Getting Ready for Cooking Whole Hog Barbeque
Even among those of us who judge barbecue contest whole hog barbecue is something special. First off if you’re going to cook a whole hog you should have a lot of people on hand waiting to eat it. I would say that if you’re going to cook a whole hog then plan for something like a family reunion or a church social. You will have plenty of hungry people on hand.
Preparing to Cook Whole Hog Barbeque
On the barbecue judging circuit, particularly Memphis in May, is a category to be judged. On the KCBS (Kansas City Barbecue Society) circuit is not part of the primary judging. It is generally a optional event. The guys that cook whole hog barbeque have large smokers with lots of cooking area. If you’re cooking a whole hog at home and you don’t have a large smoker then you will need to build yourself a pit cooker.
You can build a kit cooker with some cinderblock, a few metal rods, and wire screen. Build yourself a rectangle with the blocks so that the measurements are about 42 inches wide by 50 inches long and 18 inches deep. Put the metal rods on top of the blocks and then placed the screen over the rods. You can put your hog right on top of this and let it cook.
Prepping the Meat for Whole Hog Barbeque
Once you have a place to cook the hog then you need to get the meat ready. Plan on getting a skinned and trimmed carcass that weighs anywhere between 60 and 100 pounds. Try to get a lean one so that you don’t have trouble starting grease fires. You will have to butterfly the carcass so that you can spread it out black on the wire screen. Ideally you would like to rub the carcass down with your favorite barbecue rub and let it marinate overnight. This may be a problem because of the size of the carcass. If you can’t do this don’t worry about it. Just get everything ready to put on the fire as soon as you get it home. You can season that just before you put it on the fire.
The key to a good whole hog barbeque is having the right fire. You will need charcoal briquettes or hardwood logs for the fire. If you choose charcoal briquettes you’re going to need about 60 pounds. If you go the log route then you will need to burn the wood down to coals before you put the meat on. If you’re using the fire pit method then it is a good idea to build up a firing next to the pit so that you can move coals from the ring to the pit during cooking. You will have to add coals to the pit throughout the day.
Cooking Whole Hog Barbeque
It will take about 10 hours to cook the hog. It’s a good idea to start the morning just 10 the cooking all day. If you have to serve at a certain time it is probably a better idea to start the pit the night before. I would say starting it at about midnight and tending the fire all night will have you serving that hog at about noon the next day. Cook the hog skin side up or about 48 hours and then flip it over. Cook it another 1 to 2 hours and flip it again. That is cooking the hog skin side up. Make yourself a good mop sauce and basked the hog every hour or so. Apply whatever sauce you are going to use at the end.
Pulling Whole Hog Barbeque
Once the hog is cooked, wrap it up and let it sit for about a hour to rest. At this point you can start pulling the meat. If you’ve done a good job with this hog the meat should pull freely from the bone. Pull the big chunks of meat from the hog first and then start to pull it apart. The best whole hog meat treat his pulled meat from every part of the hog.
