And this little piggy was Delicious How to Finish the Hog

So you have your pig prepped, trimmed and wide open, injected and hooves, ears and snout covered? What? You mean that you don't have those three important pieces covered? Well get some tin foil and cover them! Doing this helps ensure a more even cook time and leaves the skin and delicate bits a nice even color with the rest of the hog... instead of blackened pork rind scented charcoal.

Is you're cooker prepped? if you're using a smoker do you have a good pile of coals and decent wood? Great now then gently slip the pig into the cooker and make sure that you have a good amount of space between the smoker walls and the pig make sure that it's not over the coals or else the parts that are will get dry and disgusting. Remember that we're going for a nice Mahogany finish on the pigs skin with tender and juicy. Make sure that it's in position, close the smoker door... and wait...

and wait...

Seriously at this point the process takes a while so crack open a few cold ones and sit down to play a few rounds of Magic The Gathering... or is that just me and my friends?  Anyways, the golden ratio for the pig is 1 hour for every 10 pounds of pre-preped hog with the cooker of choice going at about 200 F. So that 60 lb pig had 6 hours in the smoker, remember to flip it at the halfway mark of the cooking process ensuring that nice and crispy skin.

The time has passed, you and you're compadres have the hog out of the smoker and have let it rest for about an hour, now take off the skin with the boning knife get the bones out and start chopping the meat, sauce it if you want, remember that the jowls and the belly are going to be two of the best parts. Mix the meat together and lay it out on a plater about the shape of the hog, cover with the skin and serve.

Here Under the Arch we might not have the best seafood, our chicken might be about average, but there is one thing that we do know, and that's the hog. Tomorrow will have some pictures as well as a few recipes for the injections and rubs that are good. Stay Hungry my friends.