Suckling pig on the XL

PSC

12lb suckling pig
350ºF for 4 hours.

La caja china mojo cubano recipe.

First one in more than 7 years. It was good. Just not as good as I wanted...
That only means there will be a next one soon

Grillin_beers

I don't know man.... it looks pretty good from where I'm sitting!  Can't wait to see the next one! 

six_egg

Looks Great. PSC why not cook it skin down?

WeberWho

Awesome!

lkapigian

Nice

SaintJohnsEgger

I know where my meat comes from. But something about smoking it when it still looks like the animal kind of turns me off.

Gulfcoastguy

So that's what happened to the little piggy who went whee...urk!

bgebrent

What about the result were not super happy about?  Looks good brother.

Killit_and_Grillit

We did a whole hog every year growing up on the 4th in my dad's underground pit. It was always my favorite cook of the year. Meat wasn't always as good as dealing with each piece in its particular way, but it adds great entertainment value. 

I have been been planning on doing a suckling on my can smoker this summer. Keep up the work and the reports. 

PSC

bgebrent said:

What about the result were not super happy about?  Looks good brother.

I buttered the skin before smoking to get it crunchy at the end, but I got greedy and re-buttered 3 hrs in (it was crunchy at that time) and it got rubbery

even though it is a milk only fed animal, the taste of the meat was a bit "gamey"

so...

next time changes will be:
1. only butter skin before smoking
2. let the pig brine in water with about 2lbs of salt the night before


ETA:

If you see the picture, the spine contracted and the pig looked like Igor, so next time I'll see to avoid that

PSC

six_egg said:

Looks Great. PSC why not cook it skin down?

I dunno, aesthetics maybe, so the skin looks brown without grill marks

lkapigian

Looks great, no need to butter the skin, also, did you inject? That young should not be gamey ...next time at the end of the cook, score the skin and salt , remove plate setter and flip pig upside down to crisp....

SmokingPiney

Looks good to me!

You don't hear too much here about whole pigs on an egg. 

PSC

thanks guys!

Austin Egghead

looks pretty good form here.  Who got the cheeks?

PSC

Austin Egghead said:

looks pretty good form here.  Who got the cheeks?

I got the cheeks, the nose and the ears, yummy

chuckytheegghead

Looks good to me too. Thanks for posting. Really shows what the XL can do. 

YukonRon

That is awesome. The next one? Looks good to me.

billt01

Sharing...

From Myron Mixon's class..

Inject the hell out of it..

Skin side down...

He took a brisket and placed under the rib cage..its an insulator from the heat to keep the ribs cooking evenly..I don't use a brisket, but you know all that fat you cut off them...I freeze that in bags and use it when doing one..lots cheaper..

I've done <10, but none that small..way too much product left over. It takes a fortune of food saver bags to put up all that pork unless you are throwing a very big party