# smoked small pigs



## supercajun (Jan 28, 2014)

last weekend i took a few pigs out of the marsh lease. i had two that were perfect size for the mes40 and this is my first attempt of whole pig in the smoker. first i brined them for 48 hours in pops brine. next i took out of brine then let them dry a lil. then i rubbed them down with a little cajun seasoning mostly made up of garlic,cayenne pepper,onion powder, cracked pepper, and some slap ya momma. i wanted a more crispy skin so i started them at 225 for 2 hours and 250 for the last hour. came out really great may be a little on the salty side on the thinner pieces but im happy with it.













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## link (Jan 28, 2014)

That looks really good.


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## moikel (Jan 29, 2014)

They look great,How much did they weigh? Small enough not to be gamey?


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## raastros2 (Jan 29, 2014)

ahhh yeah


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## sb59 (Jan 29, 2014)

Small Pigs?

Look Good, but I hope you meant piglets! Or are you a giant ,eating off giant plates? We've got rats that big here in NJ!


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## supercajun (Jan 29, 2014)

i call them small pigs because they were weaned. they were about 10 pounds un dressed. probably 6 pounds dressed. as far as how they taste. its the most tender mild tasting pork you'll ever eat. no gamy taste at all. the meat has a consistency of dark meat chicken. i took it off at 165 it and this might sound crazy but it was to tender. i put in back in to firm up a lil bit and took it off at 170 and it was perfect. when i say it was to tender its like i couldnt feel the meat grain when i ate it like it wasn't cooked all the way. i knew my wife wouldnt eat it like that so i cooked it a lil more. it still came out very tender. enough that i deboned it with a butter knife.


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## sb59 (Jan 29, 2014)

They look good enough that I'd probably make a pig of myself eating them!


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## bmanhanson (Jan 29, 2014)

Try leaving the skin on by dunking the whole pig in boiling water and scraping the hair off,can't beat that crispy pig skin


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## raastros2 (Jan 29, 2014)

Bmanhanson said:


> Try leaving the skin on by dunking the whole pig in boiling water and scraping the hair off,can't beat that crispy pig skin


thats what iam talking about


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## supercajun (Jan 29, 2014)

Bmanhanson said:


> Try leaving the skin on by dunking the whole pig in boiling water and scraping the hair off,can't beat that crispy pig skin


ill leave the skin on a domestic hog but i dont like the skin on the wild ones.


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## hognclaw (Jan 30, 2014)

I do a lot of hog hunting here in texas and have a sounder i have been tracking. And plan on getting this weekend. Ill be smoking these lil guys for the Broncos Super Bowl win (big time Broncos fan). Was wondering what u put in ur brine and what type of wood you used?


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## supercajun (Jan 30, 2014)

hogNclaw said:


> I do a lot of hog hunting here in texas and have a sounder i have been tracking. And plan on getting this weekend. Ill be smoking these lil guys for the Broncos Super Bowl win (big time Broncos fan). Was wondering what u put in ur brine and what type of wood you used?


for the brine i used pops recipe. i use his brine for everything. 

1 gal. cold water

1 cup salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp # 1 cure

you can leave the cure out if you plan on smoking at high temps. i use apple wood for pork.


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## hognclaw (Feb 1, 2014)

Pretty much the same as what I have put into my brine, but I usually don't add the cure. Is there any flavor difference with the cure and what do you consider high temps?


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## hognclaw (Feb 6, 2014)

So i triedusimg your pops brine recipe. I let it sit overnight then put my pork rub and smoked the backstaps and tenderloins from a 60 to 70 lb pig. Smoked for about 3 hours at 200 then wrapped in foil and cooked at 250 for about 5 hours or so. Used pecan for the wood. It was delicious!  Did this for the superbowl amd everyone loved it!  Didn't tell them it was wild hog till they were done eatning:). They couldn't belive it amd proly wouldn't haveate it if they knew. Have some pics[ATTACHMENT=1147]image.jpg (2,071k. jpg file)[/ATTACHMENT] ill try to post.


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## hognclaw (Feb 6, 2014)

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## hognclaw (Feb 6, 2014)

As you cam see ii had a lil helper. I also smoked a front leg, which is the middle picture

Was curious if the pink salt adds to the pink color of the meat when you use it with the brine? Anyone have any thought on that?


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## woodcutter (Feb 6, 2014)

hogNclaw said:


> As you cam see ii had a lil helper. I also smoked a front leg, which is the middle picture
> 
> Was curious if the pink salt adds to the pink color of the meat when you use it with the brine? Anyone have any thought on that?


That is a brine for making bacon and ham. If you would inject the brine in the meat and leave it soak about 14 days, it would turn into ham or bacon depending on which part of the pig. The brine soaks in from the outside and is probably part of your beautiful smoke ring. Injecting the brine gets the curing started deeper in a thicker piece of meat or by the bones. Your pig looks great the way you did it!


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## hognclaw (Feb 7, 2014)

Thanks Woodcutter!  appreciate the kind words!  

I actually did a small ham a few weeks back. I de-boned it and used essentially the same brine, but with less water and  let it soak for about a week or so then smoked it. It came out great. 
I shot 2 baby pigs yesterday evening and will brine them tonight and cook Saturday. Heres a pic of the lil guys













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Warning-Graphic images!!

Ill post the process so you guys can see.


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## hognclaw (Feb 7, 2014)

Was trying to male those pics a link and warn everyone it's a bit graphic, but guess I didnt get that done right.


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## mchar69 (Feb 11, 2014)

It's allright.  Headshots!  What rifle did you use?


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## bigtrain74 (Feb 11, 2014)

30/30? The whole experience looks great!


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## java (Feb 11, 2014)

Thats one of the things on my to do list, hog hunting.

You guys are lucky(in a way) to be so close to it!

 I would love to experiment with some little pigs.

Nice shots by the way, didnt get into any of the meat.


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## hognclaw (Feb 13, 2014)

That's my hog rifle - Marlin 45-70 with Hornady ballistic tips. Those are 350gr bullets.  I've goot the cabalas Hornady scope, which is specifically made for that gun amd those exact rounds. I must say that I'm really happy with that setup and was a little skeptical about the scope, but as you can see it's really accurate. 
Gotta go with head shots when they are that small cause you'll ruin all the meat otherwise. 2 shots and 2 kills. Those lil guys are fast too!


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## java (Feb 13, 2014)

Nice! That is my favorite round. Love the 45-70 it takes elk all day long.

Never thought about it for hogs.


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## hognclaw (Feb 13, 2014)

Yummmmy.....Elk, the other Red Meat. 
Was gonna get rhe 30-30, but wanted to be sure I sidn't have an injured boar charging me caise he didn't go down with the first shot!i also figured it could double as a good rifle for larger game, if I ever meeded it. Where I hunt, theres a lot of brush so this is a great gun to use


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