I've been trying to figure out interesting things to do with my new Woodstone oven. A whole suckling pig, once thought of, was compelling. Roasting a whole suckling pig in the oven was an adventure for an engineer. It's not a dish for the faint of heart.
I took some photos of the process.
I obtained the pig from Mcreynolds Farms via the internet. They called me and firmed up a specific delivery date and were highly informative about thawing, roasting times, and other questions I had.
Here is a summary of what I did to roast this pig.
Defrosting and Brining
I left the pig out when I first received it for a few hours, just to make sure it would start to thaw. I was concerned that it might not thaw completely. I received it Thursday around noon, and it was scheduled to start roasting on Saturday afternoon in anticipation of guests arriving around 6PM. After a few hours out at room temperature, I placed the pig in the refrigerator. The pig was 26 inches long and weighed about 18 pounds.
On Friday night, based on advice from Laura Dewell, the residential chef from Woodstone Corporation, manufacturer of my oven, I attempted to brine the pig. Since I had spoken to Laura only that day, I didn't have time to anticipate simmering water, salt, garlic, and other spices to create a brine that would then be cooled and poured over the pig. Instead, I simply poured kosher salt and water in a big bag and in the pig's abdominal cavity, and then placed the bag in a cooler surrounded by towels to force the salted water to cover the pig. I added most of the ice from my refrigerator's ice machine to the bag, as well. The result was water at just above freezing, which seemed right to me. I left the pig in the cooler overnight.
Meanwhile, since I hadn't used the oven in a while, I started heating it on Friday night at low flame, just to get it going. During the morning on Saturday, I turned the flame up more and began the process of bringing the oven up to about 550F.
Pig Preparation
On Saturday around midday, I started to prepare the pig. I drained it completely and dried it out with paper towels inside and out. I rubbed salt in the cavity and put a couple of halved lemons and oranges, a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme, and a few cloves of garlic in the cavity. I sewed up the cavity with butcher's twine using a needle made of steel wire and a very sharp paring knife to help the twine along. I placed the pig on a couple of roasting racks in a large roasting pan about the size of a full standard baking sheet. I slit the skin and inserted small slivers of garlic about every 3 inches all over the skin. I rubbed olive oil over the skin, salted the skin, and sprinkled some Paul Prudhomme Pork and Veal Magic over it. The tail and ears were covered with aluminum foil. I sliced out the pigs eyes with a very sharp paring knife and replaced them with maraschino cherries.
Roasting
I allowed the oven to rise to about 550F by 12:45PM, and then turned off the flame and closed the door. At 1:45PM, I removed the door and placed the pig in the oven. At 2:15PM, I checked and the pig was somewhat browned but not really brown. I had no idea how long all this would take, but it seemed like it needed more time. I basted the pig with the pulp of some lemons and oranges and returned it to the oven. At 2:30PM, the pig was getting too brown and had a little char on it. I basted the pig and sealed it in aluminum foil. At 4:15PM, I checked it and the internal temperature was already 175F. I had wanted to stop the roasting at something like 160F, so I was somewhat dismayed to discover it had cooked so fast, even with the flame off. My door does close the heat in fairly well, as I modified it to completely seal the oven chamber, a modification made to bake bread using the "retained heat" method.
Cooling
I opened the oven door and moved the roasting pan as close to the door as possible once I discovered it was already up to 175F.
Final Preparation
I transferred the pig to a baking sheet and attempted to give it the typical appearance of a whole pig, including putting an apple in the mouth, providing a necklace of cherry tomatoes, and surrounding the pig with some spinach and some oranges. OK, it wasn't that well done, but it was the best I could do. I felt like it was a miracle I'd made it this far. I then covered it in foil and placed it in the door of the oven again to wait a few minutes more for guests to arrive.
Unveiling and Carving.
When the guests arrived, I removed the pig from the oven and removed the foil. Of course, it is a bit of a spectacle, and I think the guests enjoyed the small touches, like the maraschino cherry eyes, the apple in the mouth, and the necklace of cherry tomatoes.
I quickly carved with an electric carving knife. First I removed the legs on one side and carved off much of the meat, leaving the bones for someone interested in picking. Then, I turned the pig over and removed the other legs. After that, I chopped off the ribs and sliced them up. A lot of meat was left along the spine and around the head, which was picked on as second helpings.
Results
The meat was delicious, although a little too salty. Next time, on the advice of Laura Dewell, I would brine the pig but omit any further salting of the cavity. I might still salt the skin a little. The skin was a little bit charred. Much of that was probably from the basting. I would omit any basting the next time. I believe the skin would become crisp if just left completely alone. It probably didn't benefit from the sprinkle of pepper either. I believe leaving it completely untouched other than a little olive oil and some salt would have been perfect. The slivers of garlic were good. I would do that again. The stuffing of lemons, oranges, fresh rosemary and thyme, and some garlic cloves worked very well, but again no salt was needed after the brining. The pig was done much sooner than I thought, even with the oven closed. Next time, I would leave the oven door open and flame on low. The result would be a similar temperature but a much drier oven. I believe that would contribute to a more dry and crisp skin. I would also only roast the pig to about 160 or 165F internal temperature in the thickest part of the leg.
Here is a summary of what I did to roast this pig.
Defrosting and Brining
I left the pig out when I first received it for a few hours, just to make sure it would start to thaw. I was concerned that it might not thaw completely. I received it Thursday around noon, and it was scheduled to start roasting on Saturday afternoon in anticipation of guests arriving around 6PM. After a few hours out at room temperature, I placed the pig in the refrigerator. The pig was 26 inches long and weighed about 18 pounds.
On Friday night, based on advice from Laura Dewell, the residential chef from Woodstone Corporation, manufacturer of my oven, I attempted to brine the pig. Since I had spoken to Laura only that day, I didn't have time to anticipate simmering water, salt, garlic, and other spices to create a brine that would then be cooled and poured over the pig. Instead, I simply poured kosher salt and water in a big bag and in the pig's abdominal cavity, and then placed the bag in a cooler surrounded by towels to force the salted water to cover the pig. I added most of the ice from my refrigerator's ice machine to the bag, as well. The result was water at just above freezing, which seemed right to me. I left the pig in the cooler overnight.
Meanwhile, since I hadn't used the oven in a while, I started heating it on Friday night at low flame, just to get it going. During the morning on Saturday, I turned the flame up more and began the process of bringing the oven up to about 550F.
Pig Preparation
On Saturday around midday, I started to prepare the pig. I drained it completely and dried it out with paper towels inside and out. I rubbed salt in the cavity and put a couple of halved lemons and oranges, a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme, and a few cloves of garlic in the cavity. I sewed up the cavity with butcher's twine using a needle made of steel wire and a very sharp paring knife to help the twine along. I placed the pig on a couple of roasting racks in a large roasting pan about the size of a full standard baking sheet. I slit the skin and inserted small slivers of garlic about every 3 inches all over the skin. I rubbed olive oil over the skin, salted the skin, and sprinkled some Paul Prudhomme Pork and Veal Magic over it. The tail and ears were covered with aluminum foil. I sliced out the pigs eyes with a very sharp paring knife and replaced them with maraschino cherries.
Roasting
I allowed the oven to rise to about 550F by 12:45PM, and then turned off the flame and closed the door. At 1:45PM, I removed the door and placed the pig in the oven. At 2:15PM, I checked and the pig was somewhat browned but not really brown. I had no idea how long all this would take, but it seemed like it needed more time. I basted the pig with the pulp of some lemons and oranges and returned it to the oven. At 2:30PM, the pig was getting too brown and had a little char on it. I basted the pig and sealed it in aluminum foil. At 4:15PM, I checked it and the internal temperature was already 175F. I had wanted to stop the roasting at something like 160F, so I was somewhat dismayed to discover it had cooked so fast, even with the flame off. My door does close the heat in fairly well, as I modified it to completely seal the oven chamber, a modification made to bake bread using the "retained heat" method.
Cooling
I opened the oven door and moved the roasting pan as close to the door as possible once I discovered it was already up to 175F.
Final Preparation
I transferred the pig to a baking sheet and attempted to give it the typical appearance of a whole pig, including putting an apple in the mouth, providing a necklace of cherry tomatoes, and surrounding the pig with some spinach and some oranges. OK, it wasn't that well done, but it was the best I could do. I felt like it was a miracle I'd made it this far. I then covered it in foil and placed it in the door of the oven again to wait a few minutes more for guests to arrive.
Unveiling and Carving.
When the guests arrived, I removed the pig from the oven and removed the foil. Of course, it is a bit of a spectacle, and I think the guests enjoyed the small touches, like the maraschino cherry eyes, the apple in the mouth, and the necklace of cherry tomatoes.
I quickly carved with an electric carving knife. First I removed the legs on one side and carved off much of the meat, leaving the bones for someone interested in picking. Then, I turned the pig over and removed the other legs. After that, I chopped off the ribs and sliced them up. A lot of meat was left along the spine and around the head, which was picked on as second helpings.
Results
The meat was delicious, although a little too salty. Next time, on the advice of Laura Dewell, I would brine the pig but omit any further salting of the cavity. I might still salt the skin a little. The skin was a little bit charred. Much of that was probably from the basting. I would omit any basting the next time. I believe the skin would become crisp if just left completely alone. It probably didn't benefit from the sprinkle of pepper either. I believe leaving it completely untouched other than a little olive oil and some salt would have been perfect. The slivers of garlic were good. I would do that again. The stuffing of lemons, oranges, fresh rosemary and thyme, and some garlic cloves worked very well, but again no salt was needed after the brining. The pig was done much sooner than I thought, even with the oven closed. Next time, I would leave the oven door open and flame on low. The result would be a similar temperature but a much drier oven. I believe that would contribute to a more dry and crisp skin. I would also only roast the pig to about 160 or 165F internal temperature in the thickest part of the leg.
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