Whole Roasted Suckling Pig Recipe
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More than a meal, it’s an event to roast a suckling pig. Oftentimes the pig is roasted in a wood-burning oven or outdoors, making it infeasible for most people. But this recipe from Chef Jose Garces of Amada restaurant in Philadelphia makes it doable in a home kitchen. By brining the young pig before roasting it, Garces has developed a nearly foolproof method for achieving tender, moist meat.
What to buy: Suckling pig should be ordered from a quality butcher. This recipe will accommodate a 12- to 20-pound pig, but most ovens won’t easily fit a pig that’s more than 18 pounds.
Game plan: Suckling pig has a more distinct pork flavor than most commercial pork cuts, and the taste can take some getting used to.
You’re dealing with a large amount of raw meat here, so be sure to clean up thoroughly afterward.
Take the internal temperature of the pig by inserting a thermometer into the thigh (be sure the thermometer doesn’t touch any bone).
You can use foil to hold the pig’s mouth in place during roasting or the more traditional apple.
This recipe was featured as part of our Suckling Pig for the Holidays menu.
- 1 (12- to 18-pound) whole suckling pig
- 15 quarts water
- 6 1/2 cups kosher salt
- 4 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, for basting
- Rinse pig in cold water and set aside. Line a 32-gallon garbage bag with 2 more 32-gallon garbage bags. Place water, salt, and sugar in the tripled-up garbage bags and stir to dissolve, taking care not to puncture the bags. Place pig in the bags, remove excess air, and tie tightly. Place in a 15-quart container in the refrigerator and brine 12 to 24 hours, turning once.
- Heat the oven to 250°F and arrange a rack on the lowest level. Remove the pig from the brine and pat dry with paper towels; discard brine. Lay the pig on its side and stuff the interior with 15 to 20 large (20-inch-long) pieces of lightly crumpled aluminum foil until it’s filled out. (This will prevent caving during roasting.)
- Transfer the pig to a baking sheet fitted with a roasting rack. Arrange it stomach down with the back legs tucked underneath and pointing forward, and the front legs tucked underneath and toward its sides. (You may need to add more foil if it is not sitting properly.) Prop up the head with foil or a large ramekin to keep the back aligned. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in the oven.
- Roast the pig, rotating once, until it reaches 130°F, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove the foil, baste with oil, and increase the oven temp to 400°F.
- Roast, basting every 15 minutes with oil and rotating once more, until the internal temperature reaches 160°F, about 45 minutes to 1 hour more. (If the ears or snout become too brown, cover with foil.) Remove from the oven and let rest 20 minutes before carving.
I was thinking of filling the cavity with pink lady apples, rosemary, and lavender. Would this alter the cook time? Would the thigh method still be accurate?
@JRivera- Indoors or out? Hacksaw, or hatchet and hammer have been my preferred tools. Are you concerned about space?
I want to buy a caja china to roast a pig in.
http://lacajachina.com/
can I cut it in 1/2 and cook side by side, how hard is it to cut in 1/2...cooking it 12/06..already have the pig 28lbs (j.rivera4@hotmail.com)...help please!
Got you loud and clear, Tyson01mx. And, if I may say so, YOU da MAN! :)
I mean, if you're going to present the thing whole in all it's glory and cut it table side then you can't cut into a big blob of foil, and if you try to take the foil out before going to the table you're going to make an awful mess.
kdm12701 still can't see it? I just did two at once, same way, but stuffed with ginger, garlic and kumquat, glazed with chile, grapefruit gastric. They have to go for 4 1/2 hours at 250 degrees to get to 130 internal though. Also fresh oysters mignonette, papaya pickles and onion marmalade and some fresh corn tortillas. I think if you stuff the pigs with aluminum they cook faster.
Just got an email that tyson01mx made a comment on the roast pig, but I can't see anything but the name. Is it just me?
Just Made this for an event in Monterrey Mexico with a 15 pounder. Stoffed with whole cloves of garlic and bay leaves and branches. Just a few changes. Don't forget to prick the skin along both sides of the back bone and around the rump, otherwise it will crack. I cooked it at 250 for 3 1/2 hrs to 130, then at 325 to 165 (1 1/2 hour), then in a wood burning stove at 400 just to crisp the skin. Served it with it's jus, roasted chipolini onions, the roasted garlic from the belly, and fresh bread from the wood burner to soak up the jus. Best pig ever!
Except for the 40 lber we did in New York in a rock lined pit for 13 hours with tomatillo salsa and fresh flout tortillas. Bon Appetit!
A true suckling pig would weigh about 8 or 9 pounds. Weights above that are different animals yielding a different flavor. Only the little ones taste like a true Spanish (Spain) cuchinillo asado. But these are not readily available in the USA. I have had equal difficulty in finding a baby lamb of about 12 or 14 pounds for an authentic cordero asado. Has anyone encountered pigs and lambs this young for sale in the USA?
I almost decided to make one this holiday season, as I had them often at holidays when I was young. The number of vegetarian and vegan friends I had invited decided me against it. I doubt they would have been able to eat anything at all if they had seen this on the table. Still, I hope someday I can do this. I just need to find more omnivorous friends I guess. Or, just 'come clean' to my veggie friends and explain WHY they aren't invited that year. (Then hope they speak to me afterwards)
Throw away pork and eat chicken?
Heresy! Now where did I put my matches and that stake.........
In my lifetime, I can't remember how many times I have roasted whole pigs on spits. The absolute tastiest way was to season the pig on the inside with seasoned salt and pepper, stuff it with whole chickens and stuff the birds with onions with a few whole cloves. When the pig is done, the chicken meat nearly fall off the bones cooking for hours in the seasoned pig cavity. And the cooked onions with cloves in the chickens, ...ahh, what can I say? Throw the crispy-skinned pig and eat the chicken.
Hell, if I knew how to de-bone a while pig without ruining it I'm sure I'd know how to carve it. LOL! I'm good in the kitchen, but I still haven't mastered de-boning a chicken, fer pete's sake! When will I learn?
Re: Carving ... If you're willing to do some work on the early side of this project - cut open the pig and remove the bones. Sew it back up and then proceed as instructed. You're stuffing with aluminum anyways so the loss in shape will be minimal. Then when you go to carve - it's mostly meat - no major bones to worry about as you carve.
I agree, Ken. I need to know how to carve this, as well. And I think ALL of your glazes would work wonderfully, as long as they don't go on so early that the glaze burns rather than caramelizes. I especially like the Thai idea.
Sounds like a good recipe, but how do you carve a suckling pig?!
Secondly, it seems a waste not to place aromatics in the body cavity.
Third, what about other basting fluids? I'm thinking a ham glaze like Caroline described, or a coconut milk + Thai spices would go well for a more Asian flavor. Heck, even plain Coca-Cola and pineapple juice would work well, I think.
This sounds absolutely wonderful. I assume I can roast this pig in my pellet-fed smoker/BBQ at the same temperatures. I do wish there were some comments about how best to CARVE this wonderful animal. Unless it is like Kalua Pig in Hawai'i where carving is not possible since the pork is falling off the bone.
Years ago, when I had access to a hog rancher who would hand pick a suckling pig for me and butcher it, I served them regularly for Christmas dinner. I miss hog ranches! Anyway, rather than baste with oil, I used a glaze similar to what one uses for a whole ham. A favorite had concentrated apple juice, honey and spices such as cinnamon. It produces great color and a nice crackling skin. I also used a foil ball in it's mouth, then replaced it with a bright red apple at serving time, along with a red velvet ribbon and holly sprig around the critter's neck for presentation, and lined the platter with "frosted grapes" that had been dipped in egg white, rolled in sugar, then air dried for a day. Today I would use the pasteurized egg whites that come in a carton instead of raw eggs. I also put green marbles in the eye sockets before roasting. But cooks should be aware, no matter how interesting your presentation, there are people around today who are quite put off by the sight of a roasted whole animal that is not a bird on the table. I know. What's stranger than people? Just pass them an extra serving of Brussels sprouts. There is nothing lovelier for Christmas dinner than a whole suckling pig with an apple in its mouth! Deck the halls!