Whole Hog Recipes

CAROLINA-STYLE "WHOLE HOG" BARBECUE PORK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Cut ribs, pork shoulder, tenderloin, pork belly, and pork sirloin in half.
• Combine kosher salt, brown sugar, smoked salt, smoked paprika, black pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne for dry rub in a small bowl with a spoon.
• Season cuts of meat on both sides with dry rub; reserve about 4 teaspoons of the rub to season the cooked pork if needed after tasting.
• Place a piece of heavy-duty foil on a sheet pan. Place a half of ribs down in the center of the foil; top with shoulder, tenderloin, pork belly, and sirloin. Top with other rib half. Wrap tightly in 3 more layers of foil. Transfer to a Dutch oven.
• Roast in the preheated oven until meat is falling off the bone and very, very tender, about 9 hours.
• Remove bones and pull/shred meat before serving. All or some of the rendered fat can be mixed into the meat.

WHOLE HOG

Steps:

• Cut the top of the garlic bulbs off and tie them in cheesecloth. Place garlic bulbs, salt, olive oil, seasoning salt, black pepper, and hot salt, to taste, in the inside of the pig as well as the outside. Roast as desired. When temperature of pig reaches 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, it's done and ready to eat.

WHOLE HOG

Steps:

• On a long table covered with clean butcher paper or other sanitary covering, lay long strips of aluminum foil. Place the hog flat on its back on top of the foil. With a very sharp butcher knife, score (i.e., make shallow cuts in the meat) along each side of the spine of the hog, where the ribs connect. Then crack and pull down each side of the hog, starting from the spine. You want the hog to be lying semi-flat so that you can easily reach inside.
• Following the instructions on page 76, remove the membrane (or "silver") from the backs of the ribs on each side. Trim away any excess fat on the hams, shoulders, and along the rib cage.
• Using a meat saw, split and saw down between the ribs and down each side of the hog: You're going to cut the ribs on both sides three inches off the spine. This is basically making baby back ribs out of the full spares. Saw only the bone, trying not to pierce the skin on the bottom of the hog. (This makes it easier, after cooking, to serve ribs from the hog.)
• Separate the picnic ham of the shoulder from the Boston butt. Again, trim both hams of any excess fat. When prepping the shoulder, there is a membrane that you can feel with a knife that separates the Boston butt end, which is next to the spine, from the picnic ham (or shank). Cut through the membrane, making sure not to cut through the skin. This lays the shoulder so it can crust over and have a good bark.
• Load the hog injection into your injector. Out of habit, I always start by injecting the hams first and then I work my way to the head. I inject in seven locations all over the ham, making sure the ham is full to the point of popping. It doesn't matter where exactly you inject so long as it's all over the hog. A word of caution: Don't make more injection holes than necessary, because more holes means more places for the marinade to leak out. Move to the sides of the cavity where the bacon is. It will be covered by the ribs. Inject all along both sides. There are two tenderloins at the end of the spine near the hams. Inject them carefully and do not over-inject (or shoot too much fluid in); if the fluid begins leaking out, you'll know that you've done more than enough. Then move to the shortened ribs that have been cut and inject straight down between the ribs directly against the spine into the loin. Remember not to push the needle through the skin on the bottom of the hog's back. Now inject the shoulder, butt, and shank (picnic ham). Last, inject the cheek meat (or jowl) along the hog's jawbone.
• Sprinkle the rub throughout the cavity and on the surface of any exposed meat. (Some people think you have to actually "rub" the rub into the meat, but I don't think that does anything to the taste.) Gather up the foil you've laid the hog on and use it to wrap the entire hog loosely.
• Let the hog sit for 1 hour to soak up all the injection. During this time, light the smoker and bring it to 250˚F.
• Place the 2 shoulders or brisket flats in the smoker, and then carefully place the hog on top of the shoulders/brisket, so that the extra meat runs the length of the hog directly under the center. Close the smoker and let the hog smoke for about 20 hours, or until the internal temperature of the meatiest part of the shoulder is 205˚F. (I often set my hog on the smoker at noon the day before I want to eat it; then I remove it at 8 a.m. the next morning.)
• Unwrap the foil, and using a brush, apply the hog glaze throughout the inside of the cavity and on the hams. Rewrap the hog loosely in the foil. Leaving the hog on the smoker, let the temperature fall (no more wood is needed at this point). The glaze will caramelize and set while the hog begins to rest and cool down enough so that folks can start pulling the meat. (Unless you're a professional caterer or otherwise need to present the whole hog, the hog is left in the smoker while it is picked and pulled and, best of all, eaten.)
• In true Southern tradition, a whole hog is never "carved" per se. Wearing clean heavy-duty gloves and using either large tongs or your hands, gently pull the meat out of the hog in chunks and pile it onto large trays or straight onto plates.
• Now, the most difficult part of cooking the whole hog properly is the loin, which tends to cook faster than the tougher, bigger, and denser hams and shoulders. I solve this problem by placing a cheaper cut of meat, such as a boneless butt or brisket flat, underneath the hog down the length of the backbone. This will add another barrier between the loin and the heat from the smoker, helping to keep it moist and not overcooked. That's why this recipe calls for adding two shoulders or brisket flats: it will keep your loin from overcooking. And the type of meat you choose won't matter, as it won't be fit for a buzzard when you're through cooking the hog.

WHOLE ROAST SUCKLING PIG

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Prepare the pig: Wash it, including the cavity, under cold running water, and towel-dry thoroughly, the way you would dry a small child after a bath - ears, armpits, chest cavity, face, legs, backs of knees.
• Sometimes there are imperfections remaining after the slaughtering and processing of the animal. Use dish towels or sturdy paper towels to rub away any dark spots on the ears, any little bit of remaining bristles around the mouth. Like that yellow, papery flaking skin you sometimes find on chickens, which can be peeled off to reveal tender, fresh skin underneath, a similar bit of crud can remain on pigs' chins and under their belly flaps. Clean this little cutie as if you were detailing your car! The purple U.S.D.A. stamp, however, is indelible. But not inedible.
• Bard the pig with all 20 garlic cloves, making deep incisions all over with a thin filleting knife and shoving the cloves into each pocket; include the cheeks and the neck and the rump and the thighs and the loin down the back and the front shoulders, all areas of the small creature that have enough flesh to be able to receive a clove of garlic. (Sometimes I find I have to slice the larger cloves of garlic in half to get them to slide into the incision.)
• Rub the entire pig in oil exactly as you would apply suntan oil to a sunbathing goddess of another era, when people still were ignorant of the harmful effects of the sun. Massage and rub and get the whole creature slick and glistening. I do this directly in a very large roasting pan.
• Wash and dry your hands. Take large pinches of kosher salt, and raising your arm high above the pig, rain down the salt in an even, light dusting all over. You can start with the pig on its back and get the cavity and the crotch, and then turn it over and get the back and the head and flanks. Or vice versa. But in the end, the whole animal is salted evenly and lightly, snout to tail.
• Arrange the pig in the roasting pan, spine up, rear legs tucked under, with feet pointing toward its ears and its two front legs out ahead in front. Sometimes the pig needs a sharp, sturdy, confident chiropractic crack on its arching spine, just to settle it in comfortably to the roasting pan, so it won't list to one side or topple over.
• Put the potato deep into its mouth, and place in the oven, on the bottom rack, and roast slowly for about 4 to 5 hours, depending on the size of your pig. (Plan 15 minutes of roasting time per pound of pig; if you have a 20-pounder, then you'd need about 5 hours total cooking time.) Add a little water to the roasting pan along the way if you see the juices are in danger of scorching, and loosely tent the animal with aluminum foil in vulnerable spots - ears, snout, arc of back - if you see them burning. For the last half-hour, raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees, and cook until the skin gets crisp and even blistered, checking every 10 minutes.
• Tap on it with your knuckle to hear a kind of hollow sound, letting you know the skin has inflated and separated from the interior flesh; observe splitting of the skin at knuckles - all good signs the pig is done. Or use a meat thermometer inserted deep in the neck; the pig is ready at 160 degrees. Let rest 45 minutes before serving.
• Remove the potato, and replace it with the apple. Transfer the pig to a large platter; nestle big bouquets of herbs around the pig as garnish. Save pan juices, and use for napping over the pulled meat when serving.