Ok guys, this is my 2nd pig roast and I want it to go well. Last year was good, I roasted a 40lb pig over indirect heat for 5hrs. When it was done and we went to shred it, it was difficult like the meat was too firm. I'm not sure if it was overcooked or if I didn't cook it long enough.
Second, it was pretty salty. I brined it for 12hrs, injected the pig with the brine, pat dry and salted the skin before putting over the pig pit.
Any suggestions on what I should do so that the pig is juicy and soft and will shed easily and not be so salty?
by KitchenGold1794
18 Comments
Did you use course kosher salt or regular table salt? And it sounds like it wasn’t cooked enough. What was the internal temp?
Timing, I am not sure. As far as salt goes, you really shouldn’t need more after your brine. That has been my experience.
You did not cook it long enough. You obviously used too much salt.
I never brine and if I salt before it is lightly and I take that into account before I add more salt at the end.
I cook Eastern Carolina Pulled Pork I smoke it for ~8 hours at 275 and regularly baste it with a mixture of Cider Vinegar, crushed red pepper and Texas Pete.
You can use what ever baste you want but this is just an example.
When is is easy to pull apart it is ready. You can add more basting liquid and salt carefully so as to not over season.
Don’t brine. Just salt.
And the setup is a little hard to understand. You’re gonna have to flip it at least once. Need to build that into the setup.
Also, you will need more time. Simple as that. And I prefer making coals from wood. Less trash filler.
Also, meat church has a video that covers it on the basics. https://youtu.be/vu4us4TBYJ8?si=h_zxNJIWIJrB6e5o
Get someone who knows what they are doing.
Whole Hog Procedure Competition (limited time cook)
Total time 12 hours including prep, cook, rest, and serve
Charcoal / Wood Fired Cooker
Ingredients:
∙ 1 whole hog dressed (approx 100lbs)
∙ 2 sticks Butter
∙ 1 cup salt or pork rub
∙ ½ gallon Eastern Sauce
∙ Hickory Chunks (logs on wood only cooker)
∙ 1 bag Natural or Competition Charcoal (only to start on wood cooker, mixed on direct heat cooker)
Heating Instructions: Preheat and clean cooker for 1 hour. Then begin the cook. Once started, Do not lift the lid until the end of hour 4, after that only 2 more times to sauce – SMOKE SHOULD BE LIGHT BLUE, WHISPY – NOT WHITE
∙ Hour 0-4 225
∙ Hour 4-6 225
∙ Hour 6-8 250 – (smoke heavily if cooking on charcoal direct heat) – consider rotating hog 180 degrees if hams are cooking at different temp from shoulders – likely on Jim’s cooker
∙ Hour 8-9 275 – (smoke heavily if cooking on charcoal direct heat)
∙ Hour 9-10 300
o Final internal temperature should be 200-205 degrees. Remember temp will rise approximately 10 degrees after removed from heat. Let cook until this temp is reached in the hams and shoulders. Fat should be visibly bubbling in the skin of the hog. Increase finish temp in cooker as needed for cracklin, be careful of grease fire. Have extinguisher (CO2, not chemical handy if possible). Rest time should be at least 1 hour after cook is finished before pulling
Hog Preparation
∙ Let hog rest at room temperature as long as possible (usually 1 hour+), want internal temp to be room temp at time it goes on the cooker, takes longer than you think. Good thing to do while cooker heats up
∙ Spread butter / crisco over entire skin
∙ Heavily salt skin
∙ Flip hog and trim off excess fat, remove spinal chord (not bones, just chord)
∙ Cover entire cavity in salt and let rest for 30 minutes to remove moisture and draw blood to the surface. Dry hogs cook and crips better. Even after brine (optional)
∙ Rinse cavity thoroughly, inject hams with 1 gallon injection sauce per ham, then rub if not soaked in brine. If soaked in brine skip injection and go straight to the rub
∙ Place on Cooker Cavity up (do not flip, but if you must do it at 4 hours). I’m over flipping at this point. I might consider flipping if cooking over direct coals and starting cavity down for the first 3 or 4 hours.
Pit Preparation
∙ Make sure grill grate and cooker is clean (leave all grease, don’t use soap)
∙ Oil Grate
∙ Preheat Cooker, place pig on heated cooker with clean smoke
∙ If direct heat – Put more coals on the ends underneath the shoulders and hams
∙ If not cooking with wood, mix wood in with your prelit coals (white charcoal)
∙ Start another chimney and add coals (white charcoal) to maintain temperature according to time chart
As others say, too much salt. In addition, Meathead Goldwyn has a book out with a solid 4-5 pages just to this topic in there. Includes prep and timing etc. I can shoot over some pics of those pages if you like.
Cool bbq but you messed up that pig
Break the larger muscle groups down into pieces you can fit into aluminum pans. Add roughly chopped red potatoes, corn on the cob cut in half, and some onion/garlic.
Add enough water to cover the potatoes, some apple cider vinegar, cover with foil, and simmer until the potatoes are cooked. The potatoes will leech salt out of the pork, the simmer and steam will help get the pork internal temp over 200 for the texture you’re looking for
Pull the meat out and into another pan, add apple cider vinegar, red chili flakes, and Texas Pete to your taste. You can add a different bbq sauce if you’re not set on keeping it traditional eastern Carolina style.
Add cans of topped tomatoes, some chunks of pork fat, lima beans, a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper to your potatoes and corn. Cook these down further into a stew so they don’t go to waste.
We had the same issue with our first pig. We were cooking on a spit and really underestimated how much charcoal we needed to keep under it. Low and slow right? So we basically doubled it this year and had 2 chimney starters of charcoal getting started every 20 minutes or so. Worked out much better this year, it was trying to fall apart on the spit so we had to take it off earlier than we planned. Definitely more eat and time, be ready to wake up at balls o’clock to get the pig out of the Brine.
The bag of charcoal had me think the pig was chugging something.
If you’re going for pull part meat, then you can save the salt for the end honestly. Rodney Scott (Scott’s BBQ in SC) does it this way. Salt & mop sauce towards the end. You can go indirect, but you will need to supplement the shoulders & hams with some coals. The belly would be done long before anything else and dry out to oblivion. Direct heat is ok, just go with small amounts to begin with
Get ourself a Caja China and follow the instructions. Perfect for smaller pigs like this.
Cook that thing for at least 12 hrs
I’ve never done a whole hog. But I’m curious, did you leave it entirely uncovered?
Whenever I’ve see a whole hog cooked, it’s covered at some point. 1) by the grill / smoker or 2) wrapped in leaves or some kind of material.
Think of even the most basic croc pot pulled pork, it starts to fall apart partly because of the moisture. Your picture looks like a giant slab of semi-crispy bacon.
Im confused, this pig only weighed 40lbs?
My family always started with it facing down (skin side up) until the juices start to drip
Then you flip it skin side down and the skin turns into a container for all of the flavor and juice
A really basic vinegar based sauce goes a long way
And you keep cooking it low and slow until bones pull out easy and clean, then you mix it all up
The only thing your pit is missing is a door to add fresh coals from a fire