Plan on two pounds of pig for every guest at the barbecue.
Roasting a whole pig successfully in a smoker will put you in the category of great outdoor chef. Even if you never win a barbecue award, pulling a whole pig off the smoker will make you a hero to your guests. If your smoker does not have a rotisserie to rotate the pig, you can still roast the beast to succulent perfection -- it just takes longer. The weight of the pig in pounds should be roughly double the number of your guests. A 100-pound pig, for example, should provide enough meat to feed 50 people. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Lay out the pig on its back on a drop cloth outdoors. Rinse the body cavity and exterior of the pig thoroughly with the garden hose.
2. Pour barbecue rub over the pig's entire body and the cavity, rubbing the seasonings into the flesh. The rub adds flavor and keeps the meat from drying out.
3. Push the two sides of the belly cavity together and secure with skewers to keep the pig from falling apart on the smoker.
4. Load your smoker's firebox with split oak and hickory. Light the wood and wait for the split logs to burn orange before closing the firebox and opening the vents while wearing hot mitts.
5. Hoist the pig onto the cooking grates inside the smoking chamber with the help of a friend. Close the smoker and adjust the top vents until the internal temperature reads 350 degrees on your oven thermometer.
6. Add oak and hickory to the firebox as needed to maintain an internal smoker temperature of 350 degrees for the first four hours. After four hours, close the vents halfway and do not add any more wood to the firebox until the internal smoker temperature falls to 225 degrees.
7. Smoke the pig at 225 degrees for approximately one hour for every 10 pounds. For example, after smoking a 100-pound pig at 350 degrees for the first four hours, you would then smoke an additional 10 hours at 225 degrees.
8. Pierce the meat thermometer into several different points on the thickest parts of the roasted pig. The pig is done when all readings show an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees, the USDA-recommended minimum for smoked pork.
9. Open the smoker and allow the pig to rest for half an hour before carving or pulling. The rest time lets the juices flow back through the pig for more flavorful barbecue.
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