Quote:
Originally Posted by pnoon
Details, please.
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What went wrong:
Usually I have the pig butterflied for the Caja China, this time I had it kept whole. That made it really tough to get the injection into some parts. I actually broke an injector trying to push it through the skin.
For the cook I did 6 hrs @225° then bumped it up to 275° until it hit the stall, again bumped up to 325° to get through the stall, and one last bump to high when internal temp was 195°, took off the smoker at 205°. Total cook time was 10 hours. I bumped the temp up at the end in an effort to crisp the skin. I also pierced it with a knife as I do in the Caja China. It didn't work. The skin was rubbery, and piercing it caused it to separate and expose the meat. The bump in temp also caused uneven coloring of the skin. In hindsight, I would've started earlier and just maintained 225° for the duration of the cook, and had a deep fryer ready to go for the skin.
I did a piss poor job of tying the pig. Just getting the pig to bend into position took every bit of my strength. Holding it and tying it was an even greater chore. My bad job tying it didn't hurt the cook, just the presentation.
Next time I'll see if the farm can tie it for me, if not, instead of pre-ordering the pig I'll see if I can get it immediately after it's killed, before it stiffens up. Not sure if the stiffness is from refrigeration or rigor mortis.
Despite the 10 hour cook, the pig had zero smoke flavor. I didn't expect a ton of smoke since I was using the Traeger, but didn't think zero was a possibility.
I was looking for something that resembled bbq and wound up with roasted pig. Not a bad thing, but not what I was expecting. I would've had a dipping sauce and some different sides had I known.
I didn't have enough greens on hand to fully garnish the serving tray. That coupled with the uneven and torn skin, plus add the fact that my pig didn't sit up, I wasn't satisfied with the presentation.
What wen't right:
I guessed correctly on the size of the pig. I couldn't find a definitive answer on what would fit. I ordered a 55 pound live weight. Traeger claims you can do a 65lb dead weight pig on the Texas if you butterfly it and remove the legs at the shins.
That was too much meat for my needs (this time
) and I wanted my pig to sit up. There was room to go bigger left to right in the cooker, but less that 1/2 an inch clearance on top. Maybe with a better tie job you could get the pig flatter and go with something larger.
Pig was cooked perfectly. Even the loin was moist. I usually protect the loin with bacon and sausage meat since it cooks on it's back in the China box. I wasn't able to do that since the pig cooks upright here, but I think the fat from the skin kept it basted.
Despite it being a monumental chore, I was able to get the marinade injected into enough places that you could really taste it.
The only other tip I can give you is to start with an empty grease can, and keep an eye on it. Mine was empty, and was near the brim when I finished.
Had I done the cook @ 225° all the way through, I have no doubt that it would've overflowed.
