First go at a whole hog (suckling actually).

Egglegal_Alien

Wanted to share some pics of my first whole suckling cook… I'm keeping it simple while I get the temp / time right for the perfect doneness so I just rubbed it freely with salt and some quality dried oregano, I would love to hear suggestions on the process and / or rubs.

BGE Setup: Lump Charcoal and Mesquite logs mix, 280°, Plate Setter (feet up), grate, pig (ribs down)

Freshly slaughtered/shaved suckling pig (about 9 lbs), sternum cut, ribs opened, incisions from center of the neck to shoulders (almost all the way to the spine) so it would easily lay flat:

Rubbed both sides of the pig with generous amount of salt and some oregano:

Placed the pig ribs down on the grill grate above the PS (9 lb turned out to be the perfect size for the XL BGE)

Cooked it @ 280° for two and a half hours:

And it’s off to the cutting board:

Served with seasoned grilled potatoes:

All the skin fat was rendered, meat was juicy and perfect at 145° internal temp, while the skin was tasty and crisp.

@cazzy thanks for helping me with the "how to insert pictures" tutorial, hehe.

cazzy

Holy ****!  That looks great man!  The pan on the table with the head in there would weird me out while i'm eating though. hah

Mickey

Very cool cook and very good looking cook.

Egglegal_Alien

Hahaha, my wife didn't wanna try it for exactly the same reasons @cazzy ... There's a lot of meat on the head though, and some people will even eat the brains and eyes :-& !

Big Ragu

Awesome. Looks a bit like satan but I bet he is tasty. I will put this cook on the bucket list. Great job. Great pics.

Chris_Wang

Very cool. Which part of the pig was the most tender and which part had the best flavor?

Griffin

=D> Bravo, Senior!! You have suddenly made me wish I had an XL egg. And a 9 lb suckling pig. From the beer in the pic, I take it you are in Texas?

pantsypants

A+

Hi54putty

well done 

cam05210

I love BBQ as much as anyone, but for some reason I keep thinking of Charlotte's Web...

Buckegg

How many would the pig feed?
Why did you cook it skin up?
Looks awesome!

RAC

Very cool! Well done.

Focker

That looks incredible EA, nice post. 

Would love to put one of those little guys on a spit for a party. 

Egglegal_Alien

Chris_Wang said:

Very cool. Which part of the pig was the most tender and which part had the best flavor?

The whole thing was very tender, at this weight (and age) pigs have not eaten anything but their mother's milk and muscles haven't toughened at all, but I'd say the shoulder was both the juiciest and most tender while the belly and loin were a bit more flavorful.

Egglegal_Alien

Griffin said:

=D> Bravo, Senior!! You have suddenly made me wish I had an XL egg. And a 9 lb suckling pig. From the beer in the pic, I take it you are in Texas?

Monterrey, NL (Mexico) actually, 200 miles south of the Texas border.

Egglegal_Alien

cam05210 said:

I love BBQ as much as anyone, but for some reason I keep thinking of Charlotte's Web...

Not every pigglet is as lucky as Wilbur... I'm not Fern Arable, hehe.

Egglegal_Alien

Buckegg said:

How many would the pig feed?
Why did you cook it skin up?
Looks awesome!

A 9 pounder like this should feed about 6 – 8 as a main course… but don’t count on having any leftovers if you share it amongst 4, it’s very difficult to stop eating while there’s any left!

I cooked it skin up so all the fat beneath the skin would drip down while it rendered and for the skin to crisp up as pork rinds.

Thanks on the compliment, you should try it, it’s pretty straightforward! 

Egglegal_Alien

Focker said:

That looks incredible EA, nice post. 

Would love to put one of those little guys on a spit for a party. 

They come out great on a spit also... it just takes a lot more managing, hehe.

sumoconnell

I just had suckling pig in Barcelona (go each year for a tradeshow).  This is fantastic!  I could eat one whole, I agree there will never be leftovers.  My kids hate it when I come back with photos

My wife's family is from Monterrey, born and raised. 

Egglegal_Alien

sumoconnell said:

I just had suckling pig in Barcelona (go each year for a tradeshow).  This is fantastic!  I could eat one whole, I agree there will never be leftovers.  My kids hate it when I come back with photos

My wife's family is from Monterrey, born and raised. 

Cool, girls from Monterrey are a danger! Even growing up with them barely gives us the training to escape them (for a while)... you didn't have a fighting chance, hehe.

Spanish suckling pigs are excellent and cooked very similar to the one I tried, next year when you go to your tradeshow try to get your hands on some Pago de Carraovejas Reserva red wine and give it a try, it was "designed" by José María Ruiz, the founder of a highly recognized restaurant also called José Maria, in Segovia to go with his acclaimed flagship plate: "Cochinillo" (Pigglet).

caliking

Brilliant! Great cook! How come nobody ate the ears?? They sit there mocking me...

Where did you measure the temp to decide it was done? Also, did you use a drip pan or anything to catch all the rendered fat?

 I think I could fit a 10lb piglet on a large if the legs were folded underneath. Hmmm...

Egglegal_Alien

caliking said:

Brilliant! Great cook! How come nobody ate the ears?? They sit there mocking me...

Where did you measure the temp to decide it was done? Also, did you use a drip pan or anything to catch all the rendered fat?

 I think I could fit a 10lb piglet on a large if the legs were folded underneath. Hmmm...

Oh, we ate those… they were like crispy chips, hehe.

I had a maverick probe on the shoulder (seemed the meatiest spot), but used an instant read thermometer on several spots to double check before taking it off the Egg.

You could definitely fit a 10lb or even a larger one if you were to tie the 4 legs together (I’d probably turn it at least once halfway through the cook so rendered fat goes the other way, also you could remove the head or cut the pig in half to make more room… 

I wanted it evenly done and was also looking for the look so I went for that size, also, once past 10lb you can be almost certain the piggy’s diet has expanded beyond its mothers’ milk and as far as I understand, the best tasting piggies are the 100% milk fed.

sumoconnell

I'll need to post my pics.. had cochinillo and aranda, great wine at an old place. They cooked on a great looking oven.

sorry for formatting... and sideways pics.

Egglegal_Alien

@sumoconnell I can see why your kids hate you come home with only pics... you should cook one for them! hehe.

caliking

One more question - was your little piggy 9 lbs on the hoof, or dressed?

Egglegal_Alien

caliking said:

One more question - was your little piggy 9 lbs on the hoof, or dressed?

Dressed.

letskungfu

That's beautiful. Nice work.

dgv

Hey compadre, nice cook. I was busy last couple of weeks and had not seen it.

I´ve never cooked one, I will soon!

Egglegal_Alien

Hey @dgv , let me know if you want any help getting one straight from a farm... I know a guy who knows a guy, you know?

Eggcelsior

Did you get any tongue? It awesome too, once you get past the "hairy" part.

Egglegal_Alien

Only things left after we were through with it were basically bones and hooves, hehe.