Cooking a Whole Pig - Need Help

alangawry

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24
Grill(s) owned
  1. Bull
I have a 35-40 lb pig coming in a few weeks. Looking for some tips or pointers from anyone that has already cooked one. Will be using my RT 700.
Thanks
 
Very interested in what people have to say for tips and techniques. My wife and I have been talking about trying this ourselves. I’ve seen it done numerous times in a propane style smoker.
 
Pig must be in the air! I've been watching lots of videos over the past couple of days. I'm really interested in doing one. Anxious to hear what others have done. Looks like a lot of meat.
 
I have a 35-40 lb pig coming in a few weeks. Looking for some tips or pointers from anyone that has already cooked one. Will be using my RT 700.
Thanks
How did you get one that small? Pull it off of mom's tit?? One thing for sure.... You don't have to be worried about it having any fat on it.
 
How did you get one that small? Pull it off of mom's tit?? One thing for sure.... You don't have to be worried about it having any fat on it.
35 lbs wont be to bad, that's after being dressed out. Wasn't sure how big could go, had to make sure it fit on the pit.
 
These are baby suckling pigs. Four to six weeks old. That part kind of got to me a little. Babies. But I still want to try it.
 
Interesting. Never seen, done or heard of a whole pig on a pellet smoker.

I've only done pit or over open coal/log. Like to see this. Grabbing the popcorn
 
Sounds exciting. Have done a whole pig on my stick burner for a party a few years ago. Never tried on the bull. I guess the “show stopper ” is the whole pig and skin. I’m not sure it’s my favorite way to make pork. All the meat is cooked for the same time and I know that butts and ribs etc, cooked separately take different times. It is however, a show stopper at a party. Interested to see how it goes. Good luck ??
 
I did a wild boar piglet awhile back, gutted, skinned, head off and trimmed it dropped on the grates just a tad over 15 lbs. I didn't use the pellet rig but rather one of the charcoal units, set it up like an offset sorta. The meat won't know the difference though. I wet brined mine for 32 hours before cook and injected and rubbed just before hitting the grate. Pay special attention to the tenderloins (along the spine) they'll be the most likely part to get too dry if any. Mine took roughly 8 hours at 275. The yield was a bit under 6 lbs of shredded pork. Turned out nice and moist, tender. Arranged the way I did it about 22 x 22 worth of grate space.

Boar.jpg
 
I did a wild boar piglet awhile back, gutted, skinned, head off and trimmed it dropped on the grates just a tad over 15 lbs. I didn't use the pellet rig but rather one of the charcoal units, set it up like an offset sorta. The meat won't know the difference though. I wet brined mine for 32 hours before cook and injected and rubbed just before hitting the grate. Pay special attention to the tenderloins (along the spine) they'll be the most likely part to get too dry if any. Mine took roughly 8 hours at 275. The yield was a bit under 6 lbs of shredded pork. Turned out nice and moist, tender. Arranged the way I did it about 22 x 22 worth of grate space.

View attachment 5109
That looks good, I have cooked some wild pigs that I have hunted before. The 2 big differences is that they have been skinned and are so much leaner. They always come out good. I am going to brine this one, so we will see.
Wont be cooking it for a few weeks.
 
I did a 40ish pound pig Memorial Day weekend. I typically do a 120 pound pig for 70 people but that didn't seem like a good idea this year so I got the suckling pig. I mostly followed the Rectec recipe with the brine and temperature. Overall it was just ok. When you do a whole pig you are compromising temperatures and techniques. Ribs vs butts vs loins etc. Its mostly for show honestly. If I had to do a suckling pig again I would probably brine it, *inject it*, rub it and go even slower on the cook. I also don't think I would use the Asian themed seasoning. Probably a more traditional BBQ flavor.

I did 225 for around 7 or so hours. It was looking pretty good but not very dark and crispy. It was just about done so I cranked the temp up to 450+. The skin ended up popping. It split and exposed the meat. The skin never really got crispy even though it darkened up in the picture. I might consider firing up my Weber kettle and really searing it. Or take off the skin and have a pot of oil ready to make pork rinds.

We ended up just making pulled pork out of all of it. Most expensive pulled pork ever. I paid around $140 for roughly 12 pounds of meat. 40 pounds on the hoof, 25 pounds cleaned, 12 pounds of meat. I'm located in the DC suburbs so prices are a bit higher here.

In the end it was another notch in the Bull's belt. The showmanship can't be beat. It was something to talk about with my friends but for a family of 4 it was a waste. If this is your first whole pig, check out the cheek meat. There will only be a little bit but it will be the best part.

Don't let me discourage you from doing it. Just make sure you have your expectations in check. Don't oversell this to the family.
 

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Thanks for your help Eric.
I did a 40ish pound pig Memorial Day weekend. I typically do a 120 pound pig for 70 people but that didn't seem like a good idea this year so I got the suckling pig. I mostly followed the Rectec recipe with the brine and temperature. Overall it was just ok. When you do a whole pig you are compromising temperatures and techniques. Ribs vs butts vs loins etc. Its mostly for show honestly. If I had to do a suckling pig again I would probably brine it, *inject it*, rub it and go even slower on the cook. I also don't think I would use the Asian themed seasoning. Probably a more traditional BBQ flavor.

I did 225 for around 7 or so hours. It was looking pretty good but not very dark and crispy. It was just about done so I cranked the temp up to 450+. The skin ended up popping. It split and exposed the meat. The skin never really got crispy even though it darkened up in the picture. I might consider firing up my Weber kettle and really searing it. Or take off the skin and have a pot of oil ready to make pork rinds.

We ended up just making pulled pork out of all of it. Most expensive pulled pork ever. I paid around $140 for roughly 12 pounds of meat. 40 pounds on the hoof, 25 pounds cleaned, 12 pounds of meat. I'm located in the DC suburbs so prices are a bit higher here.

In the end it was another notch in the Bull's belt. The showmanship can't be beat. It was something to talk about with my friends but for a family of 4 it was a waste. If this is your first whole pig, check out the cheek meat. There will only be a little bit but it will be the best part.

Don't let me discourage you from doing it. Just make sure you have your expectations in check. Don't oversell this to the family.
Thanks for your help Eric, I appreciate it.
 
I did a 40ish pound pig Memorial Day weekend. I typically do a 120 pound pig for 70 people but that didn't seem like a good idea this year so I got the suckling pig. I mostly followed the Rectec recipe with the brine and temperature. Overall it was just ok. When you do a whole pig you are compromising temperatures and techniques. Ribs vs butts vs loins etc. Its mostly for show honestly. If I had to do a suckling pig again I would probably brine it, *inject it*, rub it and go even slower on the cook. I also don't think I would use the Asian themed seasoning. Probably a more traditional BBQ flavor.

I did 225 for around 7 or so hours. It was looking pretty good but not very dark and crispy. It was just about done so I cranked the temp up to 450+. The skin ended up popping. It split and exposed the meat. The skin never really got crispy even though it darkened up in the picture. I might consider firing up my Weber kettle and really searing it. Or take off the skin and have a pot of oil ready to make pork rinds.

We ended up just making pulled pork out of all of it. Most expensive pulled pork ever. I paid around $140 for roughly 12 pounds of meat. 40 pounds on the hoof, 25 pounds cleaned, 12 pounds of meat. I'm located in the DC suburbs so prices are a bit higher here.

In the end it was another notch in the Bull's belt. The showmanship can't be beat. It was something to talk about with my friends but for a family of 4 it was a waste. If this is your first whole pig, check out the cheek meat. There will only be a little bit but it will be the best part.

Don't let me discourage you from doing it. Just make sure you have your expectations in check. Don't oversell this to the family.
thanks for sharing your experience with us. I personally thought of panini press. Besides, speaking of panini presses, do you actually have one? It was such a nice discovery for me, seriously. I'm using my 4-Slice Digital Electric Panini Press Grill by Ovente everytime there is lack of time and opportunities to cook for myself. Moreover, I really enjoy that there is no mess after using it and it's absolutely safe and healthy. I've purchased my panini owing to the article on https://www.wellfed.net/best-panini-press/. There is all necessary info and nice advice for making right choice!
 
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