31 Lb Whole Pig on LBGE - Part 2 - Ready to Go

TexanEgger

As I write, Napoleon is seasoning in a garbage bag in the fridge.  In 9-10 hours she/he will go on my LBGE.  No major surprises so far.  He was VERY well-dressed (insert joke here).  I had very little to do in that dept.  

BTW - For sale/trade:  1 pair of pig kidneys; size small.  Well-cared-for and used very little.  1 owner, and I knew him!

Got him all ready and looked into the vertebrae removal phase.  I thought:  "Let's see just where I need to cut the cord first."  I took him out to the Egg and sat him in for a 'test-fit,'  Below is that pic, as well as one taken through the top to see how much clearance I had with the dome closed.  

That pic is with the Fire-Ring removed.  I held off on cutting backbone just now, as I don't think I need to based on this pic.  When I held up his legs where they would be during the cook I saw there'd be plenty of room for air circulation and I didn't want to push him up too high.  Comments welcome.

TexanEgger

I then tried prepping the skin with a microplaner to optimize the 'crispy' factor.  Definite no-go.  That skin was soft and supple as a baby pig's bottom (and sides, and back, and everywhere...).  I ended up scoring it as I said in my original post, but had to be very careful on that.  VERY thin skin.  Learning a lot as I go through this!

caliking

I'm all tingly just reading this. i would love to see SWBO's face as I prepped a whole pig in the kitchen to cook. 

TexanEgger

After all the testing & scoring, I was ready to apply the seasonings.  No real changes from my original list of ingredients:  

1. 1 Cup Kosher Salt, 
   
2. 1/3 cup Coarse Ground Black Pepper,
   
3. 1 Handful Peppercorns
   
4. 1 Tbsp Onion Powder
   
5. 1 Tbsp Paprika
   
6. 6 Fresh Minced Garlic Cloves
   
7. 4 whole garlic cloves
   
8. 3 Tbsp Fiesta Pork Rub
   

Dry ingredients mixed well together in a mixing bowl, and then I added enough vegetable oil to make a slatherable slurry (use your judgement/preference). Said slurry was then slathered liberally inside and out of Napoleon, and whole garlic cloves added to the cavity.  He was then placed into a double-bagged garbage bag to await his meeting with The Big Green One.  Smells good already!

RAC

This is going to be a good one! Keep us posted.

TexanEgger

My better half wasn't upset, but clearly didn't share my excitement for the process.  Noticably absent in the kitchen during the prep!  Hopefully the results will please.

TexanEgger

Looks like the 'trial set' pics didn't come up in the other post.  Here they are for review/comment.

"That pic is with the Fire-Ring removed.  I held off on cutting backbone just now, as I don't think I need to based on this pic.  When I held up his legs where they would be during the cook I saw there'd be plenty of room for air circulation and I didn't want to push him up too high.  Comments welcome."

TexanEgger

I ended up putting him on the BGE@ 1am, several hours earlier than originally planned (based in part on advice from other eggers here).  It was a bit of a tight fit but there was enough room.  Went to bed @ 3am with things settled wonderfully at 250 on both the DigiQ & Tel-Tru.

At 7am I got a warning from my DigiQ DX2 about low temp and went out and refilled the firebox.  Things came back up to 250 fairly quickly and are now chugging along.  

MaskedMarvel

Looks great!

bclarksicle

I salute you, sir. This is simply amazing.

SGH

@TexanEgger‌
I sure hope it turns out a success my friend. I have been extremely busy the past few days but I have been logging in when time allows to follow your hog cook. I admire your professional drive and eagerness my friend. Good luck and keep us posted. I have a hog cook coming up in a few days as well but it won't be on the egg as he is much to large. I should have the carcass on sight Wednesday and I will post some pics of him hanging by the egg for reference. Again best of luck to you sir.

Egglovin

This looks like it came out great, nice job TE

Spaightlabs

How's the internal temp tracking?

TexanEgger

Final Results & Notes for Next Time

Happily, the pig came out perfect.  I removed him from the BGE at 12 hours, but he could have come off at least an hour earlier.  Temp at pull via Thermopen was 175 throughout, but again I could have pulled earlier at 170.  I completely shut down the BGE @ 170 and just let it cool down while continuing to cook.  I pulled at 1pm but our original plan was to pull @ 3pm for our guests.  I wrapped him up in foil to rest, where he stayed nice and warm until carve time. 

Couldn't have asked for better in taste/texture/moisture.  No slicing was really necessary.  This was a VERY 'pulled' consistency.  Taste was great, and my friends & I loved it.  Didn't get a total weight of chowable meat, as it started evaporating as I was loading the platter!  There was a nice mountain on the platter that we all just devoured.  Smiles around the house, and we sent all who asked home with a bag of meat!

Thoughts:

• Time formula worked out to ~20 mins per lb. at 250 with DigiQ DX2.
  
• 31 lbs was a close fit on the LBGE, but in the future I'd go no bigger than 25 lbs.
• Found a 16.5" drip pan that fits perfectly within the PlateSetter and I kept some water in it.  USE ONE!  There were no nasty pig-smell smokeups with that.  Makes cleanup much easier afterwards, too.
• Scoring the skin didn't do anything WRT crisping it.  
  
• Seasoning mix seemed to be pretty good.  Simple, and not overpowering.
• As another person said, if you do this give yourself a day after to recover (Sat vs Sun).  It's pretty exhausting, but very worth the effort.

Thanks so much for everyone's input.  I'll likely do this again, but not for awhile.  Another item checked off the Big Green Bucket List.  What next?  Since we're in TX, we can get Cabrito so I might try that, but no big cooks for awhile.  Phew!

Thanks again fellow eggers!  Looking forward to more cooks of my own and getting my Q's answered from the many great grillers herein.

(PS - the pic is an animated GIF that I think you have to click to see.)

TexanEgger

Napoleon as he was taken off at 12 hours.

Tjcoley

Looks amazing. Congrats on a great cook.

Canugghead

=D>    ^:)^

Mattman3969

Outstanding!!

TexanEgger

Napoleon in mid-carve.  Lookin' good!  Tastin' better!

ChillyWillis

Bravo!! I've been following both of these threads with great interest and I'm glad it paid off for you and yours. That beauty has got my gears grinding about other ways to push the egg to its limits. Thanks for the inspiration!

Cowdogs

Was the skin crispy and edible? If edible, was it good?

TexanEgger

@ Mattman3969 - Thanks for the generous nod to the BOTB thread.  Much appreciated.

Thanks as well to ChillyWillis , Canugghead, & Tjcoley .

Cowdogs - skin was unfortunately not what I would call crispy.  I'd call it 'gnawable' or 'chewable' in the sense that it was too tough to easily chew/swallow, but was OK to chew on for a little while.  And that's being generous.  I probably could have stripped it and thrown it into the oven @ 450 for a little bit or perhaps dropped it in some oil to crisp it but I was just way too busy and focused on that great meat at the time to do anything with it.  Maybe next time.    

PS - Almost done with a video on the carving process that shows the fruits of my labor.  It'll be up on YouTube in a day or so and I'll share the URL.  The carving was a lot of fun and perhaps the best part of a large undertaking like this.  Loved it.

KiterTodd

TexanEgger said:

At 7am I got a warning from my DigiQ DX2 about low temp and went out and refilled the firebox.  Things came back up to 250 fairly quickly and are now chugging along.  

Okay, I have wondered about this but haven't done a long enough cook yet to need to...how do you refill your firebox in the middle of a cook?  I guess you dissassemble from the top (meat, grate, plate setter) and throw in my lump?
I may have missed it, but what kind of lump did you use?

Found a 16.5" drip pan that fits perfectly within the PlateSetter and I kept some water in it.  USE ONE!  There were no nasty pig-smell smokeups with that.  Makes cleanup much easier afterwards, too.

Round pan I guess.  How deep?   I think I need to start using one as I suspect that was the cause of my acrid flavor on a recent cook.   So, I'm thinking I don't need the water filled drip pan for the moisture, but more to catch drippings.

Thanks for sharing.

Austin Egghead

=D> Hat's off to you.  I will bring my fork when you do the cabrito :-)

Griffin

That is awesome. Tell us when we need to show up for the cabrito.

 

RAC

Awesome! ^:)^ ^:)^

gdenby

Thanks for the step by step. I got hungry just watching the .gif of you slicing. I could almost smell the aroma.

lousubcap

What an epic post and cook.  Most eggcellent!  thanks for the effort to document as well. 

Big_Green_Craig

Was the skin crispy?

TexanEgger

Big_Green_Craig:
Discussion from above WRT Skin:

Skin was unfortunately not what I would call crispy.  I'd call it 'gnawable' or 'chewable' in the sense that it was too tough to easily chew/swallow, but was OK to chew on for a little while.  And that's being generous.  I probably could have stripped it and thrown it into the oven @ 450 for a little bit or perhaps dropped it in some oil to crisp it but I was just way too busy and focused on that great meat at the time to do anything with it.  Maybe next time.   

Couple of friends took some pieces of skin for their dogs!  I didn't know whether to take that as an insult or a complement!

TexanEgger

KiterTodd said:

TexanEgger said:

At 7am I got a warning from my DigiQ DX2 about low temp and went out and refilled the firebox.  Things came back up to 250 fairly quickly and are now chugging along.  

Okay, I have wondered about this but haven't done a long enough cook yet to need to...how do you refill your firebox in the middle of a cook?  I guess you dissassemble from the top (meat, grate, plate setter) and throw in my lump?
I may have missed it, but what kind of lump did you use?

Found a 16.5" drip pan that fits perfectly within the PlateSetter and I kept some water in it.  USE ONE!  There were no nasty pig-smell smokeups with that.  Makes cleanup much easier afterwards, too.

Round pan I guess.  How deep?   I think I need to start using one as I suspect that was the cause of my acrid flavor on a recent cook.   So, I'm thinking I don't need the water filled drip pan for the moisture, but more to catch drippings.

Thanks for sharing.

As for refilling, yes it was a 'from-the-top' take down and reset.  High-temp gloves and being VERY careful with the hot, fragile platesetter. I worked quick to minimize heat loss and think it went OK.  (Plate setter actually got knocked over on the deck long after the cook and broke, so I need to get another.  Oh well, 'not a party until something's broken' I guess).

I was kind of surprised that it went down so fast, but I think it was a combination of the fact that the fire ring was removed, reducing available volume for lump and the DigiQ DX2 blower.  I haven't had the best of luck with that, and it has sometimes seemed to make me run through lump faster than normal.  2nd load seemed to have plenty left when I pulled the pig 5 hours later, though.

I just used Central Market Mesquite Lump purchased at H.E.B. here in TX.  It's been working for me.  For smoke I used a combo of Cherry & Apple chunks.

Finally, the drip pan was actually rectangular and made of heavy-duty disposable aluminum foil.  It was about 2.5"-3" deep.  Plus, it had a couple of handles on the sides that made handling a dream (esp during a charcoal refill!).  They come in different thicknesses so check around.  If you're in TX they sell them at HEB, but I imagine most grocery stores sell them as I saw them in multiple places.  I tried a restaurant supply place and the 'Standard' size for chafing dishes are way too big.  Just look for the 16.5"-ish and you'll be fine.  Nothing over 17" will fit inside the Setter with 'legs-up' position.  Legs down should give you another inch or so I imagine. 

Everyone, thanks again for the kudos.  This was truly a great Eggsperience.  We'll see about the Cabrito.  Any local eggers will be welcome to attend.