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Smoking of the Pig
2
So, I ended up getting my Pig from Carlton Meats and I cooked it up last Sunday. This is the first time I have tried to upload a photo, so be bare with me here.
I got the beast home and he weighed 46.5 pounds ready to cook. The first problem that I discovered is he would not fit onto my smoker!:bigshock: So, OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!
With the head removed he fit just fine. So, not much to do until Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning I Injected the hams and shoulders with a mix that I have used on Turkeys and large roast. I took my secret rub and rubbed it thick in the cavity. I then put in a lot of fresh Sage, Rosemary, thyme, onions and garlic.
Mean while I got the fire going and the grill warmed up. I put the pig on at 8:00am with a planned dinner time of around 5:00pm.
The first photo is at about 1.5 hours. I used Kingsford for my base fire and I used chunks of Oak and Cherry for the smoke. I smoked him hard for the first 4 hours trying to maintain a grill level temp of 230-240 degrees.
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At three hours I pulled him off, flipped him over and turned him around and continued to smoke, keeping a sharp eye on the grill temp.
The next photo is at about 6 hours into it. You can see where I inserted the probe to check internal temp of the shoulders.
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I hate to say it, but I got so busy that I just plumb forgot to take any more photos after that last one.
I pulled the pig off the grill at 7.75 hours into the process. The lowest internal temp that I could find was 160 degrees. Wraped him up in foil and then let him sit until dinner time at 5:00.
When I cut him open the juices just poured out of the pig. I was a bit surrprised at how juicy he was.
We ended up having 22 friends over and I think that I had enough meat to feed as many as 30.
All in all it turned out pretty good. The meat was tender and very juicy and had a great flavor.
The whole process was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again. I am already making notes on what to do different the next time. When I do it again I think that I will skin the pig before starting to cook, so more of the smoke flavor can penetrate the meat.
Any way, thanks for all of your input and all of your help!
Andy James
I got the beast home and he weighed 46.5 pounds ready to cook. The first problem that I discovered is he would not fit onto my smoker!:bigshock: So, OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!
With the head removed he fit just fine. So, not much to do until Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning I Injected the hams and shoulders with a mix that I have used on Turkeys and large roast. I took my secret rub and rubbed it thick in the cavity. I then put in a lot of fresh Sage, Rosemary, thyme, onions and garlic.
Mean while I got the fire going and the grill warmed up. I put the pig on at 8:00am with a planned dinner time of around 5:00pm.
The first photo is at about 1.5 hours. I used Kingsford for my base fire and I used chunks of Oak and Cherry for the smoke. I smoked him hard for the first 4 hours trying to maintain a grill level temp of 230-240 degrees.
At three hours I pulled him off, flipped him over and turned him around and continued to smoke, keeping a sharp eye on the grill temp.
The next photo is at about 6 hours into it. You can see where I inserted the probe to check internal temp of the shoulders.
I hate to say it, but I got so busy that I just plumb forgot to take any more photos after that last one.
I pulled the pig off the grill at 7.75 hours into the process. The lowest internal temp that I could find was 160 degrees. Wraped him up in foil and then let him sit until dinner time at 5:00.
When I cut him open the juices just poured out of the pig. I was a bit surrprised at how juicy he was.
We ended up having 22 friends over and I think that I had enough meat to feed as many as 30.
All in all it turned out pretty good. The meat was tender and very juicy and had a great flavor.
The whole process was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again. I am already making notes on what to do different the next time. When I do it again I think that I will skin the pig before starting to cook, so more of the smoke flavor can penetrate the meat.
Any way, thanks for all of your input and all of your help!
Andy James
