There are several utensils that I’ve picked up over time and found to be useful for a pig roast (and a few useless ones too :-) ). In other articles I’ve talked about the convenience of having a reliable digital thermometer, a cotton mop to swab the pig with, and a few other items. I’ll list those here as well so it is all in one place but feel free to follow those links to read more if desired. Below I put a link to the higher rated items in Amazon so you can get an idea of what the prices are. Let me know in the comments section if I missed anything or if you have questions about my suggestions.
| I’ve talked about the need for a good meat thermometer. I recommend getting a decent digital thermometer for around $50 so you can watch the temperature from inside the house or across the yard. |  |
| Bear Claws — whoever came up with this idea is a genius! When I’m carving a pig, there are times when I used to wrestle with large barbeque forks to move large slabs of meat around the carving table. Now with these food-safe tools, it simplified the job quite a bit! They are promoted as good for shredding the meat but since I carve my pig, I haven’t tried that but it makes sense that it would work well for that as well. |  |
| You won’t win any fashion contests with these bumpy gloves but, who cares! They are great insulated glovesfor handling a steaming hot pig. When I have the pig ready to be carved, I like to have a pair of these gloves on so I can reach down and pull chunks of pork off the pig and start slicing it right away. Trust me, if you try to do that without some insulated gloves, you will have sore hands no matter how you try to maneuver your utensils. Get gloves like these and you won’t regret it. Might also be a good idea to get an extra pair if you have a helper (I carve and have a helper serving the guests). |  |
| As I mentioned elsewhere, I use a cotton mop to swab the marinade on the pig. The one shown here is considered a “toy mop” but it is actually a good size and quality for marinating a pig. Just be aware that after using a mop for a pig roast, it will only be good for future pig roasts — no matter how much you wash it, you will never get all the sooty gray color out of it to use it for anything else. |  |
| You may already have a favorite butcher knife or chef knife. Make sure it is very sharp and a good heavy quality. No need to spend a fortune on one but just make sure you have something that can cut through the pig knuckles and such. |  |
Did I miss anything? Let me know. Happy pigging!
