so this cook went down yesterday. The day started off great, but had an unfortunate turn of events. I had to leave the event/cook before seeing it through due to a family medical emergency. Still waiting on test results on that as i type and kill time.
anyway i've got some pics. I didn't get to eat the pig at the time because i left about an hour or two before it was done. Had some leftovers today and it was amazing. Such a great mellow smoke throughout. The loin came out perfect. The shoulders were great. The ham, my partner told me, came out dry. oh well. Jowl meat was great. etc...
this hog was not prepped how i would have done it, but this was not just my cook. we assisted a friend's restaurant. His chef brined the pig overnight. pig was about 70lbs. smoked a shoulder and some pork belly too. He seasoned with a mexican spice rub/paste. I recommended packing chorizo over the ribs and loin areas to protect the meat (it worked and we ate the chorizo on some tacos for a late lunch. they were outstanding.) i would have injected throughout, but that is just me.
we used the shirley fab pit and hickory wood. ran pit at an average of 275. pig took longer than we expected because the door was opened to much and it was cooooooold out. -14 windchill at times. we cranked it up toward the end to cook a bit faster as it had to be done by 630pm. we started at 7am. it was pulled around 530pm or 6pm i think. I had to leave before then and was nervous as hell, but it turned out great!
it was cold
ready to go
beautiful morning in the neighborhood
mopped just a couple times
smoked this shoulder for a few hours then the chef braised it
menu
and the finished hog. i didn't take these. i was not there for it. thats the chef cutting and my comp/vending partner Jamey pulling. overall it was a success. the leftovers tasted damn good. i will do some things differently next time, but learned a lot this time. thanks to the brethren!
