Melt In Your Mouth Pig Pickin
(sent by bob49)
Serves 80 Hungry Folks
Things to round up:
One Fresh Killed and Chilled Pig
About 125 - 135 pounds dressed with or without the head
(For interesting party chatter have Butcher leave the head on)
(courtesy of bubba)
Portable Pig Roaster: Charcoal Fired Preferred. Can Be Rented Or Borrowed
Pig Roasters are large flip-top charcoal grills(See photo)
Some are homemade from 300 gallon oil tanks
80 - 100 lb. of Charcoal Briquettes
(nice to have a 10 pound bag of Hickory Charcoal)
One Gallon White Cider Vinegar in Plastic Jug 14 oz.
Chopped Jalipeno Peppers
Approx. 6 feet of 4 inch wire mesh.*NON Galvanized*
Two Meat Thermometers
One Small Portable Charcoal Grill
One Fireplace Coal Shovel
Newspaper and kindling wood.
Alarm Clock (optional)
Sleeping Bag (old)
60 pounds of Bagged Ice. (maybe optional)
Four pair leather work gloves.
Preparation:
Allow 8 - 9 hours of slow cooking for a 130 lb pig.
If pig is obtained the night before,
let him sleep in the sleeping bag with the bags of ice in his cavity.
If necessary set Alarm clock for early awakening.
Mix half of Vinegar with equal amount of water and add all Jalipeno
Peppers.
Poke or drill holes in plastic bottle cap to make a shaker for the
mixture.
Use newspaper and kindling to start fire in center of the bottom of
the Pig Cooker.
If still in sleeping bag, wake pig up and invite to the grill.
He is bound to be cold so may not want to get
out of the sleeping bag without lots of coaxing.
Cover picnic table or other large work surface with
newspaper and place wire mesh on top of paper.
Carry still sleeping pig and place on wire mesh back down... feet up.
Wrap tightly and secure wire mesh around pig.... cutting mesh as necessary.
This will allow you to turn pig over during the end
of the cooking process without embarrassment.
Plan carefully to allow for pig to fit inside pig cooker.
Place 10 - 15 pounds of charcoal on the embers from
the kindling and allow charcoal to start.
When coals are white... place pig back up...feet down on grill and
sprinkle
all accessible surfaces of pig with Vinegar mixture.
Place one meat thermometer in one rear quarter (thickest part).
Save other meat thermometer for later. Close lid on Cooker.
After 20 minutes of cooking remove a few hot coals
with coal shovel and place in small grill.... add 5-6 lb. of charcoal
and allow to get hot.
When coals are ready, shovel into center of pig cooker.
Sprinkle pig again with Vinegar mixture and close lid.
Repeat the above procedure until
pig meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees. (approximately 6-7 hours)
Take small sharp knife and puncture the now
very hard skin from the neck to the rear of the back.( 12 -15 or so
work fine)
It is not necessary to puncture the hind or front quarters.
The punctures allow for fat to run off
and will create lots of smoke and maybe a flame-up. Put out flame ups
with Vinegar mixture.
Put on gloves and grab pig only by the wire mesh only
and turn it over belly side up.
Place second meat thermometer in a front or rear quarter....
and if you have Hickory or other wood for flavoring,
now is the time to add it to the burning coals.
Sprinkle pig with vinegar mixture and cover lid
and continue to add coals and sprinkle pig as before.
Check meat temperature at every cooker opening now.
Pig is done at 170 degrees. (about an hour)
Cut wire mesh from the top of the pig to allow for carving.
The slow cooking and the Vinegar mixture will remove nearly all the
fat on the pig.
You should have mostly tender fat free meat when done properly.
Slow cooking is the secret here. Add the charcoal sparingly,
but keep temperature up just enough to keep smoke generating.
Carve pig as best you can.....
if your guests are not bashful, invite them to carve their own.
As your meal progresses, open cooker and invite
those that want to pick to have at it.....and they will.
Best served with coleslaw, baked beans, dinner rolls,
hushpuppies and barbecue sauce on the side.
After all this work, you should be very hungry when you eat! Enjoy.
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