Suckling Pig Puns

Pretty much the title. What does it taste like? Was it worth the price?

Soooo this might be me being a little spiteful. 😂 Basically some vegan went off on me over several paragraphs that ended with “imagine you were a baby piglet.” I was nothing but kind and respectful to her and had never started a confrontation with her about veganism. I ignored all the brain dead vegan shit she posted because I realized she was going through a really traumatic situation, and of course it’s insta so she can see I viewed her stories. Unfortunately she couldn’t extend the same courtesy to me posting my own opinions on my own page.

Point is, this made me realize piglet is a meat I haven’t tried! However, we’re talking $150 for a 5-7 pound pig, and so I wanna keep in in the back of my mind if I ever wanna cook for a celebration/holiday. So who’s eaten it? How does it compare to regular pork? Is it worth the price for a one time special occasion, or is there another fancy meat that has that “wow” factor that you guys would recommend?

Many thanks! 🤗

EDIT: Thank you all for your replies, now it's definitely on my bucket list to try! Sorry my post was a little bit of a rant, I needed to get it out and figured the folks here would let it slide. 😂

Anyone know a local place that selling Filipino whole pork belly or a full/half sucking pig? Needing it for a Christmas party. Thanks!

Hi: To celebrate the holidays this weekend, I'll be roasting a suckling pig for some friends. It'll be my fourth attempt to do so—previous efforts yielded lovely meat and impressive centerpiece but tough or simply soft skin. This time I want this skin crispy. I am committed to this. I have a plan in place, which I've cobbled together from a variety of recipes, articles, and reddit threads. I present the plan here, and am looking for any critiques, advice, warnings, or insight.

Day before:

1. score the pig's skin with a knife or needle without penetrating the meat. The plan is to cover it with hundreds of holes, as if i were making siu yuk.
2. cover the exterior with a mixture of 1 part baking soda to 4 parts kosher salt
3. refrigerate 24 hours (ish)

Day of:

1. position the pig on a rack in the sink and douse it with a huge pot of boiling water (I've read this tightens the skin skin and/or pre-render some fat—similar to what Kenji does in his Peking duck recipe—though the jury is out on whether it's best to do this the day before, after scoring the skin, or right before cooking, or what the actual effect is.)
2. cover the ears and tail with foil, stick a ball of foil in the mouth
3. cook at 275 for X number of hours (I haven't figured out just how long yet)
4. place the pig on a fresh, clean sheet pan and blast at 450/475 for 20/30 min, or for as long as i can until my kitchen gets smokey.
5. let sit before serving

Am I missing anything? Am I misguided? Recipes for Schweinshaxe sometimes mention pouring beer over the skin during the final crisping stage, but I am skeptical about whether that's actually of benefit. (In the past I was really into stuffing the pig cavity with aromatics, which smelled amazing, but i realize now likely added lots of moisture which messed up the skin.) Thank you!

Ideally pork raised and slaughtered in the Hudson Valley, but I'd be happy to hear any recs.

Hi there brains trust. Looking at catering for a bday party. Around 20 adults. Would like to order a suckling pig preferably Chinese or Korean style. Does anyone know places that do this? Either whole pig or by the kg. Ideally NOR. Thanks

Babe came out great!!! The meat was tender juicy and thanks to the brine flavorful. Below is a rundown of the cooking process.

1. Buddies came over with beer in hand. After a few drinks we decided to brine. (salt, sugar, fresh garlic, onion, and citrus fruits)

2. After a 10 hour soak Babe was rinsed and patted dry. To rinse we put the pig in an ice chest and left the drain open. We then ran water over the pig for a minute or two. She was dried off, seasoned, and injected. The seasoning was Mark's Good Stuff from my local grocery store. The injection was a 50/50 mix of apple juice and ACV.

   Note: It helped having a buddy show up with donuts and coffee.

3. By 5AM Babe was being smoked at 225°F. At 7AM the temp was bumped to 240°F. Babe's internal temp increased 10°F every thirty minutes like clockwork. After about six hours we hit a minor stall at @ 165°F. By 2PM I was probing 200 on each ham and shoulder.

   Note: I put the grill grate in upside down and backwards to make sliding the pug in and out a little easier.

4. Now I had to transport Babe to the party. Luckily my wife orders from Amazon quite frequently. We had an empty box that fit the grated and pig perfectly. We lined the box with aluminum foil and set the grate and pig inside.

5. It is difficult to carve specific cuts of meat from the pig. We were able to get a bit of tenderloin. Essentially you end up with a lot of pulled pork. Save the skin for frying. Home made chicarron is amazing.

   Note: I recommend using heat resistant gloves while cutting up the meat. I did not and now fear I have burned off my fingerprints.

I would 100% recommend this cook to anyone looking for an excuse to get with some friends, have a few drinks, and present the main course at a party. There is certainly a large "WOW" factor.

Link to Pics

I’ve seen recipes for a suckling pig made in the oven (up to around 20 lbs) and I’m wondering if anyone has tried on a smaller Traeger like a Pro 575. Obviously you couldn’t flatten it out but they primarily roast it curled up. Or is an ironwood 885 as small as you could go?

Thinking of using baking sheets to ensure it doesn’t flame up. And maybe a smoke tube up top to make up for blocked airflow.

Let me know!

Anybody know where to get a suckling pig in the Boston metro area? I've called many butcher shops that are open right now. Seems several are closed Monday-Wednesday. Is costco worth looking at?

as per title. about to pick up my first gravity series smoker grill, and it occurred to me that i'd love to spin a baby pig in it. i think they get upwards of 30" long, and i tried referencing websites and contacting masterbuilt and all i got back was the marketing bs of "this much sq in" which is absolutely useless for my question. can anybody chime in? my local shops only have the 560 on display and it looks like it's about 24" width for the grates

of course, if a trussed up suckling pig is too big to rotate in any of them, please tell me that too, and maybe point me towards which ones can fit one spatchcocked :)

I have to admit this was done on a lesser egg before I could save for a Big Green Egg, but planning to do another on my new egg.

https://preview.redd.it/9fntppk6jii71.jpg?width=886&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f56335f2619161a74ba0e3b1a603341ad3c3d029

Do you know of any local places (farm/butcher/etc) where I could purchase a suckling pig for a party?

I tried Anderson Meats and they had me call Greenville Meats who does not have one smaller than ~50lb (but we’re very kind and helpful btw).

For the Fourth, I am smoking a suckling pig and a whole strip loin. The pig will be around 20 pounds and the strip loin about 10 pounds. Read a few recipes and they all say to smoke the pig at 225-250 anywhere from 4-6 hours to reach 165 and the strip loin for ~3.5 hours. Is this true? I would have thought the pig needed way more time. If a shoulder needs 8-12 hours, why would a whole (albeit small) pig need only 4-6? Anyone here smoke a suckling pig before? Any tips or advice would be appreciated.

Basic plan:

1. picking up a ~45lb pig on Friday to smoke on saturday

2. injecting on Friday and storing in a cooler with ice. Should I dry brine too?

3. Rub with salt free rub (Memphis dust recipe from amazingribs) Saturday morning and wrap snout/ears in foil. Place temp probe in shoulder. I will not butterfly this pig because part of the appeal for me is having it appear whole and it's my birthday so I'm doing it this way. Should I put anything in the cavity? Pineapple sounds fun.

4. Start smoking around 9AM. Using a big offset smoker with a combination of oak and some other more flavorful wood, probably apple unless someone has recommendations. Aiming to run it at 225deg.

5. Remove when internal temp hits ~190deg, hopefully around 3 or 4PM (would love some input on this timing). This part is confusing to me. Amazingribs says 145deg is better for a suckling pig but most other websites say 190-205. I typically trust amazingribs but this confused me. Anyone have input?

6. Rest until it's time to eat.