Smoked Suckling Pig?

[Stone]

I've got a new connection in the meat world. (Ain't life grand?) I'm told she can get me a suckling pig from a local "artisinal" hog farmer. (Probably don't see those words together very often.) Can I smoke one of these in my bullet? I'm assuming it's too big to lay on the rack (actually, I have no idea how big it would be). But maybe if I stand it up on the bottom rack (like a beer can chicken) and remove the top)? Would the temp variation in the top and bottom affect the cooking (I suppose I could keep flipping the little fellow).

[col klink]

You'd definitely have to rotate the little guy, as there are temp variations in the bullet. More than likely the pig will be too big for your bullet.

Last year I looked into smoking a suckling pig and my butcher told me that pigs under 50 lbs are considered "suckling" and regardless of actual weight, a suckling pig would cost around $130. At 50lbs, the pig wouldn't fit on my Smokin' Pro. Not only that, I could feed a lot more people with two fresh hog legs for half the price. But of course you wouldn't be eating suckling pig.

[Varmint]

Good god! $130??? I'm getting about a 180 pound hog from a Niman Ranch (i.e., "artisinal") farmer for only a bit more than that!

[Schielke]

The reasoning, I believe is that the 50 lb pig had the potential to turn into something much larger and would net the farmer more $$.

Ben

[Huevos del Toro]

The reasoning, I believe is that the 50 lb pig had the potential to turn into something much larger and would net the farmer more $$.

Ben

I've run into exactly that. I was given an identical explanation, too. Why, you can't even buy a decently priced cabrito anymore! Wild hogs are overrunning this part of the country but it's an iffy proposition whether they'll cook up right. But there's no season, so I suppose you could just keep "harvesting" and cooking until you got a good one. At least the price is right.

[AlexP]

I believe in Spain a true suckling pig needs to be no older than 12 weeks. My mother just cooks then in a regular oven.

Most of my cooking has been done in the US, so I still need to cook one myself back home. Sorry, I have no real advice on using your bullet for this. But, eating a perfectly cooked Cochinillo (suckling pig).... Delicioso

Alex

[Stone]

How does one cook a suckling pig? Assume no special equipment.

[Schielke]

Calling d. hawksworth!

He cooks suckling pig from time to time at West in Vancouver and it is stunning.

Ben

[pastramionrye]

you could smoke them in a webber, probably, and cook them on really low temperature (about 250 to 300) in your oven, basting often with their juices.

[AlexP]

"How does one cook a suckling pig? Assume no special equipment. "

First, I believe that I have spoken too soon before. I have looked at a few Spanish recipes and most of them called for up to 4 kilos suckling pigs (about 8 or 9 pounds) They are looking at 15 to 20 day old pigs. So my prior post was incorrect.

Regarding a recipe, the ones that I looked are pretty simple. In general you want to cut the body in half like a book. You want the pre heat oven about 325 Degrees F. Put the skin side down and cook for about 45 minutes. After that, you want to turn the meat around and spread the skin with lard and some garlic (some recipes call for thyme and rosemary as well) and cook it for another hour and half. Some recipes ask to lower the temperature, others to increase it. I have found that Spanish recipes are pretty general without giving strict details.

The goal is to have a really crispy skin and juicy meat.

Hope that this give you an idea at least.

Alex