Divemaster
somebody shut me the fark up.
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2007
- Location
- North Side of Chicago Illinois
Well gang, I no longer “Fear the Pig”, at least not the 83 pounder that I cooked over the weekend. While I’ve cooked more weight, this one was kind of special. Not only was it one of my favorite holidays, it was for a group of friends that I’ve known since I was a small child. We, my family, came up with the idea of throwing a party this weekend at ‘Brisketwood’ (as Billy has named it) which is 120 miles from my house. This meant not only getting the pig up there but also hauling all of the required equipment as well. A special thank you goes out to Billy for the helping hands of not only picking up the pig but also with moving it around on the rack.
Before I left, I made up a rack out of ‘Re-Bar’. My plan was to wrap this rack with chicken wire so that I didn’t have to try and move the meat.
By having this system made up, it allowed me to set the pig into its final position.
The rack was built to allow for an inch clearance on each side so I could just slide her in. This worked out well, especially when the hams (where on the hot side of the cooker) were getting done far sooner than the shoulders… I was able to pull the whole rack out, spin it, and slide it back into the cooker. In the end when I removed her from the cooker, both the ham and shoulder ends were at 198*.
I had to put on some fatties for breakfast... Not doing that would have been a sin!
It was also my plan to serve the pig on the same rack by cutting away the skin and allowing my guests to pick at one side, and then when the meat was gone there, turn the whole rack around, remove the skin and let them at the other side.
So there it is, my first pig. While she was larger than I had planned and the skin got darker than I wanted, I still glad that I tried it. Oh, did I mention that this little party ended up being having over 120 guests? It was a blast!
Before I left, I made up a rack out of ‘Re-Bar’. My plan was to wrap this rack with chicken wire so that I didn’t have to try and move the meat.
By having this system made up, it allowed me to set the pig into its final position.
The rack was built to allow for an inch clearance on each side so I could just slide her in. This worked out well, especially when the hams (where on the hot side of the cooker) were getting done far sooner than the shoulders… I was able to pull the whole rack out, spin it, and slide it back into the cooker. In the end when I removed her from the cooker, both the ham and shoulder ends were at 198*.
I had to put on some fatties for breakfast... Not doing that would have been a sin!
It was also my plan to serve the pig on the same rack by cutting away the skin and allowing my guests to pick at one side, and then when the meat was gone there, turn the whole rack around, remove the skin and let them at the other side.
So there it is, my first pig. While she was larger than I had planned and the skin got darker than I wanted, I still glad that I tried it. Oh, did I mention that this little party ended up being having over 120 guests? It was a blast!