I have meatheads book and enjoy it very much, my latest challenge is to try and roast a whole pig. The problem is the local supplier says they cannot cut through the backbone and remove the spinal cord because of the type of saw they use. They did say they can cut it right in half. Should I have them do that or do I need to figure out how to remove the backbone adn cord myself?
I'll back you up on this one, we've done several as well with the hog trussed on a spit, fully intact less intestines. Must be something in Meathead's book about it, guess I'll have to check it out.
Thanks for replies, Looking around online I saw some people use a machete and hammer to split the back bone, i'm still undecided if I will try that or have them cut it right in half. In Meathead's book he recommends splaying it so it cooks more evenly, although I know many people use the spit
I just flipped through the section in Sam Jones's book on prepping the hog and he does splay it in half but there is no mention of removing the spinal cord.
At a whole hog class I went to recently they did recommend removing the cord.
In Sam's book he explains splitting the hog using a reciprocating saw.
Did they tell you why they recommend removing the spinal chord??yeah it looks gross.. I don't serve it..the only way you could possibly see it is you cut the hog perfectly in half.
The demo was a half hog so it was easy to get to...I do not remember the reason why they removed it...I have watched some videos on whole hog and did not see the cord removed on them...
The person doing the class was a whole hog comp cook so some of the prep instructions seemed to be about appearance...
Safety? Eating the brain or spinal tissue of any animal exposes you to any number of diseases. Remember "Mad Cow Disease,", Meningitis, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and a host of prion diseases.
Could be Donw .. I have a buddy that usually drinks while I cook the pig. Then after quite a bit of whiskey will eat the eyeball!! It is pretty nasty!!
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