Cuban Pig
One of the highlights in my culinary career was cooking for a Caribbean and Low-Country Food Festival I catered for Johnson & Wales University at the Middleton Place plantation outside of Charleston, South Carolina. We had just won the International Jamaican Jerk Style/Southern Barbecue Cook-Off, and we were invited to cook the Caribbean portion of the menu. Two 120-pound whole pigs were prepared for the event; one was cooked in the Jamaican jerk style, and the other was prepared Cuban-style with a sour-orange marinade. Once the guests were seated, the pigs were carried from the cooker like ancient royalty in a sedan-chair procession and presented at the head of the buffet. This was the only dinner I have ever attended where the main course, not the chef, got the standing ovation. I love the intensity and acidity of a sour-orange marinade, and over the years I have tried many ways to get these wonderful flavors dispersed throughout very thick cuts of meat. After much experimentation I’ve found that two solutions work best: a generous soaking with sour-orange flavors throughout the cooking process or a simple sour-orange injection. With apologies to traditionalists, I chose the latter.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 50
Ingredients
Mojo Criolo Injection
Rub
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the injection ingredients in a large bowl, and blend well. Place the pig on a tabletop, skin side down. Using a meat syringe, inject the entire amount of injection solution evenly into all of the meat.
Step 2
To make the rub, separate the cloves from all 8 heads of garlic and peel them. Place the whole garlic cloves, green onions, oregano, pepper, and salt in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Rub this mixture onto the belly of the pig, working it into all crevices and making sure that all exposed meat is seasoned thoroughly.
Step 3
Light 20 pounds of charcoal in the bottom of your direct cooker. When the charcoal is hot and grayish white, rake the coals into 4 equal piles in the corners of the cooker. Top each pile of glowing coal with another 5 pounds of unlit charcoal.
Step 4
Place the pig on the cooker grate skin side down. Center the pig, making sure it does not lie directly over the piles of burning coals.
Step 5
Every 2 hours, add 5 pounds more hot charcoal to each pile through the side access door. Cook the pig at 260°F on the covered cooker for 8 hours, or until the internal temperature of the hams and shoulders registers 190°F.
Step 6
Let the pig rest for 30 minutes prior to serving. The pig can either be offered whole, letting the guests use tongs to pull their own meat, or hand-pulled, chopped, and served. Serve with plenty of Caribbean Mojo Sauce on the side.
Step 7
Inject the meat evenly with the sour-orange mixture. Cover all exposed meat with the coarse rub, pressing it into the crevices. This will ensure more flavor and moisture both inside and on the outside of the meat.
pitmaster’s tip
Step 8
If you want to serve the pig with a traditional apple in its mouth, cook the pig with its mouth pried open. A stick about the same length as the diameter of the apple works well. When the pig is cooked, replace the stick with a raw apple.
Cooking Method
Step 9
Indirect heat in a single-chamber cooker
Suggested Wood
Step 10
Hickory, Oak, Apricot
Suggested Supplies
Step 11
1 single-chamber direct cooker (with firebox inside the main cooking chamber); 80 pounds charcoal
