Whole Hog On An Offset Questions

Howdy,

I've done a couple of hogs, but never on an offset, so please keep that in mind. I'll try not to speak to anything that's out of my realm of experience.

I've found that an 100 lbs. hog can feed a mix of 40 people and still have a decent amount of left overs (full ham, plenty of shoulder etc, ribs and stuff tend to go quick). ~5 of the 40 people or so were big appetite kind of guys that will eat at least 1lbs or more of meat themselves. This is also with minimal sides available. All in all I would say there was about 30% or more of the meat leftover. This was also with constant feasting and drinking all night long.

That said, I would estimate 1 lbs. precooked per person is adequate if it's a mix of men and women and there will also be plenty of sides and other things to supplement the pork. Making pulled/chopped sandwiches will also greatly help you stretch it out. You could always supplement meat with some boston butts.

All of my hogs have been butterflied with their spine cracked to allow for them to lay flat while fully opened. I think this decreases the overall cook time, but probably will take up more room depending on how your cooking chamber is designed.

I'm not going to give advice on the cooking time, but I will say plan to have a ton of breathing room in there, especially your first time. You can hold/reheat very easily, but speeding up the cook time because you're behind schedule is not always an option. My gut feeling is at 250 (assuming 100 lbs. hog) you're going to need a lot more than 12 hours, probably closer to 24, but I'll let someone who actually knows what they're talking about address this one.

EDIT:

Here's a great tutorial, not necessarily for an offset but with a ton of general info:

http://cuban-christmas.com/pigroast.html

Here's a link to Cowgirls website that details how she cooks a hog. I am planning on following this model in April for a party we have planned. I am ordering the pig from Sweet Bay, ready to go. They recommend 20-30 lb = 10 to 15 people, so you can multiply up from there. Cowgirls has a strong recommendation concerning cooking times, also the website Jeremiah listed above is loaded with info...Good Luck can't wait for the pron
C:/Users/owner/Documents/My%20Recipes/cooking-whole-hog-on-cinder-block-pit_19.html

Bump for more info

Wheres the link to Cowgirl's website?