Meanings
plural cajas chinas
- A metal or foil lined wooden box for roasting pigs (etc) via indirect heat from charcoal in a tray on top, originating from Cuba.
If big parties that feature cooking whole hogs are your thing, a caja china is a must. And if you're dreaming big, maybe you'd like to have a setup that includes both a charcoal and gas grill as well as a woodfired oven.
2007, Deborah Krasner, Michael Krasner, The New Outdoor Kitchen: Cooking Up a Kitchen for the Way You Live and Play, Taunton Press, →ISBN, page 742 more examples
The main difference between a Cajun microwave and a Caja China has to do with workmanship. Cajun microwaves are made of cypress or another hardwood, and are often decorated with carvings. A Caja China, on the other hand, is made of plywood.
2014, Ben Ford, Carolynn Carreño, Taming the Feast: Ben Ford's Field Guide to Adventurous Cooking, Simon and Schuster, →ISBNThe guests were moaning as if in a trance. Now, if you make one yourself, you don't necessarily have to have a caja china or make a temporary oven, and you don't really have to turn it. If it's small enough, you can cook it in a regular oven.
2008, Steve H. Graham, Eat What You Want and Die Like A Man, Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 121
Origin
- Spanishcaja china
- Englishcaja china
Borrowing of (Cuban) Spanish caja china (especially into American English).
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
caja china. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caja%20china
“caja china.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caja%20china. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “caja china,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caja%20china.
Source: caja china on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.