First Whole Hog

[Chuck_NE]

So I just got my 500 gallon offset done and seasoned it yesterday. I think I've got the fire control pretty much figured out to hold a temp between 250-275.
So Friday I'm going to cook an 80lb hog.

My plan is to butterfly it and take the ribs out. Cook at 250-275 until the skin color looks good, then cover with foil and cook until I get internal temps of 205. I'm hoping the cook time is about 10 hours. That seem reasonable on an 80lb hog?

I'm taking it to a tailgate that will be about 20 minutes from the cook site. Plan to just kill the fire and let it rest in the smoker for an hour or two until she's ready to serve.

Seem like a reasonable plan or am I off in left field.

Any pointers on carving/serving would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

 

[Trailer Trash]

It sounds do-able. I did an 84 Lbs'r. I always figure 1 hr. per 10 Lbs. + 1 hour (80 Lbs = 9 hours). It easily could have been served 2 hours later as it retained the internal heat for quite a while (Arizona spring day of about 90°). I cooked from 275° to 300°. I think you'll be fine but don't be afraid to plan a finish time well ahead of your feed time. Pull at last minute.

As far as serving tips;


Good luck to you. It's a great memorable time!

 

[smoke ninja]

Id did a butterflied hog that size and it was done in about 8 hours. It was a block pit so the heat was more direct. Differnt cookers bit that was my experience.

 

[KBird]

I did a whole pig Saturday, and I allowed 1.5 hours per 10 pounds. (It was a 50#). The timing came out right on the money with temps at 275 to 300 on my reverse flow offset. Also, I let it smoke for two hours and then wrapped in foil. The color was great and the meat was awesome! Oh yeah, mine was racer style with two cabbage heads stuffed inside.

 

[Chuck_NE]

It sounds do-able. I did an 84 Lbs'r. I always figure 1 hr. per 10 Lbs. + 1 hour (80 Lbs = 9 hours). It easily could have been served 2 hours later as it retained the internal heat for quite a while (Arizona spring day of about 90°). I cooked from 275° to 300°. I think you'll be fine but don't be afraid to plan a finish time well ahead of your feed time. Pull at last minute.

As far as serving tips;


Good luck to you. It's a great memorable time!

Looks like you scored the skin pre-cook. Was this to get more smoke to the meat I presume?

 

[gtr]

Here's a thread for my first whole pig. I've done several since than and do a few things differently now, like putting a couple cabbages in the cavity, foiling when I like the color, and injecting with Chris Lily's recipe (only use half the salt) about 10-12 hours before the cook.

I've done all mine racer style, as I don't think a butterflied pig will fit on my grate (20" diameter chamber). I usually associate butterflying more with direct cooking over coals, but I'm no expert on that. I gotta ask - why take the ribs out? Are you cooking them separate? Just curious.

I've been cooking 60-70# pigs at 250 on the cool side (I have a direct flow and it's a little hotter toward the firebox - and the back side of the cooker seems to be hotter than the front side) and they're done by 10 hours and I'll build in an hour or 2 for rest. I will slide out and spin the grate with the pig on it every few hours.

It certainly doesn't hurt to watch the IT of a pig, but I've seen them done at 190 - for some reason the finish temp seems to be lower than it would be with just shoulders. Also - I pay a lot of attention to probe tenderness in the shoulders and hams. The last pig was reading 175, but felt done by the probe. It was done, so the probe was a better guide in that circumstance.

Your temp and time range look good to me. I've come to see that what it's really all about is keeping a good fire going the whole entire cook.

For carving/serving, I'll just cut a slit down the spine, then down the sides to peel the skin back, and just start pulling meat off of bones. You'll want a pan or trash can or something nearby to throw the waste in (save the bones and make stock!) and obviously a pan for the meat. You could just peel the skin back and let folks pick at it themselves - but I think your yield will be better if you go through it yourself. I love picking through bones the next day and getting all the bits.

It can seem daunting to cook a pig for the first time, but I've seen quite a few happen on these pages and they pretty much always turn out great, and I'm sure yours will as well.

 

[Trailer Trash]

Looks like you scored the skin pre-cook. Was this to get more smoke to the meat I presume?

Chuck,

Yes, that was our intention. It did have a very good mild smoke flavor. I can't sway for sure that it wouldn't have without the slits. Next one I may slit on one side and not the other to see if I can tell. One other thing. If you want to get an apple in it's mouth for display, use a chunk of wood or 2 X 4 during the cook, remove and replace with apple before serving. You'll never get it open otherwise. As said by "gtr", it seems like a huge undertaking but I haven't heard of a disaster pig cook. Our biggest challenge was to budget our beer intake for the long cook and the long party afterwards! Have fun!!!

 

[Chuck_NE]

Here's a thread for my first whole pig. I've done several since than and do a few things differently now, like putting a couple cabbages in the cavity, foiling when I like the color, and injecting with Chris Lily's recipe (only use half the salt) about 10-12 hours before the cook.

I've done all mine racer style, as I don't think a butterflied pig will fit on my grate (20" diameter chamber). I usually associate butterflying more with direct cooking over coals, but I'm no expert on that. I gotta ask - why take the ribs out? Are you cooking them separate? Just curious.

I've been cooking 60-70# pigs at 250 on the cool side (I have a direct flow and it's a little hotter toward the firebox - and the back side of the cooker seems to be hotter than the front side) and they're done by 10 hours and I'll build in an hour or 2 for rest. I will slide out and spin the grate with the pig on it every few hours.

It certainly doesn't hurt to watch the IT of a pig, but I've seen them done at 190 - for some reason the finish temp seems to be lower than it would be with just shoulders. Also - I pay a lot of attention to probe tenderness in the shoulders and hams. The last pig was reading 175, but felt done by the probe. It was done, so the probe was a better guide in that circumstance.

Your temp and time range look good to me. I've come to see that what it's really all about is keeping a good fire going the whole entire cook.

For carving/serving, I'll just cut a slit down the spine, then down the sides to peel the skin back, and just start pulling meat off of bones. You'll want a pan or trash can or something nearby to throw the waste in (save the bones and make stock!) and obviously a pan for the meat. You could just peel the skin back and let folks pick at it themselves - but I think your yield will be better if you go through it yourself. I love picking through bones the next day and getting all the bits.

It can seem daunting to cook a pig for the first time, but I've seen quite a few happen on these pages and they pretty much always turn out great, and I'm sure yours will as well.

Great stuff here THANK YOU!. I'm taking the ribs for two reasons...first to expose the meat behind them more, second I figure I may as well cook a couple good racks of ribs rather than them just becoming part of the big pile of meat from the hog.

I currently only have about 2 hours for the injection to do it's thing prior to cooking. I may need to try and figure out a way to get it in there sooner.