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khilborn
01-26-2009, 11:08 AM
This is one of my favorite hog recipes. Mainly intended for a party or larger get-together. I used to cook this once a year every year and have a party. Everyone still raves about it, so Ithought I'd share the recipe.


Before you read on however, I'll tell you now that this is a bit of a pain. Well worth the effort, but still a pain.


You'll need a decent sized smoker, or be willing to dig a large hole in the ground to cook it the old fashioned way - As a side note, this can also be scaled down to just a shoulder or haunch if you don't want to mess with the entire hog.





ingredients:


- 1 whole hog(minus legs and innards - head is optional - I remove it as well)


- 1 half galon of orange juice


-2 bottles of Stubb's Pork Rub(liquid rub)


- 1 or 2 large bottles of your favorite bbq sauce


- a lot of heavy-duty tin foil


- a bit of your favorite beer(I always use Budweiser or Shiner)


- garlic powder to taste


- 1 apple(no idea why the apple but it does actually do something)


- 1 onion(if desired)





Start by creating a large bowl out of the tin foil - large enough to where you can close it around the hog if you think it has enough smoke flavor, and now just needs to slow cook without the smoke.


Place the foil 'bowl' on the smoker.(your smoker should be going already)


Place the hog in the foil on it's side so that you can reach into the body cavity when necessary for basting.


Pour the orange juice and 1 bottle of the pork rub all over the hog to coat every surface(the rest will pool in the bottom and collect there - this is fine)


Let this cook at 200 to 220 degrees while you create the rest of the basting.


(Another side note - when I put my hog in the smoker, my smoker is roughly at 400 to500 degrees. I let the smoker cool down to a smoking temperature while I work on everything else with the pig inside - this will caramelize the orange juice and rub)


In a large bowl, combine:


- 1 bottle of the pork rub


- 1 bottle of barbecue sauce


- half a can/bottle of beer


- garlic powder(generally 1 tablespoon or two)


This is your basting liquid. This can be combined with what is already in the base of the tin foil bowl you've created for a fantastic basting sauce - If you want it thicker with more of a barbecue flavor, add more barbecue sauce(hence the 2nd bottle)


Slice up the onion and apple and drop them into the liquid at the base of the bowl or put them into the body cavity of the hog.


From here, you can cook the hog as long as you like. I cook it for a minimum of 24 hours.Basting every hour or so until I need some sleep at which time Icover it again with the mixture. Halfway through the cooking Iwrestle with turning the hog over, and it is a pain, but ensures even cooking throughout and doesn't let one side sit in the liquid for too long.


The general idea is to have the hog reach a temperature of 180 degrees in the thickest part of the meat. The collagen and fat start to liquify at that temperature and start making the meat more tender. Anything after that is for flavor or even more tenderness.


You'll find that the meat literally falls off the bone and is tender and juicy once done.


Don't worry too much about drying out the meat. The initial juices that you poured over the meat will have caramelized and kept most of the juices inside.


Once you believe the meat to be done, let people eat it where it lay by pulling the meat away, or take it out in chunks and cut it up to serve.


I hope someone gets to try this recipe - you won't be disappointed.