I may try this someday

[Starsky]

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https...__tn__=H-y-R&c[0]=AT2veBY80qsa4rSIGbbZDK-7wjzhoFX0_v-V2hu2Vuuz58j_WglOZWPnbH_n9qwRivZ9hRRo4FHEwNeazqiIw TmaKj0T90nba2-dNBc2T6IfmQbwPDkfl4lMLg7ErkKKfvC4LD7PGwcfjHMBkzfD4 irmOI0V-34SIgA6DCGqDzcfbqcYGHeuZbQF4UiLF4dQ3Bn-jHc4w3szR4saPaWuVWOhw73UzTWWaSNnI09_PRg

[Panhead John]

Link doesn’t work….

[Attjack]

Neither does your face.

[Steve B]

You might want a word with your plastic surgeon.
Just sayin'

[Bad Hat BBQ]

I thought Phyllis Diller had passed away....

[Starsky]

Link didn't work but don't know how to delete post

[Panhead John]

You can’t delete the post, only a mod can. I’d just delete the link you posted and try again.

[DavidNorcross]

Should be able to edit your post.

[Starsky]

Really wasn't a big deal. Just an article about cooking a whole hog

[Steve R.]

I don't think you're going to be able to share it with a link.

[WillTravelForFood]

a gentle reminder: Not everybody on the Pit is on Facebook, so sharing FB links without associated context doesn't always help, as some folks won't bother to click FB links at all...

[mrteddyprincess]

Starsky the suspense is killing me :-) Can you send us a verbal description of what you saw? Chances are if you want to try it, many of us do too!

Brian

[Starsky]

Three Oklahoma pitmasters put on a whole hog show

A rare find in Oklahoma, whole hog offers a complex and rich pork experience.


BEN FELDER
JUN 17, 2023

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Levi Bouska shows off the head of a hog he, along with Adam Green and Zach Edge, smoked on June 10, 2023. PHOTO BY NATHAN POPPE
Whole hog is a barbecue rite of passage, the pinnacle of the smoked meat journey for both the pitmaster and the connoisseur. As the North Carolina barbecue legend Sam Jones wrote in his book, it’s more than just a great meal, “Whole hog is an event.”

In Oklahoma, whole hog is typically contained to amateur cooks as I’m unaware of a restaurant that regularly smokes pork in this fashion — dear reader, please correct me if I’m wrong.

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But last week was an opportunity to see a local whole hog cook in action at the hands of some of Oklahoma’s top pitmasters. Levi Bouska of The Butcher BBQ Stand hosted Zach Edge of Edge Craft Barbecue and Adam Green of Mac’s Barbecue for a Carolina whole hog collaboration as part of his Wellston restaurant’s summer Saturday night series. Like a moth to a flame, Nathan Poppe — who took all these gorgeous photos — and I made the 30-minute drive outside Oklahoma City and reveled in the unique experience.

For nearly 12 hours the hog, which was split and bracketed in rebar, was smoked in a cinderblock pit at around 250 degrees with smoldering wood coals placed along the inside edge.
The three Oklahoma pitmasters “toast” each other with hunks of pork after finishing a more than 12-hour whole hog cook. PHOTO BY NATHAN POPPE
When the hog came off the pit and its juicy meat began to be pulled away from the carcass, we all became children on Christmas morning drawn to the unwrapping of presents that had been tempting us from underneath the tree.

Even the three pitmasters could not contain their glee over the finished product as they toasted one another with the first hunks of meat, almost appearing to intertwine their arms as if feeding each other cake at a wedding reception.

“I always wanted to do a whole hog and this was such a cool experience,” Adam said. “Being my first time you don’t know how it will turn out but we passed (out those first bites) and we saw people nodding, and we were like, ‘Yes, we got it.’”

Levi leaned over the still smoldering pit and began to tug at the ham and belly meat, tossing it into a metal container that Adam and Zach soon dumped onto a table to be chopped, seasoned with a maple and honey rub, then drizzled with a vinegar Carolina sauce.
Zach, Adam and Levi after their whole hog cook. PHOTO BY NATHAN POPPE
The beauty of getting to try hunks of the hog as they are being pulled is the chance to better understand the distinct tastes of each part. The dark meated cheeks were savory and a tad chewy, while the fatty pieces from the belly instantly dissolved in the mouth. The meat from the ham legs was drier but had more of the hickory smoke flavor.

The crackling — the skin — deserves its own blog post as the juicy yet crunchy bites were addicting. Hot coals were placed directly underneath the hog for the final 40 minutes of the cook, which gave the skin its crispiness.
Adam and Zach season the freshly chopped pork before adding Carolina barbecue sauce. PHOTO BY NATHAN POPPE
Chopping the different parts together results in a complex and succulent taste that you don’t get from traditional pulled pork that just comes from the shoulder. The fatty and lean chunks, along with the crunchy skin, are found together in each bite. The combination creates a texture that reminded me of fried rice that has crispy specs mixed among the softer rice pieces.

After eating some of the pork as it was pulled, Levi served us the dish being offered to customers — a plate of cedar-hued pork with sides of watermelon salad and jalapeno popper mac and cheese.

Levi said the experience left him exhausted yet pleased to see customers get a chance to watch the cook and preparation in an intimate way not always possible with other forms of barbecue.

“This was quite the show,” Levi said as he cooled off with a beer.

Quite the show, indeed.


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[Jerod Broussard]

I could hang one in my vertical. And with the bottom running a bit warmer it would cook those shoulders a bit better. I watched 2 intoxicated individuals cook a whole hog back in 2005 (geez time flies).