How To Cook A Whole Hog... by the Killer Hogs Competition BBQ Team...

When you get your whole hog, you need to cut tendons at the ankle of all four legs. This ensures that the feet do not curl up when you cook your whole hog. Lay the hog on its back and cut the skin away from the hog's belly all the way up to the spine. Then cut the skin away from the legs and shoulders. Dislocate both hips (grab hog's ankle, press down firmly toward belly, until hip "pops")

We coat our whole hog with mustard, then apply our special Killer Hogs Rub.

You have two options when placing your hog on the grill grate. You can lay the hog on his back, or his stomach. We suggest cutting through the breast bone and laying the hog on his back. This is preferred in competition BBQ.

Check temperatures and add more charcoal every 40 minutes. Place probes (or meat thermometers) in thickest portion of both shoulder and leg. Set final cooking temperatures to 160F (70C) for the leg, and 180F (82C) for the shoulder. During the initial 40 minutes, check barbecue temperature. It should peak at about 225F (105C). Try to keep it within ten degrees of this temperature throughout by adjusting charcoal supply and vents on unit. This takes a bit of trial and error.

Keep adding charcoal, checking temperatures, and making sure the water trays don't run dry. Try to manage it so that the (quicker-cooking) leg is cooking slower than the shoulder. Ideally it should be about five to 15 degrees cooler than the shoulder.

Figure out by how many degrees the temperatures increase per hour. Using this figure, estimate how long it will take to complete cooking. But beware, at around 145F everything seems to grind to a juddering halt, and the temperature doesn't budge for what seems an age. Again, we recommend allowing an hour or two's leaway.