Suckling Pig: Small Enough for Your Grill

So you don’t have a place to build a pit? You can still do a pig roast and create magical meat with a young pig. Technically, suckling pigs have not been weaned, are less than 2 months old, and weigh less than 25 pounds, but butchers often call anything under 50 pounds a suckling. The muscles haven’t toughened yet, and the milk-fed meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender. There is much less fat in proportion to muscle than on a grown hog. But this is important to note: The fat can taste funky to some people, somewhat reminiscent of Brie cheese, because the animal has been mostly milk-fed.

I like to serve this meal caveman style: no knives and forks—just fingers and plenty of paper towels. Flesh fest.

Makes 10 servings

Takes 4 to 5 hours

• 1 (25-pound) suckling pig (see Notes)
• ½ cup kosher salt
• ¼ cup Simon & Garfunkel Rub (page 168)
• 2 cherries, grapes, or olives, to replace the eyes
• 12 garlic cloves, smashed
• 6 onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 oranges, sliced
• 2 lemons, sliced
• 4 cups loosely packed fresh herbs, such as thyme, oregano, and rosemary
• 1 small apple, for the mouth
• 1 pint barbecue sauce (see Notes)

1. Prep. When you order, ask your butcher to make sure to remove all hair and to cut through the breastbone. With a butane lighter or a disposable razor, get rid of any hair or bristles. Rinse the cavity to remove any bone chips. Wet the skin thoroughly and salt both the interior of the pig and the skin. Sprinkle the Simon & Garfunkel Rub onto the bare meat in the cavity. Remove the eyes with a spoon (your butcher may have done this) and replace them with cherries, grapes, or olives.

2. Put the pig on its side and distribute the garlic, onions, citrus slices, and herbs in the cavity. Place a block of wood about the size of the apple in the pig’s mouth to keep it open.

3. Fire up. Get the smoker started or set up the grill in a two-zone configuration and get the indirect zone up to about 225°F. You must cook with indirect heat or you will burn the skin and get to meet the fire department.

4. Cook. Roast at 225°F until the temperature in the deep center of the hams is 140°F. Spot-check all over. You don’t need to cook it to a higher temperature because the muscles and sinew haven’t gotten tough yet. Check the underside regularly to make sure it is not about to burn.

5. You should only need to flip the pig once, after about 2 hours, but if the underside is getting dark, flip more often or consider putting down a layer of foil. Rotate one side 180 degrees if the hot zone is too close to the pig. Depending on its thickness, the pig could be done in 4 hours or less. Exact timing will depend on a lot of variables you cannot control, so have plenty of appetizers and drinks on hand until the pig is ready.

6. Serve. When it is ready, move the pig to a huge platter, scoop the aromatics out of the cavity and discard them, and put the apple in its mouth. Ceremoniously carry it to the serving table still on its side. Unfold it, opening the cavity. Cut through the skin on the hams, put some serving forks or tongs on the table, and give everyone a plate. Stand back or get trampled.

Notes: You need a hacksaw with a clean blade to cut through the breastbone if your butcher doesn’t do it.

About the sauce: Although I don’t like covering this delicate meat with the usual sweet red barbecue sauce (page 175) some people will want it, so have a bowl on hand. My preference is a vinegary Lexington Dip (page 179) or Columbia Gold (page 177).