Breaking down a suckling pig

[mm84321]

I will be getting a 15 pound suckling pig tomorrow. I have never broken down a whole animal, other than a lamb once with my butcher, and of course chickens, ducks, pigeons and fish, though I am confident in my butchery skills. I believe I will break it down into the primal cuts first, and then work from there. What do I need to know?

[Badiane]

http://www.starchefs.com/events/studio/techniques/april-bloomfield/html/index.shtml

This might be of interest to you. Good Luck!

[avaserfi]

What exactly do you want to know? With a suckling pig I would not do primals, I would remove the head and break the pig into thirds. If you do want primals, you will probably need a bone saw for the spinal cord and aitch bone.

[mm84321]

I guess that's what I need to know. Thanks!

[Mallet]

I guess the question is also what you want to do with it? 15 pounds seems quite small to me, a pig that size would probably feed 8-12 people (just a guess, but I am thinking 15 pounds of carcass translates to roughly 8-ish pounds of meat?). At that size, you might be better off doing something with the head, something with the whole loin + saddle (maybe debone it?), and something with the legs. Unless of course you are practicing for something bigger down the road

[ScottyBoy]

Yeah 15# is a little sucker to be roasted whole. Unless you don't have the space to butcher a bigger one and this is a training pig.

[avaserfi]

If it were me, I would bone the whole thing out in one piece, head included. Then I would make porchetta and throw a small party with a great and delicious center piece.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'm with the others. 15 lbs isn't for breaking down, 15 lbs is for roasting whole in a wood oven and serving with llapingachos.

[Charcuterer]

Panaderia I had never come across the word "llapingachos" until just now. I looked it up and saw that it's a potato cake that is filled with cheese and sounds amazing. Do you have a favorite recipe that you could post? Makes me want to roast up some pork just to have the excuse to make some!

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Charcuterer, will do. I have three recipes for llapis, all of which are fantastic - and it's more a cooking method than it is a recipe anyhow. Off to the RecipeGullet for me!

[Mallet]

Charcuterer, will do. I have three recipes for llapis, all of which are fantastic - and it's more a cooking method than it is a recipe anyhow. Off to the RecipeGullet for me!

sweet.