How to Cook Pig Pickin' With Oak Wood
Cooking a pig pickin or pig roast is great fun. The smoke wafting through the air of the cooking pork is tantalizing. Everyone has their own special recipe for the best sauces or sauces, especially in the southern states where more pigs where raised for eating than cows. The type of wood used to cook and smoke the pork varies almost as much, often based on the local varieties of trees in the area. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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1
Start the fire in your smoker. Typically, the normal procedure is to lay crumpled paper down in the bottom of the firebox, add some dry kindling and then stack a couple pieces of split oak on top. Light the fire and keep the cover open in the smoker for the maximum airflow. Bring the fire up to a roaring blaze and close the covers.
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2
Prepare your meat by covering it with your favorite seasonings or simple a little salt and pepper. Leave all the fat on the meat if you are smoking a shoulder roast. Whole pigs obviously need their skin and fat to hold everything together.
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3
Check the temperature in the smoker. You want the meat to cook slowly at a low temperature so all the juices don't run out. Place the seasoned pork in the smoker when the temperature drops below 300.
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4
Reduce the smoke release on the chimney so that only about a third of the opening is showing and close the smoke box vent almost all the way shut.
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Add more dry oak wood to the fire every hour to keep the heat consistent. Be careful not to let the fire die down too much or it will be difficult to bring up the heat slowly.
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6
Check the meat often to make sure it is not too close to the fire and rotate it to keep it cooking evenly on all sides.
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Remove the meat when the interior temperature of the pork or pig is 200 degrees Fahrenheit and the meat is fork tender after six to eight hours, or more for a whole pig.
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