Suckling pig?

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Coldholler

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Anybody smoke a suckling pig or a very young pig? I'm thinking under 25-30 pounds, for tenderness and for a smaller party. I know where I can get one, but I want to know if there are any other considerations in the cook. Seems like they'd cook just like a large butt.

Throwing some ideas I have out there, today. Brisket is next on my list to try, but it'll be a long winter...
 
I've wondered the same thing, I'll be watching the commentary. I do wonder how heavy a hog would have to be to be considered "adult". (I promised my 6 year old daughter that I would never cook a pig that wasn't an adult) :rolleyes:
 
I know -- on the one hand, a couple of little pigs done together could make for a nice presentation. On the other hand, it could be catastrophic (lots of kids and sensitive people) if they looked "cute."
 
De-bone the pig and make a porchetta. We've done this a couple of times and have gotten rave reviews.
 
I did a 30lb one a couple of summers ago hanging in my smoker...
See the link to my thread below:
 
I did a 35 pound one this past July 4th and it was easy and yielded quite a bit of meat. They cook a lot faster than you think. The guests loved it!
 
Any difference in cooking? I was thinking 250 for 8-12 hours or to pulling temp, like a butt. Any nuances?
 
"On the other hand, it could be catastrophic (lots of kids and sensitive people) if they looked "cute.""

Good Lord!
 
I don't think they have the fat or connective tissue of an adult, so they get done faster.
 
Look, a real Sucking Pig is a few pounds at most, as its still suckling.

It's something you want to do over open coals, not low and slow at all.

Cheers!

Bill
 
The ones I've had in Spain are cooked in wood-fired ovens, typically around 350*, and would feed 4 people.
 
OutlawSwine said:
De-bone the pig and make a porchetta. We've done this a couple of times and have gotten rave reviews.
Click to expand...

^^^^ Thats sounds like an awesome Idea! I think I might be doing that sometime soon. :thumb::thumb:


When I do a suckling pig that young I don't do them to pull because the meat is so tender... It's just awesome roasted to 155-160Ëš.

One on my first posts on here was a sucking pig... I did it with no smoker or grill at all! Was definitely a memorable cook!

I usually season as normal then hot smoke or raised over coals and then sear off the skin side to get it crisp.

Here's how I did mine last time. It was uhm... fun! Came out really great tho. Hard to mess up this meat:
IMG_0930.jpg


IMG_0931.jpg


IMG_0952.jpg


Cheers
 
Gore said:
The ones I've had in Spain are cooked in wood-fired ovens, typically around 350*, and would feed 4 people.
Click to expand...

I remember a long time ago I had a suckling pig in Segovia as well. It was some of the best pork I had ever eaten. And right up until the pig was placed in front of me, tail and hoof together, I didn't know what a 'suckling' pig was.
 
Suckling pigs are very mild tasting. They cook fast because they don't need the fat rendered and they are already tender. 3-4 hours should do it.
 
I did a suckling pig very recently at a Nor Cal Brethren pre-bash. I got a suckling 35lb'er that had only had its mothers' milk. It had no fat on it all. I stuffed it full of various fruits (mango, papaya, lime), sewed it up. Wrapped it in banana leaves and wrapped it in burlap. Then I cooked it in my fire pit that had a lot of coals built up (about 12+inches) with round rocks on top of the coals.
Dropped that piggy on top. Covered the pit with a sheet of steel and covered with dirt for 5 hours.

Came out great!

Why am I typing this??? Here is the thread
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1840358&postcount=322
 
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