Question I have a 30lb pig and a 35 lb pig, I want to cook it in my wooden smoker. Do u have any suggestions on temp, how long, and any other info u can give me
Answer Adan:
A pork needs to reach at least a temperature of 137F in order to kill any Trichinosis parasite that might be in the meat. I am not sure it you want to just smoke the meat for cooking later or whether you intent that your "smoking" will also cook it for consumption.
I roast my pigs at around 190F to 200F for as long as I can. Usually a good 20 hours for even cooking. In a pinch I can do it in 7 hours but the pig does not cook as evenly since I have to do it at a higher temperature.
The problem with your woooden smoker is the temperature you can run it up to. You might be able to run it at 190 degrees, but the other problem is the amount of fat produced. Pig roasting is done with the skin on so that the meat bastes in its own fat and does not dry out. If you skin the pig, it will reduce the amount of fat drippings, but unless you have a good drip pan to prevent flare-ups you will impart a burned fat taste and smell to the meat.
I have made a small cooker out of cinder blocks that worked very well. I made a chimney at one end of the enclosure by aligning the center openings of the blocks at one end and then breaking a doorway in one block to create a chimney draft way. My fire was built at the opposite end so the pig was never over the coals but was cooked by the hot air moving over and under it on its way to the chimney. I covered the makeshift pit with sheet metal one time and another time with sheets of fireproof board. The opening used to feed the fire was made from a small peice of square culvert or chimney flue. The grate inside was made with lengths of rebar for support and on top of that I laid a piece of remesh, the metal grating used to reinforce concrete. I built the fire , placed the pig and closed it up, maintaining the temp with the use of a long shaft thermometer laid so that I could read the max temp in the top of the enclosure. The internal meat temp was monitored with a remote digital thermometer.
