Whole Hog

[Too Tall]

You can talk me out of it easily. I figure Cubans know their business and wanted to follow their script. I'm easily swayed to use only salt.
Hog is coming from an intersting source: http://www.fergusonfamilyfarm.com/aboutus.htm

Just watched a couple of the Videos and it looks amazing!

I would hope that you would try at some point without the mojo injection just to see how it comes out.

[JoB]

looks interesting.

[Too Tall]

Picked up our pig today at 12:00 and it is gorgeous. Clean as a whistle, awesome fat and was at the right temp. I simply rolled it up in butcher paper and moving blankets.

The pig is a bit larger than what I'd hoped for at 70 lbs live weight so had to trim the trotters. I used my kindling axe to split the backbone and jaw than injected with some of the mojo marinade. I went light on the marinade and think this pig is going to be amazing with just heat and some salt, onion powder, cumin and ground bay leaves.

Anywho, the pig is tucked away in the cooker covered with freezer packs and blankets until 12:00 tomorrow when we light this mother up.

hallowpig1.jpg

[mmoore]

surprisingly clean cut for a kindling axe.

looks tasty.

[winmonster]

That's going to be awesome, Josh!

[Too Tall]

Rollin' on a river. Temp is starting to move finally after nearly 2 hrs. (nervous) but am confident.

[Too Tall]

Beginners luck, that's my story and sticking to it. The first 1 1/2 hrs. waiting for internal temps to start moving past 100F and lack of alcohol nearly did me in ;)
I stuck to the script and faithfully applied measured amounts of charcoal each hr., NO PEEKING and temps moved past 100F and starting climbing slowly. Twice we shook the grate, set it to one side and cleaned ashes away from the collection pan/top and waited almost 4 hrs. total for the butt temp. (measured close to the bone) to reach 167F than we flipped the pig to have skin side facing up. We closed the box, added more coals and I timed 40 min.s and peeked twice to see that it was looking good and DONE!.

Results speak for themselves. There was a perfect crisp shell and meat was cooked to a juicy perfection. When we flipped the pig, ribs popped out (a good sign).

Once we had the pig setup on a table guests were told "go for it".

After everyone had a plate I said a small thanks to the pig for giving it's porky goodness to nourish out bodies. We sent everyone home with several containers of pig and a portion of skin. Thanks to Lou "Beekeeper" for his incredible carving abilities...the man was a machine and he took home the prize...an entire tenderloin.

This method is highly recommended. Start to finish I had this done in 5 hrs.

[Matthew Strongin]

Josh, that looks fantastic! Nicely done.

[Jstone]

Good job, and a great Halloween treat!

[FSonicSmith]

Very happy to hear all turned out so well. I was thinking that you were taking quite a risk cooking your first pig at a party with guests. Of course, cooking a whole pig just for family is not something most of us would do either. Yep, staying perfectly sober is the other best means of success on the first try. I'm also a bit surprised your temp probe withstood the incredibly high temps, particularly right near the fire tray.

[Too Tall]

It is a wireless job and the probe leads are stainless steel wire mesh. Next go I'll geek out and drill an access port so that the probes (food and oven) are not pinched by the top.

Very happy to hear all turned out so well. I was thinking that you were taking quite a risk cooking your first pig at a party with guests. Of course, cooking a whole pig just for family is not something most of us would do either. Yep, staying perfectly sober is the other best means of success on the first try. I'm also a bit surprised your temp probe withstood the incredibly high temps, particularly right near the fire tray.

[mg2ride]

Super Cool! Makes me want to have or at least go to pig pickn!

[rwsaunders]

TT....don't feel too much pressure in terms of putting on a command performance for your Ballers crowd.

[Tamu8104]

Wow, absolutely superb!! I hope to try my hand at this at some point.

[Too Tall]

That's a wrap. Please feel free to tack onto this thread for all things whole hog related.

We'll likely repeat this every Halloween however in the ensuing months I'm keen to try some version of the Vietnamese method a shot. What could go wrong?

[UnfilteredDregs]

Just to complicate this party in the making my pals Costa Rican wife wants to slaughter a fresh chicken, clean and cook it that day too. Oh dear.

All you need is a traffic cone, sharp knife, and some boiling water...

[UnfilteredDregs]

Lechon is always good.

I've heard that the Filipino method is the absolute best in the world...

[UnfilteredDregs]

Beginners luck, that's my story and sticking to it...

Pure awesomeness...Excellent!

[Too Tall]

Pure awesomeness...Excellent!

High praise coming from you man thanks. So...do you think that we will have the patience for roasting a whole pig on a spit? That method is very nostalgic. I'd have to go full cowboy or not at all.

[mmoore]

on a spit is easy, you got it.