[Header.htm]

Whole Hog

Click on thumbnails for larger picture

Here were the steps we take to cook a whole hog:

Order a least a week ahead
Pickup and keep on blocks of ice in a sleeping bag. Small 60-70 pound pigs fit in the 152 quart coolers just fine.
Final Prep you'll need a sharp knife, mini hacksaw or Dremel tool, Meat cleaver and a smooth faced hammer to hit the back of the clever.
Place the pig on the cooking grate have very long strips of foil on the grate running side ways and length ways. Cut through the cartilage where the two racks of spare ribs meet.
Carefully split the spine just enough so the pig opens up but not so much that it falls apart or worse you break the skin. Use the meat clever and hammer carefully to do this job.
Peel the membrane off the ribs and skin the tissue/sinew off the hams.
Cut a line marking the baby back ribs from the spare ribs. Either carefully use a "Mini" hacksaw or a Dremel tool (do not try using a meat clever) to cut through the rib bone along the line you scored. We skip this step with small pigs.
Trim away fat and the like
Inject with your favorite pork injection marinade
Sprinkle all expose flesh with rub
Roll up the foil and rest the rolls just under the edge of the pig.
Take two small pieces of wood, wrap in foil and place under the rib cages to create a bath tub in the chest cavity for the marinade.
Cover exposed skin, head and legs in double foil
If you want an apple in it's mouth at the end wedge the mouth open with a piece of wood while cooking.
Smoke for 18+ hours using Kingsford and Hickory till the internals are 190
Two hours into the cook pour a half gallon of marinade in the chest cavity and pour or brush marinade on all exposed flesh every hour (except when sleeping for 4 hours)
Swap end for end at the mid point
It's all good. The Tenderloins and Hog Jowls are some of the best.
The trick is owning a smoker big enough and knowing how to cook with it.
Enjoy

Konrad is the Pacific Northwest Coordinator for Operation BBQ