Thread: La Caja China
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Old 05-20-2010, 21:44   #6
Team Sergeant
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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Quote:
Originally Posted by El 18X View Post
Use of La Caja China is somewhat controversial among Cuban exiles. Not quite as bad as the Sunni/Shia split but close.

Growing up, family and friends had several different ways of roasting/grilling a pig: 55-gallon drum fashioned into a giant bbq, digging a pit in the ground and raising and above ground pit with cinder blocks.

They're all decent, but La Caja China is objectively better. The meat is tender, the skin is crispy and best of all it's a lot faster. It really works and was the favorite on my dad's side of the family.

But if you're like some who enjoy the process of roasting as much as eating, you might want those extra four hours to stand around a fire, shoot the shit and drink more beer.

The hundreds you save by not buying a box and just digging a pit could buy a lot of beer.
That's the problem, digging. I live in a desert, the land is dry and the soil is almost rock hard. Digging here is not an option hence the La Caja China.
I cannot roast a whole pig in/on my grill, but a box like that would work wonders. Building a fire and roasting a pig over coals would also be wonderful, but again, the only wood in the Phoenix area is mesquite, and again, not an option. (Yes we can purchase wood but it costs an arm and a leg.) In Fla digging might not be an option either..... lots of water.
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