Suckling pig

[Franco]

I've ordered a suckling pig (12-15kg) fo Christmas lunch and am thinking of doing it whole in my cookshack smoker, does anyone know roughly how long I should smoke/roast it for?


Franco

[aris]

What is a cookshack smoker?

[Franco]

Cookshack are a brand of American smokers, I bought one from a bankrupt stock auction for �50, the auctioneers didn't have a clue what it was.

http://www.cookshackamerica.com/detail.aspx?ID=339


Franco

[Parson Snows]

Picking up one from a bankrupt stock auction for �50 certainly was a great deal. I'll ask one of our friends who has a chinese restaurant here what they recommend.

kind regards

Parson Snows

[sausagejoe]

I don't know what size cookshack you have or if you can fit a whole suckling in one. It takes me roughly 12-15 hrs to do pulled pork in a cookshack(ie cooked to 190f.).
I sent you some photos of how I cook a suckling. Generally I cook a suckling to 160f.
I think your best bet is to check the temp. after a few hours or keep a polder in the ham while it is cooking. I would allow plenty of time (10-12 hrs) to cook the pig. If it is done too soon, you can use the cookshack to hold the meat at your desired temp.

[Fatman]

Franco

How big is your conventional oven, big enough to take the whole pig?

Fatman

[Franco]

My oven is easily big enough to take the whole pig, the cooker has 120cm overall width so the oven is around 85cm wide, the problem is the thermostat has gone and I don't know if the new one will arrive before Christmas!!

I normally do a whole suckling pig in this oven but I need to prepare for the worst if I can't get it repaired in time and have a fallback plan ie.the smoker.

I intend to cook the pig upright in the smoker, I know a hogroast is normally done horizontally but as it's a vertical smoker I have I can't cook it that way.

I thought of roasting without any smoke for the majority of the cooking time and then adding some smoke (apple logs from my garden) for the last half hour or so to give it an outdoor roast flavour.

Fatman, as the forum expert on hog roasts what sort of time?temperature would you cook it for???

Franco

[Guest]

Franco

Having no thermostat , does that mean your oven is not working or is it just the thermostat knackered?

I would not cook the pig vertically unless you can somehow keep it rigid ( no jokes please )

I would cook the pig for the first hour at 180 and then a further two to three hours at 160 depending on oven i.e. fan assisted etc.

Use lemon juice or salt to create the crackling and leave the pig unscored unlike large pigs for pig roasting.

I would not risk what you are planning without a trial run , given it is a special day and all.

I do hope you have your suckling pig, I think it would be a wonderful treat.

Regards

Fatman

[Franco]

Fatman,

I have no heat at all in the oven If I could keep the keep rigid and vertical could this method work?


Franco

[Guest]

Franco

What concerns me is that heat rises as we all know, so it might be better to stand the pig on it's head so the best meat i.e. the hams will get the benefit. Turning the pig the right way up for the last 1/2 hour to allow the juices to run back down to the hams would be quite important.

You could play about with the idea of two halfs , but that might be tricky also , well either way do enjoy your pig.

Fatman

[Bob]

I've ordered a suckling pig (12-15kg) fo Christmas lunch and am thinking of doing it whole in my cookshack smoker, does anyone know roughly how long I should smoke/roast it for?
Franco

I smoke large cuts of meat until the internal temperature reaches a certain setpoint. That temperature all depends on the type of meat, the size of the piece, etc. I use an electonic temperature probe so I can monitor the temperature constantly.

http://tinyurl.com/6nybw

For pork shoulder I use an internal temperature of 185F. That's a lot more than the minimum but I want the meat to be absolutely tender because we make "pull pork" from it. That requires that the meat be so tender that it pulls apart by hand. We also smoke an uncooked "picnic ham" for slicing. For that I use 170F as the internal temperature.

You probably can use 170F which is the USDA recommended temperature for pork. It is also Robb Walsh's recommendation:

Robb Walsh, "Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from the Pit Bosses" ISBN: 0811829618.

http://tinyurl.com/5q253

I realize it's well past Christmas, so tell us how the pig came out and how you cooked it. I could have bought one at $1.00 per lb. at Christmas, and I do have the smoker to cook it, but that is just too much meat even if I plan to freeze most of it.