Whole hog

[Gizmo]

but all the pigs were around 20+lbs the smallest being about 20lb, so more or less a wasted journey, although i did buy some nice shoulder/butts.

LilSmoker

Lil, buy the 20 lb and split it in half.   ;D  ;D  ;D

[West Coast Kansan]

This morning's fun  ;D



An exploded view so to speak  ;)
Front Row Left to Right
Pig Head, Pork Butt sitting on top of other Shouldder
Second Row
Left Rib Slab, Right Rib Slab
Third Row
Back Strap, Pork Loin Strips, Rib Slab same one Ham (Bone In  :D )
Far Row
Belly Slabs (about 3 inches each), Other Ham



Face is not really that dark - Pulled and chopped everything except head  ;D ... Put all the meat into a large baking dish with a cup of apple sauce and into the oven at 220. 

Even with the shoulder and hams at a good IT and a long warm FTC last night there is still some areas that were not what I wanted - These were all next to the bone...not unusual when the bone protects the meat from heat during a roast (areas under legs etc). It's  8) 

Will leave in the oven until the ET72 says the center of the bowl is 220.  I will admit to tasting a couple of pieces during the cut down and the smoke is perfect.  The skin was seperated and on a cookie sheet - Lil S. it is outstanding...  :o

I will circle back in a bit and try to do some helpful hints ... in a review.  This is clearly a doable project in the Bradley.  I think us 4 R guys are at a disadvantage to 6R where the space would have been great.  ;D

[Gizmo]

Most outstanding WCK.

[Consiglieri]

Outstanding!

[NePaSmoKer]

This sounds like i may have to try it. My son-in-law who is Puerto Rican (good guy hard workin steel climber) is great at making cuban oinker marinated with Mojo ;D

This is not his original marinade recipe but close to it.

Mojo Criollo

1 cup sour orange juice 
1 tablespoon oregano
1 garlic bulb
2 teaspoon cumin
3 teaspoon salt
4 oz. of water

You can replace the sour orange juice with the following,

6 oz. orange juice
2 oz. lemon juice

Peel and dice the garlic cloves. Mix all the ingredients and let it sit for a minimum of one hour.

Brine
1/2 gal. Water
13 oz. Table Salt


To make the Mojo brine
1 part Mojo Criollo
3 part std. Brine
Blend all ingredients and let it sit for a minimum of one hour, strain and inject.  Marinate the pig overnight.

After injecting the pig with the brine, apply a salt rub all over the pig, using Kosher Salt or Sea Salt.

nepas


 

[coyote]

Outstanding!

Ditto my friend :)

[NePaSmoKer]

WCK

That looks OUTSTANDING and very very good. Great job

nepas

[Wildcat]

Fantastic!

[West Coast Kansan]

Lil S and other interested in trying this ...

I think the whole gig is about length.  24 inches will be the limit. If you can pick the pig that is even better.  Lil S is the 20lbs you were looking at live weight?  They will loose about a third.

If a smaller suckling pig is not available I am not sure it would be all that bad to do his head seperate and save it for decorations.   ;D

This is more about a novelty than food anyway.  This 14lbs 8oz turned into about 3-4 lbs of pulled and chopped pork.  Not the time and money you would spend for food.  :o

It can easily be finished in a bradley, but you may need a better internal hanger than i used.  I went to an IT of 170ish. I would worry about 185 and the hanger still holding.  ;) I think having his head on the rack provided some support for the wieght.

It does take a lot of smoke. Nothing is going through the hide so the cavity needs to be kept open.

I started out with a rack in its normal location and gained several inches when i put it right on top of the drip pan. May be able to gain another inch or so with a modified rack.  Maybe a worn out jerky rack that lost its coating  :-\

Have the pig cleaned by your butcher - lot easier and dont need to spend the time doing it...usually free anyway  8)

The skin DID get crisp in the bradley - interesting.

The apple juice injection worked well but i may use apple sauce next time  ??? This is a hollow piece.

Try to minimize the number of puncture wounds through the skin ... I would have like to have had no skin leaks and I think it would help keep the skin from breaking loose or tearing open.

The amount of goo was average, not a big deal to worry about.

Cooking head down worked well and the temps were more balanced than i thought possible.  ;D

Keep the temps down under 300 - 275 better on the grill if you use a grill to finish.  My temps were too high.  Sauce got burned a little and skin split.  :'(

All in all I think this project would be great fun to do with fellow smokers or for a holiday project.   :)

There are advantages to the extra size of the 6R.  ;)

I will certainly do it again.  8)

[headgames]

WOW    quite amazing ........... sure makes the ole IDEA  juices flow .............  seeing that I use my freezer conversion the most , no space issues. Thanks for the great Ideas and do's and don'ts....... 

[headgames]

ROTFLMAO .........   got so intreged  reading this post  BURNT  my darn sausage I had on the grill..... lol

when I say BURNT  I mean  blackened and CRISPY ...........

[Mr Walleye]

Great job West Coast!

8)  8)  8)

Mike

[SKSmoker]

Brilliant! Guys like you who push this thing forward.

[LilSmoker]

Thanks for the info WCK, the lil'pig weights were dead and apparently cleaned etc. I have found another possible supplier that may have some very small piggies, still very pricey though  :o:

http://www.formanandfield.com/pughs-suckling-pig-p-537.html

My wife still thinks i'm wicked, and how could i smoke such a cute lil'piggy?, i told her i really love pigs, especially coated in bbq sauce!

[West Coast Kansan]

Headgames, i forgot about your conversion. I have photos of it on my desktop where i keep copies of good ideas.  With that fridge you are all set for a real pig deal  :D  :D  :D

Many thanks to everyone for the encouragement and many ideas  ;) It has been some years since I have been involved with a whole hog event. Did a couple for Jaycees and the Lenexa KS Whole Hog Event quite some time ago  ;)

This was like a toy pig but was real and the issues are largely the same. Good fun and memories - (once he was mounted  ;) )

As Gizmo, who knows me - knew - the smile on my face was pretty big as this came to a close.  This forum is great place to share the adventure, get ideas and help - and to enjoy the results  8)  8)  8)