly easy and produces a spectacular results with an astonishingly small amount of effort. The pig I cooked came out moist, tender and really flavorful.

If you want to cook a whole pig and want it to be super easy I can't recommend the Caja China strongly enough.

I don't have the photo's with me to post now but I have some picture on my blog (Link in my signature line) if you'd like to check it out.

Those pics & description on your blog are amazing. I really need to consider this for the next block party.

Aluminum has greater conductive and reflective abilities than galvanized steel, that said I am not sure that warrants a 50% increase in price.

As a person who works with steel and other metals on a regular basis- I can tell you that any use of Galvanized Steel close to a heat source, ain't such a good idea.
Any welder will tell you that welding Galvanized Steel is toxic- the fumes will shorten ones life expectancy greatly.
Galvanized steels coating is Zinc.
Zinc fumes/dust in the workplace are what gives OSHA it's "raison d'etre"......
I'd reccd sticking with good ol "Mild Steel"- aka Carbon Steel-aka "A-36" (which also happens to be THE MOST recyclable material on the planet.)
Stainless Steel if your budgets, "whatever"!


Remember = Steel's Real.

zoid wrote:Those pics & description on your blog are amazing. I really need to consider this for the next block party.

zoid,

This is perfect for a block party. It's really so simple. All you have to do is remember to throw more charcoal on every hour.

While I am a pretty good rough carpenter I admit to being completely ignorant on the construction and use of the La Caja China, but it just looks like a big metal lined box.
Could it really be that hard to just make one of these things? It seems like a weekend project honestly. Maybe it's the rack for the pig and the charcoal pan cover that are the tricky part. Does anyone else think this could be done relatively cheaply or am I talking nonsense?

zoid wrote:While I am a pretty good rough carpenter I admit to being completely ignorant on the construction and use of the La Caja China, but it just looks like a big metal lined box.
Could it really be that hard to just make one of these things? It seems like a weekend project honestly. Maybe it's the rack for the pig and the charcoal pan cover that are the tricky part. Does anyone else think this could be done relatively cheaply or am I talking nonsense?

A friend of mine who is a contractor said it looked to be about $40 worth of materials. One 4x8 sheet of plywood, a few pieces of 2x2, some nuts and bolts and the sheet metal to like the box, create the rails to hold the lid, make the lid and a grate for the charcoal. Oh, also some sheet metal to make a drip pan.

I'd also put some wheels on one end and a handle of sorts on the other to wheel the box around.

That's pretty much what I was thinking.
This could be a really good spring project...

I love the idea of La Caja China but in my experience, the food cooked on them hasn't been very smokey. It looks beautiful and can be juicy but I'm not sure what they produce is actually barbecue...and I'm not sure that matters in the long run. But that's what I like the most about outdoor-cooked pig and it seems consistently lacking in these boxes. Fwiw, I've never cooked on one; only eaten food cooked by others. For all I know, this is entirely in the hands of the cook.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I love the idea of La Caja China but in my experience, the food cooked on them hasn't been very smokey. It looks beautiful and can be juicy but I'm not sure what they produce is actually barbecue...and I'm not sure that matters in the long run. But that's what I like the most about outdoor-cooked pig and it seems consistently lacking in these boxes. Fwiw, I've never cooked on one; only eaten food cooked by others. For all I know, this is entirely in the hands of the cook.

=R=

ronnie,

As you stated cooking in a Caja China is most certainly not barbecue and will not render results that are comparable. You simply will not get any smokey flavor at all. If that's what you're looking for than the Caja China is not the right cooking method for you.

However the finished product was absolutely delicious in it's own right. A Cuban friend who was at my party was ecstatic about it and said it's the best pork he's eaten in a long time. Think about cooking a pig in a Caja China as roasting, not BBQ'ing. If you want BBQ you'll need another method, but for tradition Cuban style and a simple way to cook a whole pig, Caja China is the way to fly.

JLenart wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I love the idea of La Caja China but in my experience, the food cooked on them hasn't been very smokey. It looks beautiful and can be juicy but I'm not sure what they produce is actually barbecue...and I'm not sure that matters in the long run. But that's what I like the most about outdoor-cooked pig and it seems consistently lacking in these boxes. Fwiw, I've never cooked on one; only eaten food cooked by others. For all I know, this is entirely in the hands of the cook.

=R=

ronnie,

As you stated cooking in a Caja China is most certainly not barbecue and will not render results that are comparable. You simply will not get any smokey flavor at all. If that's what you're looking for than the Caja China is not the right cooking method for you.

However the finished product was absolutely delicious in it's own right. A Cuban friend who was at my party was ecstatic about it and said it's the best pork he's eaten in a long time. Think about cooking a pig in a Caja China as roasting, not BBQ'ing. If you want BBQ you'll need another method, but for tradition Cuban style and a simple way to cook a whole pig, Caja China is the way to fly.

Well, there's no question the food in your pics looks spectacular and I'll bet it was.

=R=

I'm thinking something like this could be done pretty easily and for not too much over say $100 - $150








BUT what I really think I'm going to do is something like this:








With a false bottom you could either use it as a La Caja China or convert it to get some smoke on the meat. I think I'd need to make a separate top cover for this application to control the heat and keep the smoke in so it permeates the meat.

The only problem with that design is that the chance of a flare up is pretty high. You won't believe how much fat renders out of a pig. I'd say, if you want smoke, Caja China is not the way to go. Let it be what it is.

Hi,

I was at a party yesteday where a Caja China was really put to its paces:

- Inside there was a brined pig cooking

- On top they had a full sized salmon wrapped in foil cooking on the coals.

First served was the salmon. People were avoiding the crisp skin, which I really dug into.

Second was the pig. This pig had that elusive glassy crisp skin I adore. The meat was nicely flavored from the brine. It really was the best pig I have had from Caja China.

When the pig was remove, seaweed was mounded on the bottom coals and lobsters were placed on top.

I left before dessert. It would not surprise me if they got a few S'mores going from the dying coals.

I was really impressed by how they used their Caja China to full capacity.

Regards,

MAG wrote:Three advantages: You can cook up to a 100 lb. pig in La Caja China, the fantastically crispy skin or pig candy, and being able to cook outdoors.

I'm quoting a pretty old post but my la caja china experiences have certainly backed this up

Here are a couple of pics from the 65lb pig I cooked for a Derby day party on Saturday

really nice job on that pig skin jimbo.