A cinder block whole hog cooker step by step with Q pics!

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mixwizard

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 24, 2012
6
10
N. Scituate, RI
After I introduced myself in the Roll Call forum and posted a picture of my whole hog cooker I was asked if I had any build pics. The following is what I could find. I got the inspiration for this from my friend Tim Butts, who has been my mentor though this whole process, and Cowgirl's web site. You will see Tim in the pics with me.

Started with pouring a cement pad, figured it would help with heat and clean-up...

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Just started to stack the blocks without any mortar or adhesive in case I wanted to experiment with the setup. I stacked to this height then I cut notches in the blocks for the rebar rack that I welded up, can't find a pic of that though...

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Here's a finished shot of the cooker, I left the center block of the bottom row missing so I can add lit charcoals to maintain heat, I used foil covered patio blocks as doors ...

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I use hogs around 100lbs, no head, no feet. Here's a shot of getting the guest of honor ready. I prep the hog the same way cowgirl does, I crack the spine and butterfly it....

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After a rubdown and a session with Dr Feelgood, I place the hog in a vacuum space saver bag with the rest of the injection mixture, remove as much of the air from the bag as possible with a small shop vac then it goes on ice over night....

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Nighty night....

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Very AM the next morning, I place two pans of apple juice on the bottom of the cooker for some added moisture during the cook, I place a pile of lit coals at each end of the cooker prior to placing the hog into the cooker....

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Since I don't use expanded metal in my cooker, I uses some improvised wire racks and wiretie them above and below the hog to make it easy to place it in and take it out of the cooker....

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The lid is just a piece of cement board, I use two digital thermometers, one probe resting near the hams and one resting near the shoulders and I keep the temp around 225 degrees. I uses some apple and hickory chips on top of the coals during the first 2 hours of cooking....

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Approx seven hours later it's time to bring out the guest of honor and serve him up!

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Hope you enjoyed this post.  I've cooked hogs this way

 ever since, experimenting with different injections and marinades. None of this would have been possible without the guidance from Tim, Thanks for watching!
 
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MixWizard, evening and welcome to the forum.....  That whole project is sweet...  nice build and nice do on the pig.... It looks cooked perfectly and delish....   Congrats...   Dave
 
Very nice!...And what are you injecting with?...JJ
 
Thanks Dave!

JJ, for this roast, we used Tim's recipe, a mix of a citrus based juice, sazon goya, margarita mix, garlic and I can't remember the herbs, which we injected into the loins, hams and shoulders. The rest went into the bag. we're doing another roast next weekend and I'm going to try a soy sauce based marinade this time. I'll post the results good or bad afterwards!
 
 
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