Whole hog experts - advice please

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dwfisk

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Just picked up a 55-60 (dressed) wild hog and have been asked to cook lunch on Friday for the gang at the equine veterinary hospital where my son just started his DVM career. It's a wild hog, killed by a bow hunter (one of the DVM partners) this morning. It has been skinned. I've heard wild hogs are much more lean than farm raised and the carcass did look fairly lean after it was skinned.

I'll be cooking on my reverse flow stickburner with hickory. I'm planning on using a rub, cooking it "cavity up" for about 6 hours (1 hour per 10 pounds) at 250*-275* and basting with apple juice during the last couple hours. My plan is to be off the pit and in a cooler by 11:00 AM so I can make a 20 minutes drive and get set up for lunch.

I just went through several threads I found using "whole hog" in the search tool but I would still appreciate any advice on technique or anything else I should consider.

One specific question if anyone has some guidance: if I cook it on its back (cavity up) do I need to put some kind of rack, pan or foil under it to facilitate getting it off the pit?

Thanks in advance.
 
twelveguagepump just did one (not wild). The reason I reference it he used cabbage in the cavity to protect the loins. It sounded like it worked awesome. Being wild and very lean you may need that to keep/add moisture.
You said it was skinned? That seems like it could be a problem?

Just some thoughts. I'm sure the experts will be here any moment!:thumb:

Sounds like fun and congrats to your son.:-D
 
I would build a metal hog rack out of angle and Expanded metal.. That way you can grab that and pick it up.. place it in the vehicle drive and serve.. Whole hogs that are cooked properly Fall Apart.. she will be very difficult to serve.. If i were you i would foil the hog when its done.. hook the pit up to the vehicle.. drive to where you are serving it at.. and open up the pit.. keep a small fire going to keep the hog warm.. and there you go! That way you don't show up with a falling apart hog.. in pieces takes away from the presentation..
 
Also would have plenty of cold bacon on hand.. to protect thos really lean loins and hams.. and shoulders and ribs. lol about 4 hours through throw cool Bacon on.. to add fat and moisture.. to the hog.. and flavor.. and who doesn't like bacon? lol
 
Thanks, I too was worried about skinned until I read a number of good threads where the cooks had skinned their hogs, most notably a great post by Cowgirl. I remember the recent cook by twelvegaugepump but thanks for reminding me, I re-read it. And yea, we are pretty proud of Dr Kyle.
Thermal Mass said:
twelveguagepump just did one (not wild). The reason I reference it he used cabbage in the cavity to protect the loins. It sounded like it worked awesome. Being wild and very lean you may need that to keep/add moisture.
You said it was skinned? That seems like it could be a problem?

Just some thoughts. I'm sure the experts will be here any moment!:thumb:

Sounds like fun and congrats to your son.:-D
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am shooting for fall apart tender. I had planned on moving it into my large boat cooler (that's where it is packed on ice now) wrapped in foil but I really like the idea of a rack, maybe I'll throw one together that will just fit in the cooler. Isn't it great to have the tools and scrap material laying around to do something like that on the spur of the moment? The bacon idea is a winner!
DownHomeQue said:
I would build a metal hog rack out of angle and Expanded metal.. That way you can grab that and pick it up.. place it in the vehicle drive and serve.. Whole hogs that are cooked properly Fall Apart.. she will be very difficult to serve.. If i were you i would foil the hog when its done.. hook the pit up to the vehicle.. drive to where you are serving it at.. and open up the pit.. keep a small fire going to keep the hog warm.. and there you go! That way you don't show up with a falling apart hog.. in pieces takes away from the presentation..
Click to expand...

DownHomeQue said:
Also would have plenty of cold bacon on hand.. to protect thos really lean loins and hams.. and shoulders and ribs. lol about 4 hours through throw cool Bacon on.. to add fat and moisture.. to the hog.. and flavor.. and who doesn't like bacon? lol
Click to expand...
 
I did one over the weekend I shot last week dressed at 39 lb for B-day party when they are that small it is just a Big Shoulder. I use Season salt & black peppa. and mop it once an hr with ACV that I steeped a head of garlic in. I butterfly the porker and cook/em on his back flip 1/2 way through. When the hams Hit 190 it's done.
 
Thanks for referencing my cook! I would suggest doing it with the cavity down and stuffing the cabbage in. It was amazing. With no skin, I think foiling it for at least the first few hours would make the most sense, and then baste it after and create a nice bark. We used large flat cookie sheets to slide under ours after it was done cooking to transfer to the table to pull. They worked really well. Even without skin holding it together, I think that would work. They are flat air bake sheets, not ones with sides. Easier than building another rack. If I think of anything else I will jump in. Good luck. Share the pron!
 
Yep, all ready to go. I hit my local restaurant supply store yesterday and picked up some used $3.00 SS racks (I think they are deep frier drain racks) so I can fab up a rack today with some repurposed rebar that will fit in my big boat cooler. The plan is to cook on the rack then simply remove to the foil lined cooler and make the 20 minute drive to the luncheon. Per Cowgirl and others, we will be injecting with a apple juice & worchester, dry rub and spritz with ACV & applejuice. Firing the pit at midnight, lunch at noon Friday. I'll post a separate cook thread w/pics.
Thanks for all the suggestions & input and for all the previous posts I found via the search tool - this is such a great forum!

Twelvegaugepump said:
All set for your cook? Be sure to share pron.
Click to expand...

cowgirl said:
I've not had problems with skinned pigs.. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164366
They come out moist and tender. I do like to inject right before smoking, Use dry rubs and spritz with a 50/50 mixture of apple juice and whiskey.

Good luck with what ever you do!
Click to expand...
 
anybody have a clue where the guys from the shed got their whole hog rack? stood it up for cooking and serving, didn't show much detail, but it was saawweettt
 
early mornin' smokin' said:
anybody have a clue where the guys from the shed got their whole hog rack? stood it up for cooking and serving, didn't show much detail, but it was saawweettt
Click to expand...

IDK, didn't see the show. Here are a couple shots of what I put together for my cook.
005_zps5d98149a.jpg

004_zps227e5de5.jpg

I just welded some re-purposed 1/2 inch rebar into a rectangular frame and added a couple handles made out of the same rebar. There are 3 SS grates held on with SS wire, got them at my local restaurant supply used for $3 each. The whole rig is sized to drop into my biggest cooler (a 128 quart Marine Igloo). I plan on just lining the cooler with foil, lowering the rack & cooked hog into it and transporting to the luncheon.
I will say that now that I've built it I see a lot of uses beyond just the hog cook.
 
That should solve the problem.:thumb:
Did you "X" the bottom or is there an unseen center support? Just thinking it is way easier to do it now than once it gets greasy should it be necessary or for something heavier in the future?
 
Thanks. It's just the 2 long pieces with the handles welded on at each end and the prefabbed SS grates held on with SS aircraft wire. Tried it with a 50 pound sack of cow feed - it's plenty rigid and strong. Here is a larger view of the rig when it was new & pretty.
001_zps6ce9c2d4.jpg

The orange VHT paint didn't work; I'm currently doing some mods and a repaint but had to clean it up to use it for this cook. Then I media blast it and repaint sometime this month.
Thermal Mass said:
That should solve the problem.:thumb:
Did you "X" the bottom or is there an unseen center support? Just thinking it is way easier to do it now than once it gets greasy should it be necessary or for something heavier in the future?
Click to expand...

Thermal Mass said:
BTW--
Great looking rig, from what I can see...:-D
Click to expand...
 
I figured, but sometimes those racks can be kind of flimsy. You got this one!
Sweet, I do recall you posting it before.
Thanks!

Best of luck on the cook, sounds like you're all set!!
 
hmmm...the rack the guys at the shed used slid into a very large cooker, it held the pig standing upright for the duration of the cook, and for display at service time, it was sweet.
 
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