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- my niece Alison and nephew Nolan
So I finally did it…… I cooked a whole pig on the Primo! Of course, I had help from my friend, Jim Noggle (seen standing with me at the grill once the pig was inside and cooking). Jim is the one responsible for me deciding to get a ceramic grill in the first place. I ordered the pig from Foresta’s, one of our local markets, and I was hoping for a suckling pig with a maximum weight of 18 to 20 pounds. Instead, what arrived was a 26 pound pig that I was afraid would not fit comfortably in the grill. Well, fortunately the Oval XL is plenty large and the pig was nestled comfortably on the Primo’s cooking grates with room to spare. This cook really emphasized the advantages of having the large oval shape and the flexibility of placing the grates in their lowered position. I chose Emeril Lagasse’s recipe for whole suckling pig, even though he used a conventional oven for the roasting. I figured that the hardwood lump charcoal and the refractory ceramic cook would just improve upon a good thing. Well, it turned out really good, and everyone at the New Year’s party was raving about it, so I’ll consider it a success. However, I will make some adjustments next time I do this. Here’s why.
- I don’t think the brining process is really necessary. I suspect that the meat will be just a succulent without this step, and it may have prevented the skin fron ending up as “crispy” as I would have liked.
- While Emeril calls for basting the pig every hour during the cook, I figured that it would be a mistake to open the grill and cause a temperature change, so I let the cook go uninterrupted for the full 6 and a half hours. This may have contributed to the less than crispy skin. Next time I’ll baste the beast every hour or so.
- I started the cook without the indirect heating shields in place, and discovered that the skin underneath was darker than the skin up top. Once I saw this (about 2 hours in), I added the ceramic plates for indirect cooking and the rest of the cook was more uniform.
In the end, the pig was fantastic, all of the sides that Mary made from scratch were outstanding, and the company was great. What a nice way to ring in the new year.
The Primo Oval XL Grill 
We are glad the pig worked out for you, again we are sorry about the size coming in larger then expected. We appreciated your understanding and from the photos it looks like the pig came out amazing!
This is the first time I have seen the Primo and only knew of the Green Egg. I will definitely check back and see what else you cook up!
Thanks again for using Foresta’s Market.
You’re welcome Chris, and I’m sure we’ll be visiting Foresta’s soon for more great things to cook on the grill. As it turned out, the size was not a problem. Your preparation was perfect and it made it easy to fit on the grill, and we had enough people at the party to pretty much finish it off by 2 AM.
That roast pig was fantastic. Geoff you did a great job cooking it to perfection. I’ll have to get one of those things.
The pig was awesome! I must admit it was a little hard to see the who thing, but once it made its way to my plate, all those concerns melted away. Bravo! Oh, and thanks for the invite! We could not think of a better way to bring in the new year with you guys and great company!
AWW- I’m sorry i missed seeing you again. Wish I had been there, too!
at what temperature?