whole pig on PBC

[Durham Smoker]

I had a plan to do a small 15-20 lb sucking pig on my kettle rotisserie.  Just got back from butcher and smallest thing they could get was a 29 pound pig.

I told them to cut off teh head so it would fit on the kettle but now i was wondering if I should try the PBC?

Any thoughts?

[mikeharold]

If you do please take pics and give a report! I have no experience doing a whole pig and am just learning my PBC but I'm not sure why it wouldn't work as long as it fits. Very curious to hear what others have to say.

[Kona]

would a round of coals last for 29lbs of meat or would more need to be added through the cook?

[Durham Smoker]

from what I can tell it will most likely take 5 hours or so at 275-300.  Should be fine with the coals as I've easily had them last for 8.

[tlg4942]

Someone here talked about this way back when. They were folding the pig in half long ways into a square shape basically.  I never saw any results though.



 
 
 

[JimmyV]

I've actually been pondering this idea myself. I would be very interested to see the process/results if you do give it a try.

[muebe]

This is a definite PBC challenge. Watching for your results...

[Durham Smoker]

So I gave it a shot yesterday.  I had to truss the pig almost in a circle to fit on the rack.  No way it could have hung.  Way too long.  I had to use two 10 lb dumbbells to hold the lid down as the pig was too big.  The rebars couldn't go in due to size of pig so I controlled the temp for 4 hours with magnets.

I was able to keep pit temp between 300-325 for about 4 hours.  At this point the IT was 165 or so in most places except the parts that were pressed together by my trussing.  These were only about 125.

So I had to cut off the hams, leave them on the PBC and finish the rest of pig on the weber Kettle with a small layer of coal as the underdone parts were on the underside of the body cavity.

All in all I was able to get it done and my guests loved the outcome.  In reality the challenge with whole hog cooking is that different muscles such as hams and shoulders cook at different rates and ideal internal temps then things like loins.

This is why here in Carolina whole hogs are butterflied and cooked on pig cookers and the art is controlling how much coals go under each part of pig.  This way you can cook a shoulder until tender but not over do the loin section.

So the PBC is not the best cooker for a whole hog and one would be better off cooking the individual parts separately if you wanted to replicate whole hog BBQ where the different muscles are available for variations in flavor/texture.

[teesquare]

Thanks for trying this - and especially THANK YOU for posting your results.

It is only by trial and error or you could say experimentation - that we really discover anything new. That is true in science, in life in general...and  of course, in cooking.

So, I hope that everyone will read your post here- and feel emboldened to take a few risks now and then ( always observing food safety rules of course ) with the confidence that the worst that can happen - is you may have to eat a bologna sandwich if your experiment doesn't work out at all

But nothing ventured...nothing gained. You tried something unexpected - and you were observant, and adjusted your method to accommodate the un-predicited.  Many folks would have given up - and called it a failure. But, it appears you remained calm and thought thru this instead of panicking and giving up.

Fantastic job, and a great example for all of us.

T

[akruckus]

Thanks for trying this - and especially THANK YOU for posting your results.

It is only by trial and error or you could say experimentation - that we really discover anything new. That is true in science, in life in general...and  of course, in cooking.

So, I hope that everyone will read your post here- and feel emboldened to take a few risks now and then ( always observing food safety rules of course ) with the confidence that the worst that can happen - is you may have to eat a bologna sandwich if your experiment doesn't work out at all

But nothing ventured...nothing gained. You tried something unexpected - and you were observant, and adjusted your method to accommodate the un-predicited.  Many folks would have given up - and called it a failure. But, it appears you remained calm and thought thru this instead of panicking and giving up.

Fantastic job, and a great example for all of us.

T

I agree thanks for the details

[grossie]

Amen! Great idea to try. That would have absolutely never crossed my mind.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[tomcrete1]

Wow! Would not have thought of trying that! Too bad you don't have any pics 

[Durham Smoker]

I have a pic I want to post but it tells me its exceeds the size limitation.

I'm not all that great with messing with photo formatting.

Also, decided to try Kingsford Professional for the first time.  So I lit 46 (figured I wanted a bit more heat than the 40 I usually use) KBB's and poured over full basket of Kingsford Competition.  Figured I knew how 46 lit KBB's would put me as far as temp and if I used The Professional I would have to use less (need to experiment) and wouldn't get a good hot top layer.   

I do not mnid KBB that has been ashed over but I do seem to taste a bit of a charcoal flavor from the unlit.  Kingsford Professional had a much milder flavor and the pork had just the right amount of smoke fog flavor. 

So unfortunately for me, my charcoal budget just went up.

[RAD]

Great Post DS. Try photobucket.

[Toddler]

So unfortunately for me, my charcoal budget just went up.

But fortunately for you, Kingsford Professional is on sale right now at Costco, through July 3rd, so time to stock up.