Superbowl Whole Hog - My First

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Patrick

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Preparing for the Superbowl I am doing my first whole hog BBQ. Doing a 50lb hanging heritage pig. Not too big, but I am very worried about the size v. the smoker size.

Table prep. I am fairly certain this is going to be a mess.Table Prep First Pig.jpg

Plan is:
  • Day 0 prep
    • Feet off to have a chance to fit in the YS1500s. I will measure to figure out dimensions when it is fully out.
    • Head on is the current plan, but that will be the sacrifice if it needs to happen.
    • Clean up inside (remove kidneys, neck glands, membrane inside ribs.
    • Butterfly so it lays flat in the smoker. Not going to do a racing pig.
    • Back into the fridge to get moisture off of the skin
  • Smoker on at 2:30AM
    • Fire up to 325F on hickory and hold for 20 min
    • Drop to 275F for 20 min
    • Drop to 225F and hold burning off the hickory to stabilize the temps
  • Pig plan
    • 2:45AM pig to prep table for final prep
    • 2:50AM mix injection
    • 3:00AM inject for more flavor (hams, shoulders, rest)
    • 3:20AM dry rub inside
    • 4:25AM start adding plum wood
    • On at 4:30AM. Open side down at first, shoulders on warmer end of the smoker
    • 6:00AM flip so skin side is down
    • 6:05AM mopping #1
    • 8:00AM swap ends so ham side is on warmer end
    • 8:04AM add maple, hickory, cherry for more smoke flavor along with plum
    • 8:05AM mopping #2
    • 10:10AM mopping #3 no more plum wood
    • 90 minute subsequent mopping. May swap to 60 minutes if needed.
    • 4:30PM Cook done. Estimating 11 hours for the cook, but leaving an hour of "just in case" time
  • Post cook
    • 5:00PM resting done hoping to remember to take a photo
    • 5:10PM pulling
    • 5:30PM game start and eating.
    • 5:35PM nap time between commercials
    • 6:30PM rise and grab a beer
Going to be a fun day tomorrow.
 
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Patrick

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First Pig Post Flip.jpg

Just after flipping it. Trotters had to come off to fit. This barely fits in the smoker.

Here it is off the smoker:
First Pig Out of Smoker Resting.jpg

Pulled it and put it back into the skin for serving:First Pig Pulled in Skin for Serving.jpg

It came out really well!
 
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Patrick

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@Wasmachineman_NL - that is actually not fat. I took the photo just after mopping.

@MiniKnight this thing is 50lbs and will get extremely tender as the tissue breaks down. Having wire underneath makes it easier to pull out of the smoker.
 
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T_Minus

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Looks good! :) If you were in CA you could have picked one up from us :D we had 3 litters last year and were over flowing with piglets :eek: and now sausage :cool:


How did the smoker do? Any complaints or things you would change?
 
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Patrick

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That would have been cool!

Smoker did well. The only thing I would change would be to get a smaller pig. 30-40lbs would have been ideal. 50 was a bit big.

Also, I wanted to remove the head as Rodney Scott does, but my neighbor really wanted it to be part of the cook. 50lbs but without all of the extra head/ snout room would have been perfectly fine on the YS1500s. I know many do racing style, but I prefer the butterfly's ability to get smoke onto the meat.

A semi-uncontrollable item is that it was like 30F when I put it on and then when I flipped it. Cold!
 
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edge

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Just came across this thread. My bbq background is eastern NC and whole hog rules there. We have pig pickings there and at the good ones the meat doesn't get chopped, just a bunch of sharp knives get stuck in it. When ever you feel hungry, you just wander over and carve out a piece - picking at it. I way prefer butterfly over racing style.

I've been in the northeast the last twenty years and haven't tasted whole hog in that time.

Well done Patrick, it looks absolutely delicious.
 
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