Pig Roast ???

[jerk bait]

I am cooking a pig for a company party on friday. We rented a cooker and will be using charcoal and smoking with oak and maple.I plan on butterflying the pig and laying it flat on the cooker and using a rub. The animal weighs about 125# dressed. I am planning on cooking it about 10 hours. Does anybody have any hints or stories that might help me avoid a disaster?

[fishinchicks]

How are you serving it? Are you slicing the meat off the bones, and laying in on a plate, or are you shredding it for barbecued sandwiches? Either way, slower is better. Don't trim off too much of the fat, or it will get bone dry.

[Scenic]

Try placing your hog in a large cooler with the drain plug in. Lay 2-3 bags of ice on the bottom before placing your hog in the cooler. Then take 8-10 cans of frozen apple juice, 3 lbs. onions (leave the peels and just quarter), 5 table spoons of minced garlic and some season salt. Add just a little water to activate the apple juice and then dump in 2 more bags of ice over the top. Shut the lid and let it sit for 12-24 hours depending on your cooler. Omit the ice if you can store your cooler in a walk in cooler.

I use 20 lbs of charcoal and cook the rest with just the wood. Soak your wood over night for a slower burn. Also be sure to have a way to spray down any grease fires you may have because before it is done you will have at least one or two of them.

If you do not have this on a spit you will need to flip the meat over a few times for an even cook. I recommend purchasing some insulated welders gloves for turning the meat by hand.

Good luck.

[Heidi]

I have only cooked 3 hogs and here are my mistakes. First hog I used 3 piles of coals placed in round metal pans. The middle of the pig, where the loin and rib meat are, got too done. The larger ends cook slower. The second pig, I left the middle pan out to spare overcooking the middle part of the meat,but this increased my cooking time by a couple of hours. The last pig, I injected marinade into the meat and not everybody liked the flavor. Simple slow smoking is fine. You can't do it yourself. 3 guys hacking up the meat and putting the meat into several electric roasting pans. The meat is very hot when you start hacking it up. You need plenty of table room to work on. If you are using a spit to turn the pig on, the spit may come loose from the meat once the meat becomes tender. I always use chicken wire to wrap the meat in while cooking, so it stays together and the whole thing can be turned together. My two cents. Good luck

[metro 1]

[Note from admin: please read forum policy before posting again. Thanks much.]

[TNT4ME]

get help, don't try it yourself,

don't walk away, unless some one else is there, flare ups,

and like said before be ready for flare ups,

a cooker with heat trays on the side work best,then place the meat in the center, drip pans help also, our class get together had blackened pork, and no it wasn't planned.

how are you going to do the bacon, or side pork pieces, lots of fat and dripping grease there, we've cut out the side pork, sliced it in half and rolled it up and tied it together,pour on some bbq and pulled it out early to snack on,

many ways to do it and most work out fine, and you learn more with every cook out, if you plan on doing it often , might want to make your own bbq injector, buy a new gallon hand sprayer and convert a needle on the end and filling the meat with bbq is a breeze.

enjoy, but be ready for the work that comes with it.

[Swamp Scooter]

I agree with the chicken wire wrapping to keep it intact. You can also take cheese cloth and then tie up a bag of sorts with the cotton string. Then fill it with cut up apples, onions, carrots and I also add a bunch of saurkraut. Then tie it up and put inside the cavity but not too tightly packed. This helps it from drying out. Use some fruit wood if you can for some flavor. Oak is very mild, the Maple is good but the fruit wood has a lot more sap in it and gives off a nice flavor but not too strong. The Oak and Maple will be good for the cooking, fruit wood for some more flavor. I also put in a couple of metal bars on either side of the pig inside the chicken wire to give you something to grab onto when turning. A large table is a must. Also have a few pairs of clean gloves handy for the people cutting and pulling it apart. Then into roasters and to the table. It takes a long time and the cook gets pretty tired towards the end. So shifts are nice if you have any helpers.