BBQ a Hog

[hiteckredneck50]

I was asked about how to cook a hog over an open pit. Therefore, I am going to write step by step instructions for those of you who were interested. It will be quite lengthy because i am going to break it down from start to finish. This is my version, i am sure there are others, but this is how i was taught, and I was taught by people who had done it all their life.
First you have to know that cooking a hog is alot of work. But it is extremely fun; especially when you have a couple of friends pitching in.

First to cook a hog, you have to have a pit. Building a homemade pit is easy and can be taken down later. what i do is get cinder block and make my pit four and a half block across and four block long ways. Stack your block two high. You will then take a block and place one on all four corners. I, and this is me, take two four feet long pieces of tin and line the bottom. You now have a pit. You can take it down and reuse it every year, thereafter.

[Rebel Son]

So far, so good, Hiteck. I LIKE your style of instruction-writing, cause it leaves nothing to chance. Carry on.... :)

[hiteckredneck50]

next go ahead and make sure you have the following items on hand:
four 20lb. bags of charcoal, lighter fluid, a hoe, (the kind you do yard work with) a cheap piece of ply board from lowes or home depot ($10.00) some smoking chips, (I use Jack Daniels Chips from Walmart). Wait isn't that how all this got started? Talking about wal-mart. Atleast two meat cleavers. And finally a case of beer. ;cheers

[hiteckredneck50]

Ok site preperation, check
Needed items, check
we're almost ready but now you need a rack for your pig. oops, getting ahead here, you don't have the pig yet.

I have seen three different kinds of racks. This is where you are going to have to find one of your redneck friends and ask for help or find an old country gentleman who will probably already have one laying around. Theres not much I can do here but offer that advice. If you look at the rack i used you can see it's the best. it was homemade, lay out a hog on it, place the top on it, bolt him down and presto ready to go. or you can buy an iron grate, usually four by four, from a store that sells fireplace materials and strap your hog to it.

[Rebel Son]

OK, let me interject a question from one of the earlier steps. What kind of charcoal do you use? Lately, I've been using nothing but Royal Oak in my grill, because it's real wood AND its easier to light than regular charcoal. Before that used Matchlight, for the same reason, but both of these types burn out sooner than regular charcoal.

[hiteckredneck50]

man we're cooking right along here. it's almost time to buy your piggy! ;pi
You have to start cooking early so you have to have your pig the night before. oh, what to do? You can tell I am enjoying this.

Get one of those plastic containers from wal-mart like you would store your christmas tree in. Remember all these items are reusable so spending a few bucks to get started will pay off the next time.

[hiteckredneck50]

I use Kingsford and Jack Daniels smoking chips. Don't use matchlight, never ever. Real old timers actually make thier on charcoal from buring oak logs. But I'm not ready for that, talk about extra work. The chips wil be explained later, but remember, smoke is what gives your bbq flavor, thus chips.

[hiteckredneck50]

Plan your cookout!

1. You don't just walk in the local butcher shop and yell "hey I want a Hog". Visit your local shop and tell them you are planning a bbq on such and such date and can they order you a hog to be picked up the day before. Now, since that's thier job they will say "sure" and also begin to offer you advice on how to cook it but you can tell them you already know because of this Hiteck dude from georgia. :D

2. I strongly recommend you start out with a 50 lb. hog. Reasons being, its small, it's easy to work with for first timers, cooks in less time, and is basically hard to screw up as far as getting him completely done.

Thats it order your hog!

Now when he comes in............. next post please

[hiteckredneck50]

Have to take a break for now. Will pick up in about an hour or so.
stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;co

[Rebel Son]

:) THANKS, Hiteck! When you are done, I am going to print all of this out and save it. I might even go this weekend to buy the materials for the pit (although that won't leave me enough time to actually plan to cook anything.) Thanks, man (and you were right- - this DID all start with Wal-Mart!) :)

[hiteckredneck50]

Sorry, work related issues to deal with, how dare they :evil:

Ok it's the day before the cookout. You've pre ordered your hog and ready to go.

take that container with you. the one mentioned earlier. drive to the butcher shop and place the car in park. by now you are getting really excited.

take your ticket inside and the butcher will bring out your little darling. The following is my way:1. i have the butcher take the head off. Some will say thats a waste but i ain't eatin it so they can have it. Have him saw the holves off. ain't into pigs feet either.

2. most butchers already know this but make sure you ask; have them "split the pig" so he will "butterfly" out when laid on your rack.

A 50 lb. hog is not very big so don't get disappointed when you see him. Trust me a 50 lb hog makes alot of BBQ.

Lay three bags of ice in your container and place the pig on top of it. put three more on top of the pig and seal your container! (keeps him fresh!) My wife doesn't particulary care for this part but I keep my pig in the house over night to ensure freshness. :D

[hiteckredneck50]

You are back home now.
Pigs on ice, take a minute to relax. Double check the things you will need.

Um.. get you some vinger, pepper, and salt out. mix together for basting the hog tommorrow when you cook it. Paper towels, non stick spray for your rack. Ok, you are in good shape.
Now, since qwe are only cooking a 50 lbter no need to get up at the crack of dawn, but you will because you can't wait.

Give yourself atleast an hour of prep time before actually placing the pig over the coals. here is what you will do during that time.

1. Start about 10lbs of coals to get started. As with any charcoal it will take about 45 minutes before they are ready.

2. In the mean time, place your rack or grate, on a table. I use an old pic nick table but any sturdy table will do.

3. Grease the rack with the non stick oil.

4. then lay out your liitle piggy on the rack. and baste him down with your vinger oil.

5. now if you have two sided rack then secure two together with the hog in the middle. If you have only one rack you have two choices, i have used them both 1. you can flip hog by hand (with gloves of course) or wire him to the grate. The first is easist.

ok, we're almost ready.

[hiteckredneck50]

Before I forget, poke several holes in the skin around the shoulders and hams of the pig. Reason is, grease will build up here and bust. Your pig will then catch on fire. Been there done that.

[hiteckredneck50]

examine your pig. you will see that the shoulders and ham are the thickest so take your hoe ( remember the yard tool) and spread the coals so that each ham and shoulder has equal amounts (or the larger) amounts of charcoal under them. You will adjust this after the hog is placed over the coals to ensure proper cooking.

ok, it's 8 am ready to cook!

remember those four block I told you to place on the corners of your grill? stand them up straight and place your rack with hog on these blocks. your pig will be actually three high now. This allows you room to work the coals.

When placing the hog on the coals, PLACE THE SKIN OR MEAT SIDE DOWN!

[hiteckredneck50]

trouble shooting:
Don't panic if your pit is bigger than your rack. the blocks are adjustable.

lets see, pigs on the fire now!

Remember that piece of ply board? take that and lay directly over the pig. some of it will probably touch the pig.

this is to keep the heat in your pit. trust me you'll see when you do it.

refer back to one of my pics for a visual.

your charcoal must never flare up so you have to keep a watchful eye your coals and pig. when it appears the coals getting low, i take a hand full and lay on the hottest ones and let them catch naturally. this is how you keep a slow continuesly flow of heat on the pig.

should you make a mistep, no need to panic, i sometimes keep extra coals in my bbq grill (the weber) ready to go in case of emergencies. Like when I got to busy talking and drinking and let the coals go out. :lol:

a little fire place type shovel is great for shoveling coals in and out if required.

[hiteckredneck50]

A fifty pound hog will only take about 6 hrs to cook. give or take thirty minutes depending on how well you kept your heat. So you're looking about 2 pm.

What do you do between 8 and 2? watch your pig!

Due to the fact the thickest or meat side is down, I flip my hog on the hour and let him cook for several minutes. During this time I baste him with plenty of viniger mix. let that soak a few minutes, no more that five or ten minutes and flip him back over meat side (skin side down). add more viniger.

take time to look your pig over, is he browning evenly? if not adjust your coals. pull some of the coals off to the side from the middle. even heat!

You're cooking now!!!!! the rest is repetitive. but you have to monitor your pig and coals. and don't let friends mess with him every five minutes.

Take those Jack Daniels chips you bought and soak in water for thirty minutes. It's to flavor that hog. as the pig is cooking place these wet chips over the hot coals for a smoke taste flavor. i do this usually every hour. you don't have to do it the whole time.

[Rebel Son]

Thanks, Hitech. OK, I went back and looked at the pictures. I have 2 questions- - You're saying that you put ALL of the coals equally under the hams and shoulders? In other words, the middle part of piggy is not directly over the coals, right?

And the other question..... I have NEVER been able to get new coals to light by just putting them over the existing coals. I know that's what you said to do, and that's what every website and bag of charcoal that I have ever read says to do. But, it never seems to work for me. Do you soak them in ligher fluid first, or something? What could I be doing wrong? Are you saying that coals (after they start to cool off after their peak temperature) can still catch new coals on fire?

[hiteckredneck50]

Good questions!

There are very few coals placed under the center. Reason being, you will see that this is a very thin part of the pig so there is no need to stack coals directly under there. The heat alone will usually cook this section but a few hot coals won't hurt.

In the past I did this.
I started a seperate stack of coals in my weber as the ones under the pig started getting about 3/4 done. Then I would place the ashsy coals from the weber on top of the old.

Now my daddy came down this year and of course offered his advise and asked why i was wasting my time doing that when I could just put the coals directly from the bag onto the hot coals and let them start naturally. Well, i'm not one to argue with a 75 yoa man who's been doing it for years so i reluctently tried his new waybecause this ain't the way he taught me. in any event, it worked just fine no problem with them starting naturally.

P.s. never ever ever ever put lighter fluid directly on the coals under your pig. the lighter fluid must be cooked out of the coals before placing under the hog.

[hiteckredneck50]

I'm going to call it for now. If I don't get back tonight then I will finish tommorrow. Thanks for the intrest, I like to share things I learned my lovable two old cotes: pop and uncle earnest. They also taught me how to make wine, and if look closely at one of those pics I can make other things also.
;cheers

[hANKJRFAN]

Thanks I got to try this myself.

[Piggy]

Thank you redneck! We have wanted to try this forever! Thank you thank you thank you :D

[hiteckredneck50]

thanks for the replies. I will finish up thursday. and post some pics. Just remember, I've only been doing it for 12 years. Ever had your pig fall off the rack? ever got drunk and passed out and burned the hog? yep, ever undercooked one after you took him off the coals, yep, there are quick fixes to all these problems. including rain. stay tuned!

[hiteckredneck50]

Things are starting to slow down a bit around here so hopefully I can continue shortly.

[hiteckredneck50]

Ok, Lets see where were we? Ok we've been cooking our hog, hanging out with our friends, and admiring our pig every hour on the hour as we flipped him for a few minutes and basted him. But it's getting close to 2 P/M.

As a mater of fact it's probably 1 pm so i need to make few preperations before taking the hog off the pit.

1. take that piece of ply board you bought (the one that is on the pig) and lay it on a picnick table or sturdy table. You should already have one out there since you layed out your hog earlier on it. I did not mention it earlier but it helps from buring your fingers later on- buy some of those brown jersy gloves from wal-mart, usually on sale for three for dollar.

2. Lay out a sharp butcher knife and two meat cleavers. Hopefully you will have a friend with you, so he/she will need a cleaver.

3. if possible place a fan at the end of the table. This will keep you cool and also keep the knats off your pig. After all the work you've done you don't want flies and knats on your pig.

4. And finally have on hand three of those disposable tin/aluminum pans.

[hiteckredneck50]

with the help of a friend take the hog off the coals and lay him on the ply board, meat side up.

depending on what type of rack you used, or should i say regardless of what type of rack you used, remove the pig from the rack and set the rack out of the way.

You now have a BBQ hog. Well almost any way, now you have to cut him up into BBQ, to go with your baked beans, corn on the cob, hash and rice, and tater salad. You're on your own in that department but I will tell you how i cut him up. Again, this represents my way and I'sure there are others but this is my way.

Most likely you have a cooler half full of beer around. Pop a top and sit back a moment to look your hog over and brag a little bit.

[hiteckredneck50]

CUT UP TIME:

1. Take your knife and cut the skin around the butt and shoulders. I've been calling it a ham all this time but you must know, it's really his butt cheeks. :D Pull the crisp skin off the pig with hands (gloves). Lay the skin to the side. you will be suprised at how many people love to eat the skin.

2. take your knife and cut you off a rib to munch on. Hey, it's pig, cooks gotta eat too.

3. Cut one of the butts or shoulders off and away from the pig.
You should fat surrounding the meat.
Now, some people like this and don't waste anything, but I like lean meat with only a little of fat; so i scap this layer of fat away, revealing the lean meat.

4. cut off a big hunk of meat, and take your cleaver and start dicing him like one those japanese guys at a Koytos Restuarant. Make your diced meat small. Aftr that piece just cut off another, trim any fat, and dice some more. soon or later you will have atleast two pans of meat. long with any ribs you didn't eat along the way. The ribs very seldom make further than the cooks. More to follow.

[hiteckredneck50]

Continue cutting the hog as previously instructed. Once the hams and shoulders are cut, don't forget that back strap! Remember the term "eating high on the hog" well this is where it comes from or so i was told. It is the best tasting meat on the pig. i can't help cuttinga slice off just for myself but add the rest to your bbq.
When you get through cutting up your hog there shouldn't nothing but some chewed up rib bones (from where you ate) back and leg bones, and a pile of fat if t it off like I do.
place the skin a baggy. trust me, someone will eat it.

Now go eat!!!!!!!!!!
Clean up is easy the next day if you kind of threw things away as you went. Take your block down for the next time, toss the tin and ply board, you won't reuse these. Clean your rack and put away. And pick up any beer cans that didn't make it into a bag.

1. if you get ashes on your pig. Just throw some viniger mix on him to wash it way.
2. skin burned. oh well, i don't eat the skin anyway somebody else does. peel that burnt skin off and your meat will be fine.
3. Starts to rain. well you got that ply board over him any way so you will probably be ok.

;cheers

[hiteckredneck50]

And finally may I suggest you cook in a shady place.

[Rebel Son]

Whew! That sounds like a job! :) How do you think this would work (or have you ever tried it) with cuts of meat that are just too large for a grill? Like, a boston butt, for example?

[hiteckredneck50]

I new a guy who would cook boston butts in a similar fashion. He actually used a fence gate as his rack and laid a piece of card board over the meat. It was some of the best i ever ate.

[stonewall]

Where has Hiteck been I haven't seen of him in a while.

[hiteckredneck50]

Hey, just walked in the door from a week in daytona. will catch up later with the board. thanks for checking on me :D

[stonewall]

Hope you had fun bro. Get back with us asap