Friday, July 27, 2007

Doing Up a Whole Hog!

This is a big week for us in the home of OMMAG & Family! With our own wedding anniversary and another couple who's big day falls just 1 day earlier.

We usually get together for some fun and eats but since Wally&Kas are up to #25 they've got some family obligations and that means a BIG feed and party for about 100 folks on Saturday!

So I've been volunteered to act as the meat master and the plan is to roast up a 120lb hog.

I'll be going to Danny's Whole Hog to pick up one of his jumbo roasters and the beast for the feast today and I'll bring home some pictures to post later.

In the mean time here's my recipe for the rub and some tips on doing pork.

For starters:
Get everything ready with a work table covered in foil and all the seasonings and equipment at hand.
These pigs come partially frozen and Danny has his partially prepared with a seasoning of what looks like seasoned salt. This is not good enough for the OMMAG so what I do is prepare my favorite pork rub mix and do some prep on the hog. This has to be done the day before the roast!

Day One: Prep the hog.........
Lay the beast out on it's belly and give it a massage with oil to loosen up the skin and then take a carving fork to it making as many punctures as you can! (I like to pretend I'm sticking the fork in Jack Laytons ass!) This allows more seasoning to penetrate into the fat and more grease to escape during the roasting. You want this because you get better flavour and crisper cracklins.

Mix up a package of : onion powder, garlic powder, cumin then add about 1/4 cup of black pepper and 1/4 cup of coarse salt, toss in about 1/4 cup of hot chili powder or cayenne pepper.
Rub this mix all over the underside and top side of the hog cover it up then let it all sit overnight.


Day Two: The roast........
You have to get the show ready at least 10 hours before feeding time!
Make sure you have two full 20lb tanks of propane.
Start by having a place for the cooker that is flat, level and out of the traffic areas to keep people and kids away from the hot cooker. I like to have a canopy overhead to make some shade and keep the rain off if that happens. There's a drip drain on the cooker that allows fat to run off so make sure you've got an old coffee can or an aluminum pan to catch the liquid! There's a hot end to the cooker where the burner inserts so make sure that the shoulders of the hog are at that end of the rack!
Get you uncovered hog onto the rack and the rack into the cooker and fire up the burner!
Make sure the flame tube is as even as you can get it by looking for flame along the entire length.
Your burner should be producing just a bit of yellow orange and the blue should be visible.

I like to add a foil pouch of hickory wood smoker chips laid into the bottom of the the cooker on top of the burner.

Give the hog a good sprinkle of coarse salt and close up the cooker.
Keep an eye on the temp gauge making adjustments on the propane until it levels out at around 250 f. Although you can cook lower and slower your time is a factor and higher temps make for drier and less flavorful meat.

DO NOT open the cooker until at least 4 hours into the the roast!

Once the roast has done for about 4 hours you should be able to see the the browning of the cracklins and you can add some more salt to help crisp it up. Use a meat thermometer to check the inside temp of the pork.

The final goal is a completely golden brown top and the meat should be falling of the bones!
The final internal temperature of the roast will be 170f or better. (180 should have the meat falling off the bones)

Be ready at about 9 hours to take it out..... you need to have your work table clean and ready to use. Have waste can ready for bones and stuff. And serving trays for the meat!
Use rubber gloves! Pull the cracklins off the back and cut them up so you can put them back into the roaster to crisp ( turn up the gas for extra heat) while your pulling the pork from the bones.

Pull all the pork off the bones and shred with your hands ... cover up your serving trays to keep it all hot until the cracklins are crisp.

Have some sauce ready for folks who like that and serve on buns with your favorite potatos, pickles, corn, biscuits and salads etc.

I like to roast potatoes on the grill along with beets! I serve my own pulled pork with a spicy sauce. My own plate will have a pile of salted cracklins and a side dish of extra spicy sauce to dip!
I recommend a good Lager served cold in a frozen mug to go with this feast!

Cheers!

OMMAG

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