Pig Cookers vs Traditional Offsets

IMO if you can't stand the sight of your food looking at you then you should have enough respect for the animal not to eat it.

smokeisgood said:

Oh, I know where it comes from. I've dressed many a deer, rabbit etc, and cut them up for cooking. I don't put them on a spit and eat them while they're looking at me either.... I've never butchered a hog because I don't raise them. Butchering them is not what bothers me, eating them whole is just not my thing....not that there's anything wrong with it..

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Agh I gotcha man, I guess I've just got use to it, and even then I understand that everyone is wired differently. If we were all wired the same we wouldn't have all the variety of barbecue we got, so I guess that it's a good thing really. :tea: (Why isn't there a beer toast and only this tea one?!?!?! LOL)

Libertarian said:

Propane is popular around the Carolinas for cooking pigs but the best barbecue joints in Eastern North Carolina still cook with wood and coals. I'll probably buy a wood/charcoal pig cooker like the one below. I know propane is easier but if I wanted easy I wouldn't be here.

http://www.bqgrills.com/Charcoal-Wood Pig Cookers.htm

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I hear ya on the wood. Before I started using wood and charcoal I was on electric and I just don't like it anymore. I haven't even used my gas grill in forever, I always go for the Performer. Just a ton more flavor and more primal to me, which is what makes all this so enjoyable and so much fun. If it was super easy we wouldn't have anything to tend to and work on!

I live in West Ashley and have a Meadow Creek PR42 and can do up to a 100lb hog on it. I used my buddies offbrand a few times the past couple years when I do one for Christmas but even he likes my setup and he is a Bessinger! I just got this one in February of this year...so still learning what it likes and such but so far has been uneventful.

You are more than welcome to come by and check it out anytime...

I have done ribs, tenderloins, wings, pork shoulders and a whole pig on it so far.....everything has come out great in spite of my shortcomings. LOL

Let me know if you want to see it...


I drove up and got mine from dealer in NC.....and have some brochures and stuff too if you are interested in checking them out. I might be cooking something Saturday while working in yard....so would even be better for you to see. I usually use lump wood (Stumps or last time bought Royal Oak from Walmart)...but just got some nice competition wood briquets by Kingsford from Costco to try this time.....and then have some oak in back yard I use for extra smoke.

As a kid I helped my father do pigs and lambs in a pit made from cinder blocks. Top was two metal Piggly Wiggly signs. Burnt a lot of wood.
Made a lasting impression on me.
I've thought several times about building one under an old Maple tree in my back yard... just never got around to it.

I cook 100 pounders on my Lang 60. Added bonus is the crispy skin the reverse flow gives you, kinda gives you a sizzle grill with smoke.

Libertarian said:

Propane is popular around the Carolinas for cooking pigs but the best barbecue joints in Eastern North Carolina still cook with wood and coals. I'll probably buy a wood/charcoal pig cooker like the one below. I know propane is easier but if I wanted easy I wouldn't be here.

http://www.bqgrills.com/Charcoal-Wood Pig Cookers.htm

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Wow Lib, thats a sweet cooker. If you get it please show us a cook or two, I would love to see that bad boy in action!

come up to Newport nc April 5th they have the biggest whole hog cooking contest in the US happining over 80 different cookers also check craigs list

BigBlock said:

come up to Newport nc April 5th they have the biggest whole hog cooking contest in the US happining over 80 different cookers also check craigs list

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Wow, I lived in Newport until I was 9. I might just make the trip!

dwfisk said:

Wow, I lived in Newport until I was 9. I might just make the trip!

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come check us out I will be flying the brethren colors

Bourbon Barrel BBQ said:

IMO if you can't stand the sight of your food looking at you then you should have enough respect for the animal not to eat it.

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I used to clean up a small butcher shop after hours, the blood and guts never really bothered me much, except maybe the gut popping during the sumer heat...

It was the Heads with the eyes open an the tongue sticking out, at times it was a bit of an odd feeling having a dead cow head watch you.

But the leftover hamburger and sausage from the stuffer kept the freezer full. always a 1lb to 2 lbs left in the head, that would get wrapped up and stuck in the flash freezer first thing. along with any ham hocks that where getting tossed


One of the things I have wante since my uncles had there hog roast, was a whole hog cooker. one day...

Cooked four boneless butts and 24 wings yesterday most of the day....on the PR42.

Came out great with good bark.....juicy....etc. Took about 10 hours to get the internal temp up to 190* where I took them off...wrapped in foil and let sit. Wings took about 2.5 hours towards end of cook....

Going to eat some of it today with family for easter


The Meadow Creek PR42 does everything I ask of it....may be ready for a PR60 in a year or two if I keep this up. LOL Or just buy the 2nd Tier Cooking rack to get more meat in it....

did you ever get a smoker??????

guess not...hahaha

ChiefBrock said:

did you ever get a smoker??????

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Did ya? I used to have a BQ when I lived in NC, cooked on it all the time, it was great, I'd love to check yours out if you ended up getting one.

Chief- I live on JI and I'd love to come check out your meadow creek some time, I'm itching to get something big enough to do whole hogs again.

just send me a note and let me know....I might be cooking some ribs and wings on it Saturday...wife has a "tea party" every year for all the ladies of the family ...mostly for the young females but has been a tradition for over 20 years so now our kids are adults and the neices and granddaughter enjoy it. Rest of family comes over afterward to eat.... so you can see it in action if you want or just sitting their on the slab...smelling good but cold in the sun. LOL

MIL is in hospital so not having the big family gathering saturday....but will still be cooking so welcome to swing by and check it out. Doing two pork shoulders instead.

it is back on...i was up at 5am to light cooker....started rubbing meat down by 5:30.....temp up and meat on cooker around 6:15am.... LOL

As I see it whole hog or splits started on a concrete or block pit or something similar. Still many in use in North Carolina. As we became more mobile there was a need for the pit to be moved around. As competition evolved the mobile pit was a necessity. The used oil tank became popular because it was cheap or free and it was the perfect size for a whole hog. These were naturally called pig cookers. It was difficult to load with wood so many were built for propane. As for smoke flavor a shovel or two of hickory or oak coals could be added for the taste but propane was still used for heat. Many rubs were created to compensate for the wood flavor. When the old fashion 'pig pickin' lost out to the 'pulled pork' sandwich or plate became popular it was easier to cook butts and shoulders. So the shape was changed to cook these smaller pieces of hog. Today there are thousands of unused pig cookers sitting around that part of the country. About that time some space engineer came up with the reverse flow type of portable cooker. Also the bowl type match lite holder became popular. Thank you Wal-Mart $19.98. I don't consider it a cooker but rather a hotdog burner. So there you have it. The evolution of the pig cooker is what separated the real pit masters from all the rest.

Think I am going to do a whole pig or a goat next....have not done a pig since Christmas.