A whole pig in a hand-built caja China. The roasting boxes from Cuba inspired creative, and practical, options for backyard cooking.
photo: Jill Mitchell
If you're lucky enough to attend a pig roast this season, you might encounter a caja China, a roasting box whose use is on the rise thanks to a growing contingent of enthusiasts and increased accessibility. Its name means Chinese box in Spanish, and it has its origins not in China but in Cuba. Rectangular in shape, made of wood and lined with metal, a caja China has a lid that holds the heat source and a metal rack inside for the food, allowing the heat to circulate around it. For more about how it works, the Buzz turned to Roberto Guerra, president of La Caja China, a major manufacturer of the boxes, and Steve Dolinsky, food reporter for ABC 7-Chicago and amateur roaster. Dolinsky will co-teach a class on pig-roasting at Chicago's Red Light on May 18th with chef Jackie Shen.
"In the process of caja China, the meat goes inside and the charcoal goes on top, outside," Guerra says. "So basically there’s no burning of food and the meat comes out very, very moist. Like a reverse grill."
And while the boxes were designed for pigs, Guerra notes that they can be used with "any type of meat. I have customers who do pizzas. In Connecticut they’re popular for lobster and clambakes."
Steve Dolinsky, who discovered the boxes through his friend, chef Adam Perry Lane (NYC's Daisy May's BBQ), explains that the caja China "simulates the tradition of cooking in a pit."
Roasting time depends on the size of the pig.: "I just did a 50-pounder last week,” says Dolinsky. “Let’s say you have good air circulation around the pig in the box and you’re using hardwood charcoal, the pig would take three hours and 40 minutes."
"Now if you were doing a 65- or 70-pounder, there’s a little bit less circulation inside the box and the skin doesn’t crisp up as quickly, so that takes longer. The key is that the first three hours the box remains untouched. Once you put that lid on, you leave it. At the end of the first hour you add eight or nine pounds of charcoal. At hour two, you add another eight or nine pounds, and then at two-and-a-half hours you add another eight or nine pounds. At three hours, you actually lift the lid up for the first time, take a look at the pig and by then the underside is cooked very nicely. You flip the pig over, score it with a knife – that helps crisp it up. Then cover the box and at three-and-a-half hours you do a check to see how crisp the skin is. It ranges from another 35–50 minutes, depending on the size of the pig."
– Deirdre Donovan