Whole Hog on a GMG JB advice needed.

[hondabbq]

I am having a staff BBQ at my house in May (I get too busy in the summer on weekends to do it in the summer), and I want to do a Whole hog on my GMG.
Any advice on temps, times etc?
If you have done a whole hog on the above grill or similar please indicate the dressed weight of the hog you did.

Thank you.

 

[kit s]

I am having a staff BBQ at my house in May (I get too busy in the summer on weekends to do it in the summer), and I want to do a Whole hog on my GMG.
Any advice on temps, times etc?
If you have done a whole hog on the above grill or similar please indicate the dressed weight of the hog you did.

Thank you.

What size is yours? Hide on or off? What size grill?

 

[mneeley490]

A GMG Jim Bowe is 658 sq.inches, or slightly larger than 18" by 36". You might get a 30lb +/- pig on there, but I'm not sure about anything larger.

 

[chrisjames]

As a point of reference, a 100 lb live weight hog will end up being about 70 lbs after it is dressed, which will result in 25-30 pounds of edible pork...enough to feed 50-60 people. it will be about 4.5 feet long and 2.5 feet wide if it is butterflied with head and shanks.

 

[chrisjames]

How many people are you trying to feed?

 

[SmokinAl]

I have a Lang 36 patio model & wanted to do a whole hog. I went to the local grocer (Publix) & they said they could get me a 30# suckling pig. But the price was about $85. After much research I found that whole hog is a bit bland tasting & very expensive. The 30# hog would only feed about 20 people. I figured I could fed 20 people with a 8-9 lb. butt that I could get for $16-$18 dollars or less when on sale. And I also found out by going to a party where they had a whole pig smoked that it did taste dry & very bland. Now it most certainly could be the cook, but this was a family from Cuba who has been doing these for 100 years this way. So I forgot about the idea & stuck to pork butts. I have never had anybody that didn't like my PP. If there is any leftovers, then they all want goddie bags.
Al

 

[chrisjames]

i'm with smokin al...unless you are doing a large hog and feeding 75ish people, you are better off doing however many butts it takes.

 

[kit s]

I have done whole hogs (80# on average) on a spit (6') electric motor to rotate spit. Hide on cavity filled with apple wedges, orange wedges, pineapple wedges, garlic cloves, salt, pepper, bay leaves and sprigs of thyme. Cavity was sown ta keep all in place. Cooked over oak. Lots of basting.
I have also cooked them under ground (think luau) which really turned out moist. These I had pretty much same stuffings plus red wine. Wrapped in a clean linen white sheet also soaked in wine, wrapped in wet burlap, wrapped in chicken wire (to ease lifting from pit). Oak wood coals. 120# here. Also done beef head this way.

 

[hondabbq]

Im feeding 20-25 ppl. There will be other foods on top of the hog. The hog is about 30-35 lbs.
I know I can just do pork butts but I did that last year and this is all about the presentation, plus I have always wanted to do a full hog.
The guy im buying the hog from does an injection on it prior to pick up and its very good. Not bland at all, plus im going to season the cavity a bit too.

 

[chrisjames]

Are you doing racing style or butterflied? I would ask the butcher for approximate dimensions of your pig...if you have not already requested it, you may want to tell the butcher to remove the head and shanks to make sure it will fit.

 

[hondabbq]

Racing style. I did ask and he said just short of 3 ft. Racing will shorten it up too. Leaves room for Baked potato.