How To: Throw Your Own Pig Roast
From Bill Gates to Ron Jeremy, inside the heart of every man lies a yearning to please the masses and rule the neighborhood. There may be no greater Mantivity that accomplishes this very feat than throwing your own pigroast. The first day of Spring is less than a month away so start planning now!
I threw my first pig roast the summer I graduated college. My cooker was nothing more than a split 55 gallon drum and my plan was nothing more elaborate than throwing a pig on a pit and pulling her off when she hit 180 degrees. From these humble beginnings, my pig roasts evolved into cooking on a custom built Meadow Creek TS250 and doing shots down a hand carved ice-slide in the shape of a pig. Like a man possessed, I am driven to make every year more elaborate than the previous one. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of work, but there is a ton of fun to be had while doing it. Follow these 8 Steps and you’ll be throwing your own pig roast in no time.
1) Find a cooker. Finding an appropriate vessel to house your porker for the 12+- hours it takes to slow smoke your main course is crucial. If you already have an offset smoker or similar barrel type cooker, you can skip to Step 2. If this is completely new to you and you’re not ready to make the $1000+ investment in a smoker for your first roast, don’t worry, you’re not alone and lucky for you there is still hope. Check your local butcher shops, farms, and rental stores for an appropriate pig roaster. Most likely, the guy who sells you the pig can also rent you the equipment or point you in the direction of someone who can. Still can’t find a cooker? You can get down and dirty building your own out of a 55 gallon drum and some scrap metal. Whatever cooker you find, be sure you are confident in running the equipment. If it’s your first time smoking on a cooker you purchased or you built one from scratch, do a test run before the big event. If you’re using a rental, make sure the proprieter that rented it to you also guides you through the steps to run it.
2) Find a pig. No, not that girl in college you used to call every Friday night around 2 in the morning, instead Google “butcher” or “farm market” in your zip code and you’ll have a pool of possible candidates. Call around and get quotes for a fully dressed (cleaned) whole hog. Don’t be too quick to jump on the cheapest price per pound. Ask questions like, “How often do you butcher your hogs?” because freshness definitely counts! The swine that’s sizzling on my smoker on a Saturday was typically rolling in the mud no more than 3 days prior. Also make sure to ask what they feed their little piggies. All natural raised hogs may cost a little more but they will yield a more tender/moist pulled pork in the end. I tend to take the middle road and pay about $1.50-$2.00 per pound, fully dressed. Finally, don’t forget to ask what kind of lead time they need to have lil’ miss piggy ready for her big day.
3) Pick your poundage. For me, a pig roast is all about overdrinking AND overeating. Once you decide how many people you want to feed, assume you will need ~1 pound (hanging weight) for each guest. A 100 pound cleaned hog will yield approximately 50 pounds of pulled pork. That’s 150 1/3 lb sandwiches for those of you counting at home. Add on a few side dishes and you will definitely be able to feed a crowd. Variables like the number of kids/adults, the duration of the party, and the amount of sides you serve will all factor into how much pig you need, but you have to start somewhere. I typically serve about 4 side dishes. I always take into consideration the need for leftovers because of the indisputable “late-night” law that states people will exponentially eat more as they continue drinking through the night. After all, a proper pig roast should always be an all-out bash. Never wanting to run out of food, I always plan on having leftovers but rarely do! A final consideration in picking the poundage of your pig is the capacity of your cooker. Many cookers (e.g. 55 gal drum) start approaching their maximum capacity around 100 lbs of pig. If you’re looking to server over 100 people (remember: ~1lb of pig for each guest), I highly recommend doing a smaller pig for “show” while also smoking additional pork butts to get the total poundage you need. For example, I would suggest smoking a 100 lb pig and 30 lbs of pork butt to feed 130 people. Another option is to forego the additional pork butts and cook any number of complimentary meats (beef brisket, hamburgers, hotdogs, etc…) to fill the poundage gap.
4) Pick your sides. This is a great area to delegate. You’ll have your hands full on the big day and the last thing you want to think about is tossing your salad as you’re pulling your pork. Guests are usually very interested and more than willing to help out, so definitely take ‘em up on it. A good estimate is 1/3 lb of side dish per person, but the same variables that affect your pork poundage requirements should also be taken into consideration when determining how many side dishes you will need to serve (number of kids/adults, the duration of the party, etc…) Regardless of the number of people I am feeding, I have always found that coleslaw, potato salad and baked beans are a must. Another crowd pleaser is the Fruit Cup Pig…
5) Place your orders. About 2 weeks out from the big event, you’ll need to order your pig and reserve your cooker (if necessary). Make sure you confirm the hanging weight of the pig, which is the weight after it’s been gutted and cleaned. The hanging weight is ~65% of a pig’s live weight or “on the hoof” weight. Ask the butcher to either butterfly the pig or keep it whole depending on the cooking style you have chosen. You’ll need a good rub for the pig and some sauces for your guests. You can either buy them in bulk or make your own. Choose the fuel for your cooker wisely. I always use a combination of lump charcoal and seasoned wood, preferably hickory or oak. Finally, you’ll need rolls, plates, napkins, drinks, utensils, etc. Aluminum serving trays, stands, and sterno are always a must. One trip to Sam’s club usually does the trick.
6) Follow a timeline. Trust me when I say that you will have your hands full on the day of the roast. You’ll be sleep deprived and in some state of inebriation…either working off a hangover, starting to get another buzz or a combination of both. Do yourself a favor and create a timeline of events that need to occur in order to meet your serving time. Determine what time you want to eat and work everything back from that point. Use your pig’s weight and cooking temperature to determine what time you need to put the hog on. A very reliable table that I consistently use is:
90 minutes cooking per 10 lbs at 225 degrees
60 minutes cooking per 10 lbs at 250 degrees
45 minutes cooking per 10 lbs at 300 degrees
You can significantly cut your cooking time down by cooking at higher temperatures, BUT the finished product’s taste and texture will be compromised. I’m a guy who likes it low and slow the entire time. I start cooking at 250 for the first 3 hours and then finish the remainder of the cook at 225. Using this as a guide, you can get an idea when the pig should be done. Schedule all of the other preparation tasks around this main event.. These include but are not limited to: when guests will arrive, when serving plates should be set, when sides should come out, etc.
7) Put your game face on. The day before the party, pick up your pig from the butcher. You should keep her on ice until you throw her on the fire. I line my wheelbarrow with extra large trash bags, throw miss piggy in, top with ice, again with a trashbag and top it all off with some old blankets for insulation. By doing this I can move her around easily- from the truck to my garage (where it is relatively cool) and eventually right up to the smoker. 20 lbs of ice is more than enought to keep her cold for 8+ hours.
It’s time to fire up the pit. Start your fire ~2 hours before its time to throw the pig on the pit. I suggest using a Weed Burner
Now it’s time for…patience. When your pit is up to temperature and you have a consistent fire going, get the last of your photo-ops out of the way because it’s time to put miss piggy to bed. Follow your timeline and throw back a few cold ones in recognition of your hard work. Be patient as the pig cooks. Every time you open the pit can add up to 15 minutes of cooking time. Your best bet is to use a remote probe thermometer to monitor the pig’s progress without opening the cooker. It is very common for the pig to hold steady at around 160 degrees for several hours. Don’t panic and do something drastic like increasing your cooking temperature. Stay the course, and in the end, your total cooking time will be dead-on to what you estimated if you have successfully applied the rules and formulas previously outlined. When you reach your target temperature of 190 degrees in the ham and shoulder the pig is done.
Pig reaches 180-190 degrees. Grab some hotpads and at least one other person to help remove the pig (still on the pan) from the smoker and onto a table/cutting board. Take the 2×4 out of the pigs mouth and insert a fresh apple for a final touch. Although you could start pulling/chopping right away, it’s best to let the pig rest for ~30 minutes. During this time, recruit a team of pork pullers and equip them with a cold beer, and a pair of bearclaws or forks.
Pull your Pork. As Pitmaster, it is your duty to ensure only the finest meat is presented to your hungry guests. Take it upon yourself to start carving the pig. Use a sharp knife to cut the pigskin along the back of the pig. Peel the skin away and you will see all of the meat exposed. Be careful to separate bones and fat as you pull out the beautiful steaming chunks of meat for your team of pork pullers to pull and place into warming trays. Be mindful to instruct your pork pullers to pull the pork into stringy pieces, and not just shred it into mush.
Serve it up. Once your warming trays are filled, pour brine over the pork, put them out for serving and ring your dinner bell. Continue to carve both sides of the pig untill all the meat has been extracted and pulled. Oddly enough, even if you’ve never seen a cooked pig before, you’ll have a pretty good idea when all the meat is out. You’ll be left with a pig carcass that should be disposed of quickly, before the flies find you and your party, but you can always place the pig head on the cutting table as a sign of your hard work. If nothing else, it’ll send any vegetarians who may be hanging around running for the hills.
8) Pig Out. After all the hard work, it’s finally time to grab a plate, another cold beer and enjoy the fruits of your labor as king of the neighborhood. As you perfect the steps listed above and you’re ready to take your party to the next level, check out some of my other suggestions for enhancing your pig roast. The best BBQ Sauces for pulled pork and The Worlds Best Baked Beans.
Want to step up your neighborhood poker game too? Check out: How To: Throw Your Own Poker Tournament
Be A Man
-The Founding Father
Great information, thanks for posting this. I lived in Hawaii for many years, and have done pigs kailua-style. We are going to follow your process for our end of summer party.
Cooked my first whole-hog last month. Used my new Meadow Creek PR72GT, worked great and it was much easier than I thought it would be. It’s good to be the BBQ King of the neighborhood!
Real men cook food with the head still on…
Meadow Creek produces a product second to none. I’ve done a few roasts on a (gas assisted) PR72 and your right… its so much easier than what you’d expect. If you really want to step up your roasts though, I’d argue it doesnt get much more authentic than a wood burning offset.
The only thing more authentic is throw’n miss piggy into a hot hole in the ground… digging a hole, starting a fire, heating up some rocks, layering with banana leaves, etc. I’m in the process of researching this method will keep ya posted when I finally get the guts to pull this off.
I got the charcoal tray with the PR72, will play around with that next time I do a pig for myself. It’s hard to beat the gas when you’re on a timetable for a catering job, though. Throw some wood chunks next to the burner and it still tastes pretty good.
I also have a Meadow Creek TS 250, never thought about doing a pig on that. I imagine it would be a pain in the ass to flip it around so the shoulders and the hams get the same amount of time next to the firebox. It works great for everything else.
Great info doing my first pig this saturday 6/4/10 in a Cuban Box (la caja china) a little nervous. This article has provided me with the best info yet & have definetly eased my concerns quite a bit. The hardest part will be to keep my guests from trying to open the box, thats why they put the charcoal on top it discourages nosy people.
cheers for the new cool post.
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I抎 like to write like this also ?taking time and real effort to make a good article?but what can I say?I procrastinate alot and never seem to get anything done?Regards?
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I’ve invited the family round this xmas for a big dinner, so obviously the roast is pretty important! I found a ton of recipes at this roast recipe site, but cant decide on anyone – there’s too many to choose from! It’s fun planning such a big xmas meal though!