Smoked a (test) pig over the weekend

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va_connoisseur

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Dec 13, 2007
338
13
DC Metro - Northern Virginia
I have a gig at my local cigar shop to smoke a pig for an upcoming event. I've never smoked a pig on my reverse flow smoker so I figured I'd give it a test run to get some idea of temps/times/etc. Here what I found...

Started with a small pig, only 38.5 pounds, for the cigar event I'll be doing a 80-90 pounder. In order to keep it simple, I did a simple cleaning of the cavity and rubbed the skin with EVO and added some rock salt.

Piglet chillin before being introduced to apple and hickory nirvana.


This is piggie on the smoker ready for the ride. I decided to keep it simple, didn't foil the ear/nose as I have on other cookers. It was nice to see how much more pig I could fix on the Hog Coffin. I'm thinking ~`100 pounds should be no issue.


Smoker held a good even temp from left to right. It became clear early on that I have been a lot more nervous about this cook then needed.


Starting to get some good color, 2 hours in.


Fast forward to the six hour mark and I have ~200 degrees at 2 locations in each ham and shoulder. For the record I started at 275 for the first hour and backed down to 250 for the remainder.


Done and looking good. A few observations:

1. Still was really crispy, I did not expect that.

2. A little pig does not yield a lot of meat (guess I knew that)

3. Getting to 200 degrees made for good pulling however it was not "fall off the bone". Definitely chop ready.

4. The hindquarters, area closest to the reverse flow opening, was darker. I'm not sure if the butcher did not drain this area well or what. I should have taken some pics.

5. Meat was moist and flavorful. Not sure how much adding rub to the cavity would help (Anyone)?

All and all, I was happy with the cook. I will keep you all posted on the 8 June event.
 
I haven't done a pig but want to... Did you inject anything into that bad boy? 

I believe you yield less than 60% of the starting weight so it is what it is...great job though!
 
Looks good from where I'm looking. Is that 38.5 the live weight or the weight after butchering?
I've been told that a 50 lb live hog should feed approx. 20 people.
The only way I've done a whole hog is to split it and cooked the halves on an open fire. Lots of fire tending to keep a semi-constant temperature under it. Used a combo of charcoal and wood. Can't remember what type of wood, it's been way too long ago. I think it was a mix of maple and cherry. Have to try another soon. Butcher said that a rub is not as good as adding the flavors after piggy is finished cooking. That's what he said. Others might have a different opinion.
Good luck on your June Happening. Looking forward to lots of pictures and a full report.
 
I haven't done a pig but want to... Did you inject anything into that bad boy? 

I believe you yield less than 60% of the starting weight so it is what it is...great job though!
Thanks. Nope, I did not inject it. When I do the actual cook, I will make a thin Carolina sauce and mix that in the meat once it's chopped. I may also incorporate some dry rub once it's chopped.
 
Looks good from where I'm looking. Is that 38.5 the live weight or the weight after butchering?
I've been told that a 50 lb live hog should feed approx. 20 people.
The only way I've done a whole hog is to split it and cooked the halves on an open fire. Lots of fire tending to keep a semi-constant temperature under it. Used a combo of charcoal and wood. Can't remember what type of wood, it's been way too long ago. I think it was a mix of maple and cherry. Have to try another soon. Butcher said that a rub is not as good as adding the flavors after piggy is finished cooking. That's what he said. Others might have a different opinion.
Good luck on your June Happening. Looking forward to lots of pictures and a full report.
It was 38.5 pounds butchered. I figured that it would feed 15-20 people. I donated most of the meat to some area homeless families.
 
Piggie looked great!  Love your smoker/Hog Coffin!

Awww......you were so nice!  I can only image how much those folks enjoyed your food!

Kat
 
drool.gif
looks amazing..reminds me of days when i was younger, cooking with my gramps and dad...we always had hogs on hand ever since i was a tiny guy..lol.. that skin looks tasty! one of my favorite parts, along with the ears and snout and tail..YUMMMM!! and as for the rub inside the cavity, my dad and gramps always did and it was fantastic. wish i could have pics of the process done back in the day, but unfortunately there was no digi cams then..haha. and we definitely dont have any polaroids layin around..
ROTF.gif
 
wjordan52 - I figure I have plenty and no reason not to share.

Turnandburn - I was real surprised at how the skin turned out. All I did was EVO and it turned into crispy cracklin chips. LOL.
 
wjordan52 - I figure I have plenty and no reason not to share.

Turnandburn - I was real surprised at how the skin turned out. All I did was EVO and it turned into crispy cracklin chips. LOL.
hell aint nuthing wrong with that..we always cut them like you did and cut up up into strips and put lemon,salt, and chili on them..washed down with an ice cold cerveza!
sausage.gif
 
I haven't done one in years but that one looks very good. Rub in the cavity?....sure, why not. The one I did we stuffed with some peeled onions, a couple of celery heads and doused it all with some soy sauce or you could use Wooshy sauce. I believe (?) the veggies created a little steam that helped it cook a little from the inside. Not entirely necessary, of course, just something we did. Your event should be a huge success with such a good looking test pig
 
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