How long to smoke 50 lb (live weight) split pig in Meadow Creek roaster at 225 ?


 
N

Neil Grant

TVWBB Fan
Am told this equates to about 25 lbs bone, meat and skin...also cooking butterflied and skin down and want to serve at 7 pm

Any idea about cooking time ?

Will have multiple racks of ribs on too, which by experience takes 5 hours.
 
I'm confused, is it 50 pounds live weight or dressed? Live weight to me is before slaughter, it sounds like you are really talking about a dressed weight.
My experiences are all on larger pigs, between 150 and 240 using a "tank" roaster so, I don't know how much help I can be. The big one was roughly 26 hours. It had been raised by a dairy farmer and they brought back the out dated milk and fed it to the pigs, this one got the chocolate milk for its last two weeks, I was skeptical about it but, the first bite made me a believer! It was a grand wedding feast that my friends still talk about (25 years later)
The small one seemed like maybe twelve or so. It's been a long time, my memory may be sketchy.
These were not butterflied, the big one was stuffed with a bread sauerkraut mixture a long time family friend brought over the day before and helped get it stuffed, sewn and in the roaster, then it was all just waiting.
I guess that's not much help, sorry.
 
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I meant a much smaller pig...50 when live but dressed...I used the terms split and butterflied but perhaps wasn't clear.
 
Best answer would be "its done when its done". That might not be what you need to hear,
but many variables in temp, cooker etc. Internal temp does not lie.
 
So, you are saying that 50 is its standing walking weight (live) and expected dressed weight is 25, got it.
As for split, that would imply two pieces in my lexicon, butterflied, halves still connected.
If you are laying it full spread eagled, I would think skin side up would provide better moisture retention, the rendering fat running "through" the meat rather than melting and dripping directly onto the fire.
I would get it on at maybe ten in the morning and use the "Bob's Corrolary":
"It will be done when it is finished." Better to err on the side of done a little off time than to set a watch and end up deeply disappointed.
I have been considering a suckling pig for a family feast at some point but, I'm got getting much support from the more "delicate" members of the family.
 
Just looked at the cooker site to make sure what exactly you are using, 25 pounds isn't a vast amount and given the dressed dimensions, I don't know that it should take much more than six to eight hours. I'd do it fat side "up" so the fat renders through the meat and keeps it a little more moist.
Like I said, I've not done one that small. Good luck.
Why not contact "Big Poppa", they might have a better idea since they are the dealer first listed?
 
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Thanks for that input Tim....the roaster has a large heat shield between the coals and cooking grates to prevent fat drip flare ups...like a smoker... so I think skin down would be OK (and the skin won't burn)
 
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