Roast Pig

[feldmann]

Anyone ever bought a whole pig and roasted it before? Where did you get the pig and what method did you use?

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[Roger]

I've never done it but a recent conversation I had with @ChrisD makes me want to give it a try.
I'm not sure if I could fit a whole pig in my kamado but I don't think cutting it in half would make a big difference. Chris told me he has a buddy that raises pigs localy. So it might be worth looking into...

[Cuba]

There is a good butcher out in maugerville where I usually get my meat for smoking. His name is Tony and he is one of the butchers at the Boyce farmers market on Saturdays.

He advised me (and I agree with him now) that you are much better off buying hams. Reason one being that they are mostly meat versus other parts that are mostly bone. Reason two being  a whole/half pig is huge and requires a huge cooking device. Reason three being that most people lose their appetite when looking into the eyes of their dinner.

The last 2 springs I have held a party and smoked 2 hams; they were a huge hit! Let me know if you need recipes for brine, dry rubs, glaze, etc.

[feldmann]

I think at this point people are more on board with the novelty of the whole pig. We scored an old oil drum that we may convert into a roaster so equipment wise I think we're set. My backup will definitely be a ham though.

Which stand is Tony at? Theres 2 stands there I usually get my meat for smoking from, I think one is Elke's and I can't remember the other one.

[ChrisD]

I'll talk to my guy and see how much a roasting pig would cost and what's involved.  He also does hams, roasts, etc.; I'll see what he can offer for options.   

Chris

[robcoombs]

Tony has the best bacon on the planet!

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[feldmann]

Thought I would share our experiences with roasting a whole pig yesterday.

We built a pit out of concrete blocks. We used an old shelf as the grills, a piece of plywood covered in tinfoil as the lid and leftover blocks and a plywood sheet as a damperener to control temperature.

We got our pig from a farm in Sussex that delivered it to Tony where we picked it up. We had a pig that was around 60-70lbs and it fed around 20ish people and allowed most people to have a take home plate. Because Tony goes to the farmers market on weekends we had to pick the pig up Friday afternoon and keep it in a bathtub with ice until we started cooking.

We lit the pit around 8 am and it took a long time to get the temperature right. We learned that no matter what the temperature we had to feed the fire every 30-40 minutes and then adjust the dampeners too keep it consistent. We used a mix of charcoal and hardwood that we had in a nearby fire pit ready to throw in. I injected the shoulder and hams with a marinade that morning and covered the inside cavity with a rub. It took us around 5-6 hours for the entire pig.

We only had one hiccup and that was when I threw in what I thought was a shovel full of lit charcoal and embers into the pit. It turns out that it had a pretty decent sized chunk of wood that caught fire and lit the pigs head on fire. Most of the meat was already off the grill, we were just finishing the shoulders and it only burned the head and some skin. We extinguished it with the hose, put the lid back on and it was back up to cooking temps in 10 minutes.

All in all it was an awesome experience. Everyone was pleased with the result. This was something I've wanted to do for a long time and it was awesome to finally say I've grilled in the big leagues. For anyone thinking of doing it, jump in and go for it! I was intimidated at first but it was easier than I thought. It was a ton of work to prepare and cook but the result was definetly worth it.


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