I just saw this and figured I'd enter my piggy for the Happy Holidays 2012 TD - I'll use the post I put up in Qtalk. I was gonna strip down the post to just the cooking of the pig, but the whole thing really was all about a fun gathering so I left the post intact. Plus it was easier to do that. :twisted:
Here goes:
I got a 58# pig the other day. I (actually we - my awesome neighbor Roland came over at 4:30 am to help) stuck a wood chunk in his mouth so we could get the apple in later. It took both of us to pry the mouth open and get the chunk in. I rubbed the inside of the pig with kosher salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I figured I'd keep it simple my first time out and I'm glad I did - I'll probably stick to the simple approach for a while.
I think bigabyte may have gotten to him.
He fit real good in my beloved Klose. Next time I'm gonna try and 80#er and see how that fits.
I cooked 225-250 for a few hours, starting with the hams toward the firebox at 5:30 am. I used hickory throughout the cook.
At 8:30 am we spun the critter 180 degrees and cooked a few more hours - I backed down temps to 200-225 'cause the hams were - well I don't remember what the temps were, but it seemed like a good idea to slow things down a bit.
At 11:30 we spun it again and went back to cooking at 225-250. I noticed a difference in doneness not only from the front and back of the pig, but also from the left to the right - nothing to worry about, just something to pay attention to. I was feeling pretty good when we took him out at around 3:30 for a total cook time of 10 hours. I think the IT was somewhere around 180, and it was definitely probe tender.
Since it was a party and all, I figured he'd wanna dress up a little bit while he rested for about an hour.
I was feeling really good about things when I cut the skin back (next few pics were taken by a friend). The meat was pretty much all pullable. We got pretty close to 2 full pans of meat.
Who among us doesn't love a little head?
I think I know what I wanna be for Halloween next year. :tsk:
It takes a long time to take a pig apart, which was something that never occurred to me until I was in the middle of doing it. Luckily there were Brethren nearby, and Marty (Campdude) threw some gloves on and got down to business (I don't have a pic of that - my hands were a little greasy!). Marty also brought tortillas and a couple of awesome salsas, which I put over some ribs and ate today - seriously good eats right there! He also brought a couple of pies that disappeared instantly. :shocked:
Ray (Silverfinger) and his crew came over & our kids all got to running around and having fun. :thumb: Ray brought some bacon fried rice that knocked everybody's socks off - off the farkin chain! :clap:
Matt (Enkidu), his wife and unbelievably cute 8 month old son came over as well, and his smoked mac & cheese was crazy good and big hit. His bro Chris, another Brethren (browna65) and his lovely lady came as well.
We had a lot of folks come over who brought a lot of great food, and the Brethren stood proud in a very strong field of delicious eats! It was really nice to meet you guys in person and I really look forward to seeing you guys again. I can honestly say that all the Brethren I've met in person are some seriously cool farkers. :thumb: Thanks for the great grub and the help y'all! :clap2:
It was a great party and the pig was farking delicious and tender - I'm chalking it up to beginner's luck. I can't wait to do it again. I was surprised at how well the smoke flavor got in the pig - much better than I expected.
I gotta give props to the knowledgeable and lovely Jeanie (cowgirl), who gave the final approval of my pig cooking plan as well as the inspiration for cooking a pig in the first place. :clap2: I can't wait to cook another one - and next time I'm gonna learn a little more about taking a pig apart - I kinda just pulled this one apart. I'm sure there's a good method I'm unaware of = but the meat got et, and that's what's really important! :hungry:
I'm making pork stock with the bones right now and it smells really good.
Thanks for looking!
This is the shot I want to use for the vote thread:
