Hey folks, just following up on the weekend. The pig turned out excellent. I ended up marinating the pig in a brine with salt, brown sugar, red pepper, black pepper and garlic for 24 hours. I then coated the whole pig with honey, then I put brown sugar, pepper, garlic, and salt on the outside and then wrapped the entire pig in bacon. I thought I might have gotten a little carried away but it was excellent. It was about a 120 lb hog and it sat in there for about 14 hours. All the meat turned out good, but I really think I could have just eaten the crust all day long. The honey on the bacon with the back fat of the hog was just delicious. The only part I didnt think were great were the hind legs. They were ok but had a different taste than the rest of the pig. I have a few theories but overall I was very pleased with everything.
Along with the pig, I did two shoulders, a couple racks of spare ribs that I finished on an open pit with bbq sauce like my old man always did it, and I did whole chickens and made an end of the night snack of chicken tacos. Overall, a successful weekend of smoking meat that has me so excited that Im headed to the store this evening for salmon filets and pork bellies to smoke tomorrow. I guess I have the "fever" right now. Good times.
Aaron
