Earth oven, cooking in the dirt!

Archeologists have been finding centuries old cooking pits across the planet during their archeological recovery digs.  Hard core foodies really must at some point re-create this style of cooking for a true culinary adventure and the tastiest of cuisine. 

There are many styles of earth oven cookery and the differences are created by what’s available in your region and what is appealing to your taste buds.
I had the good fortune to be taught the art of cooking in the dirt by Abel Garcia who grew up west of Morelia in the mountains of central Mexico where he was taught by his father. 

The Reese’s were throwing a large party at their Hill Country Ranch and appropriately we cooked the wild game that had been hunted and gathered on the Reese Ranch in their earth.

The end result of cooking in your Earth oven is a deliciously moist product with a wonderfully smoky outdoor flavor. 

We cooked a 5 lb. venison roast and a 5 lb. boar roast in our pit together at the same time and take note that the weights were the same because you must avoid cooking a 20 lb. roast with a 5 lb. roast in the same pit because obviously, they will cook at different rates.  For maximum flavor, leave the bone in whenever possible.  If you cook too much, freeze it for later use; it makes great taco filling months later.   
I’ll go through the process from start to finish.  Remember that once the pit is dug and lined with rocks 50% of the work is done and can be considered a permanent fixture if you so choose, never to be dug again because you will want to repeat the cooking process again once you taste the flavor that the Earth oven adds to your meats.
Our cooking pit was 5’ across and 4’ deep before we lined it with rock.  Do not line it with limestone rock as limestone will explode when super-heated. (I’m guessing the water in rock expands and causes it to explode, but I’m not a geologist).  Yes, you can use fireplace bricks from Home Depot.  We used dark rock from the dry river bed on the property.  If you want to use mortar use fireplace mortar because it can take the heat.
Once all the rock is in place start your blazing hot wood fire in the earth oven and continue to throw in more wood as it begins to burn down and keep that roaring fire burning for at least 4 hours.  That will properly heat the rocks.
While the fire is still at full tilt, prepare your leaves that you will use to wrap the roasts, we used agave/maguey leaves but most people use palm tree leaves, because that is what they have in their backyard. The agave leaves are rigid so to make them soft and pliable you need to scorch both sides.  Place 3 2” metal galvanized pipes over your burning earth oven while it is still a roaring fire and scorch the agave leaves by placing them on the pipes over the fire and with this roaring fire it will only take one minute on each side.  Don’t worry if it looks burned, this will add good flavor to the roasts, you need to be a fan of rustic flavor, but who isn’t.  Set these leaves to the side to be used once the fire has burned for 4 hours.
After the fire has burned down to coals, place a fireproof two-gallon bowl into the coals, making the bowl steady by pushing it firmly into the coals.  Fill the bowl 1/4 full with beer or wine.  This is when you can make it your own, whatever you put in the bowl will flavor what’s cooking so go wild.  We put in our bowl: beer, lots of ancho peppers, jalapeños, chopped onion, celery, carrots and lots of garlic.  Now place a wire rack over the bowl to hold the roasts, we used an oven rack. 

Next place the burnt agave leaves in the pit on the rack in a circle formation with the center being the middle of the bowl, overlap if needed.  When finished it should look like a huge sunflower. 

Next coat the exterior of the roasts with a smoking/cooking rub.  I’ll include my rub recipe below, but use your favorite.  The drippings from the roasts are flavored with the smoke rub as the seasoned meat fats drip into the bowl and what is left in your flavor bowl is a great soup base just add chicken broth and the soup is ready.
Next place your raw seasoned roasts on the leaves that are on the rack that you placed on top of the bowl.  The agave leaves will now be surroundings the roasts so fold the agave leaves over the meat so the meat is completely encased in your leaves.

Next cover the agave with water-soaked burlap.  The burlap is the barrier between agave/roasts and the dirt that seals the earth oven.  Burlap sacks are found at feed stores, but be creative, two old beach towels will work great.
When the meat is covered and protected, shovel the same dirt you just dug out to make your earth oven on top of your roasts.  It may seem like a fool’s game, but when you taste the cooked meat it all becomes worth it.  Fill the dirt all of the way up to the 3 pipes at the top. 

Then put sheets of metal across the top of your earth oven, followed by adding more dirt on top of the metal which is on top of your earth oven.  We used 8’ sheets of old corrugated metal roofing for our metal covering.  When the dirt is completely covering the metal sheets your oven is well sealed.
Walk away or leave it overnight, leaving it to cook at least 10 hours.  Let the magic happen.
The next morning dig it all up removing the dirt, roofing, more dirt, cloth and agave to find tasty meat.
Abel told me to bring tortillas and lime. When we uncovered the roasts, Abel reached his hand in and pinched off the tender meat, placed it into the tortilla, squeezed 1/2 a lime on top then handed it to me to eat.  Later I learned that to be offered the first bite from the pit was considered an honor and a big deal.  All I knew at the time was that it tasted super.  No wonder it is a spiritual/culinary awakening in many parts of the world.
The list of foods that are prepared from this smoky moist delicious meat is endless; tacos, enchiladas, tostados with tomatillo or mole sauces are just a few.

You do not have to cook exclusively with “wild game”.  This style of cooking is great for roasting a whole pig or a 5 lb. pig roast, beef roasts, and for tough lesser roasts of meat.
When we season roasts with our rub, we add water to the rub to make a paste that is ketchup thick which makes the application of the rub even and fast.

You will find our dry rub recipe below.
You will also find our tomatillo sauce recipe. It is great on anything that comes out of your earth oven.  It’s super on grilled fish too. Dry rub
All ingredients are dried.  Mix them together and you’re ready to season. Season liberally, remember you are only seasoning the outer surface.

1 cup paprika (sweet)
1/3 cup onion powder
1/2 teaspoon hot cayenne
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder (ancho)
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 cup garlic powder
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
1/3 cup sea salt

Tomatillo sauce
8 whole tomatillos (roasted under a broiler until mushy—turning them over once).  Scrape into a blender cup. Including the juice.
4 cloves garlic in the blender cup
1 bunch of cilantro in the blender cup
2 serrano peppers in the blender cup (add more if you want more heat)
1 tablespoon sea salt also in the blender cup
Blend until smooth.

To a very hot sauce pan heat 3 tablespoon of olive oil to smoking and then add the blended tomatillo sauce.  It will bubble and splatter. That’s a good thing.  Turn off the heat after 1 minute.  Serve and enjoy.