Posted: 6/30/2010 3:50:23 PM EDT
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I was given a 65 pound pig today. I want to smoke this thing for the Fourth. I am pretty good smoking, loins butts and briskets. I have never tried anything nearly this big. I will be using an offset smoker that will barely hold the pig, in fact I will have to pull out the racks and the water pans to get him to fit. I don't think losing the water pans will be a problem as most people don't use them on an offset.
Has anybody done one of these? How long do I need to plan to get to an internal temp of 190 or so (in the hams)? What do you do to prep the skin to get a nice roasted color? There will be a great dinner pic and AAR if this thing comes out decent. Thanks in advance for your help any advice will be appreciated. I posted this in the GD but then I reminded we have this forum, and there are actually adults here. 
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Soak this pig at least overnight in a cooler with water/ice and one can of salt (not iodized). Not totally sure about smoking one, I have always just cooked whole hog (eastern nc style) on a large gas or charcoal cooker. Depending on how slow you want to cook we usually cook one at about 250, but it can be done lower for longer if you want. We usually cook rib side down until there is about an hour or so left to go then flip. He is usually at or nearly at falling apart stage now, it helps if you pre-wired him into a rack to help with flipping. To get the skin just right.... when you put your pig on the grill (again rib side down), massage him with kosher salt, or at the least non iodized salt. If desired when the pig is ready to eat, you can remove all the meat and you will be left with skin on the grill. At this point we either fire up the grill to crisp the skin if it didn't reach desired crispyness, or we cut it up a deep fry it for cracklin. I am not sure about what the smoking will do to it, but my experience is when you cook a pig low and slow the skin tends to stay to chewy to eat.
edit to add, at 250 degrees it takes me about 4-5 hours for a 65 pound pig. Actually despite size, they are almost always done in 4-6 hours if you maintain temps of 250-275 |