This little piggy....

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Smokey_Joe

Head Chef
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Messages
2,378
Location
North Central Massachusetts
Did a little 116 pounder this past weekend.

img_154417_0_a1203af894a9965c40737d7e9cbf3525.jpg


img_154417_1_5959b2d5acadbb783ac64c0c31b5952d.jpg


img_154417_2_9729a59f3b8418fad6890f6cd02e32f3.jpg


One of the 9 pans of meat


img_154417_3_f9566bf6c4069538bc931ac4068d8f7c.jpg


img_154417_4_b20f0f63bd6da7713d0d923d7f2a0dcf.jpg
 
That first picture looked like someone just opened a can of salmon! Then I saw the other pic's! Nice work SJ!
 
man I swear it is so easy to split the backbone down the middle, and you will love it. All you need is a rubber mallet or hammer, and a cleaver.
It's so much easier than it sounds.....butterfly it and keep all those
juices in, ummmm.

But it still looks great!
 
Larry Wolfe said:
That first picture looked like someone just opened a can of salmon! Then I saw the other pic's! Nice work SJ!

OMG no... looks like the pig I dissected in zoology lab! *shivers*
 
Captain Morgan said:
man I swear it is so easy to split the backbone down the middle, and you will love it. All you need is a rubber mallet or hammer, and a cleaver.
It's so much easier than it sounds.....butterfly it and keep all those
juices in, ummmm.

But it still looks great!

What's the difference in juices butterflied or whole?

Do you mean to just keep it on it's back the entire cook (skin side down)?
This one was small enough that I probably could have
but the ones pushing 200lb.s or more I could never fit splayed out
in my cooker :cry:


Larry Wolfe said:
That first picture looked like someone just opened a can of salmon! Then I saw the other pic's! Nice work SJ!

It had a hella smoke ring. I was kinda set back too when I first slid
the skin off, smoke ring was up to an inch deep in spots. People quickly
learned the difference of what the pink part tasted like and fought
over it.
:LOL:
 
the juices are similar both ways, but when butterflied, the meat is
exposed to the smoke, which is the whole point.
Whole pig cooks like in Hawaii and the midwest are mainly done
for the show of the whole hog. The only reason they are done
on open pits or big pig cookers is because it's the only thing
big enough!

NC BBQ is famous simply because the meat is exposed to the smoke.
Letting it roast in it's own juices in it's own skin is what makes it special.
Near the end, you poke a few holes in the skin to let the excess fat out,
leaving you with a perfectly moist, smoked product. This is why I won't
buy in the the La Caja China thing....it's just roast pork. I've heard they
have come up with some way to add smoke in but I'm not familiar with it.

But most people would never be able to tell the difference anyway...in
most areas of the country it's all about the show and the sauce....hell
even in NC too often it's about the sauce....far too many joints are
cooking over gas, whether whole hog or not.

It's a dying art, which is why we are here on this board. ;)
 
Nice job. I have a 60 pounder in the freezer someone brought me a couple months back and have not had a chance to smoke it but will be doing it soon.
 
Wow, SJ, you, Pigs, and the other whole hog guys play in an all together different league. I, too, am impressed.
 
Captain Morgan said:
man I swear it is so easy to split the backbone down the middle, and you will love it. All you need is a rubber mallet or hammer, and a cleaver.
It's so much easier than it sounds.....butterfly it and keep all those
juices in, ummmm

I'm going to try that next. Great idea. Have been puzzling over how to get more smoke in - the obvious solution, as you've mentioned, never occurred to me :oops:

Thanks so much for the tip! Will try to remember to take pics to share!
 
One of my friends (yeah. I think I'm up to 3 now) competes in whole hog. One of the things he does is to skin the back....ears to tail, and half way down the sides to get smoke flavor.
I haven't tried it yet.
 
I have a job next friday. If someone will post pictures for me, I'll take some pictures of a good ol' Carolina Pig Pickin', start to finish. I'm a computer idiot and dont know how to post pictures, and I'm old enough to where I dont want to learn. Let me know. Tim
 
Back
Top Bottom