Suckling Pig

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Looks great, well done sir. Had to be very tender being that young.

Me with rasing pigs, I couldnt kill one that young.
 
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Looks great, well done sir. Had to be very tender being that young.

Me with rasing pigs, I couldnt kill one that young.
Thank you.

Super tender. Very different than I've ever had. Was a lot smaller and younger than I imagined when ordering.
 
Thank you.

Super tender. Very different than I've ever had. Was a lot smaller and younger than I imagined when ordering.


If I ordered one that small I would have no problem cooking it. But doing the deed, I couldnt do it.
 
I'm thinking about doing a suckling pig for our annual "smoke fest" with friends. Would you put the butt end or the head end toward the fire? I'm going to cook it on my buddies side box smoker and was wondering how to orient it in the pit.
 
Head towards heat puts the most mass, head/shoulders, where it needs to be for even cooking.
It also puts the loins further away, which is ideal cause they cook the fastest of everything.

Damn, now I am in a position where I got to disagree with my Buddy Chile, First time ever, I think?
The mass in a Suckling Pig is in the Hams. The Butts on a Piggy, less than 30 pounds, are not very big, a Large Man's Fist. Not to mention, Suckling Pig IS all about Presentation. Even with a Foil covering most of the cook, put that Head to the Heat and you're gonna end up with, what looks like, A Venezuelan Shaman's SHRUNKEN Head!
Head or Tail first, you have the same amount of Loins to the heat. They are at risk either way. A little Injection buys some Juicy Insurance...JJ

w16nyMHwLmhVzxAz6
 
Damn, now I am in a position where I got to disagree with my Buddy Chile, First time ever, I think?
The mass in a Suckling Pig is in the Hams. The Butts on a Piggy, less than 30 pounds, are not very big, a Large Man's Fist. Not to mention, Suckling Pig IS all about Presentation. Even with a Foil covering most of the cook, put that Head to the Heat and you're gonna end up with, what looks like, A Venezuelan Shaman's SHRUNKEN Head!
Head or Tail first, you have the same amount of Loins to the heat. They are at risk either way. A little Injection buys some Juicy Insurance...JJ

w16nyMHwLmhVzxAz6


OH NO! Have I started WWIII? :emoji_astonished:

Either way that I start, I'll try to put a water can in between the heat and the piggy. I plan to probe the hams and the shoulder, and if one is cooking faster than the other, I can always re-orient the little guy.

My plan was to inject but not brine, so the skin can crisp up a bit better. Any thoughts on that?
 
OH NO! Have I started WWIII? :emoji_astonished:

Either way that I start, I'll try to put a water can in between the heat and the piggy. I plan to probe the hams and the shoulder, and if one is cooking faster than the other, I can always re-orient the little guy.

My plan was to inject but not brine, so the skin can crisp up a bit better. Any thoughts on that?

Definitely inject the loins, and really the whole thing for flavor/preotection. Brine was my solution and it still yielded very crispy skin. I watched this video for a lot of influence and tips:



You could also do a light stuffing to help add mass and protect the loins/ribs. I consider myself lucky and had no dried out meat and it was all juicy and excellent.

As far as the direction towards heat source... mine was centered over the fire pot and with the deflector plate and drip pan I'm not sure there was more than a few degrees difference from snout to tail. If working with an offset, you may want to take into consideration the above points. My theory on the war... :emoji_wink:... is that this one is so small the mass is in the head moreso than the hams. They are not very big on the one I did. On a bigger one the Hams will be the bigger mass location.

So, in my limited knowledge, I have to say that both chef jimmyj chef jimmyj and chilerelleno chilerelleno are right :emoji_laughing:

how's that for picking sides lol.

If you have any more questions newbienick newbienick , lemme know and I'll do my best to answer from my limited experience of one cook :emoji_thumbsup:


Thank you for the kind words. Isn't that the link to the thread we are already in though? :emoji_grin:
 
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