Whole Pig Roast in 2022: Ultimate Guide

A whole pig roast is a wondrous event, but if you’ve read How to Cook a Whole Pig then you know there is a lot that goes into it. A whole hog can be quite large and therefore requires special equipment and skills to pull off.

Some things to consider and plan for when cooking a whole pig roast:

Invite a Lot of Friends!

This may seem obvious, but most people do not realize just how much meat is on a large hog! Don’t plan a hog roast without sufficient friends and family to help you devour the tasty goodness when it is done. You’d hate to see all your hard work go to waste, wouldn’t you!

The Hog Rotisserie

1. A suckling pig is typically under 25 lb. Therefore, whole hogs are generally significantly larger than that. While many that you’ll see roasted are 30 to 60 lb., larger adult hogs can easily weight from 100 to 200 lb. For this reason, you need a very heavy-duty and sturdy rotisserie, as seen above, to slowly and safely turn your pig roast over your fire.
2. Why do you need a rotisserie in the first place? Why not just support the pig over your fire pit on a rack? A whole pig is a large roast! If left in one position over a fire or charcoal, one side would be burnt and crispy while the other side would be raw. Just like any cut of meat, you need to turn it to be fully cooked throughout. However, turning a whole hog is not as easy as flippin’ a burger! Just imagine trying to flip the hog, several times, while it is inches over hot embers. Think you could handle it? Well you’re wrong, this is a set-up for disaster. Turning a large whole pig roast over a fire by hand is next to impossible and you will end up with charred arms and eyebrows. A sturdy hog rotisserie is the only solution and in my opinion is critical to a successful pig roast.
3. Many companies make whole hog rotisseries. Whatever you use, make sure it is weight tested for more than your pig weights so you know it will hold, and turn, that weight. The rotisseries featured here are designed and sold by SpitJack a great source for outdoor and fireplace cooking equipment. Their rotisseries are well designed and work perfectly.

Buying a Whole Pig

1. Plan ahead for your pig roast! In most areas a whole fresh hog is not that easy to come by. Find a source for a whole hog well before you plan your party.
2. Talk to your butcher. Most can special order whole pigs. Ethnic markets and butchers, Latin and Asian particularly, are a good place to start.
3. When buying a whole pig, find out if it will come frozen or fresh. If frozen, be sure to leave sufficient time once you get it to defrost. An average sized hog will take at least 48 hours to defrost completely. If you are planning to marinate or brine it as well, this will take additional time before the whole pig roast so plan ahead and make sure you don’t run out of time!
4. Also ask your butcher how the pig will come. Most are prepped for cooking, meaning their hair and internal organs have been removed. If they haven’t been prepped, make sure you have someone who can clean and prep the hog for you before cooking.

Prepping Your Whole Pig Roast: Marinating, Brining and Injecting

1. A whole pig needs to be flavored. If you just throw it on your rotisserie and cook it, the large cuts of meat will be rather bland. But do not fret, pork takes to marinating and brining like a fish to water!
2. There are many types of recipes for prepping a whole pig roast, but I particularly like brining. Brining uses a salt water solution to tenderize the meat and also to help the muscle fibers retain moisture. This helps infuse flavor and keep your roast succulent and moist. It will not dry out and become tough.
3. There are many options for brine or marinade mixtures. One brine that I particularly love and works beautifully with pork is an apple cider brine described on my pork tenderloin barbecue recipe. The apple flavor and subtle sweetness really enhance and compliment the natural flavor of the meat. To add even more flavor, I like to add an abundance of herbs, onions, lemons, oranges and/or hot peppers to the brine solution.
4. A whole pig should be brined or marinated for at least 24 hours overnight, if not longer. Additionally, injecting the thickest parts of meat with the marinade or brine solution will help to be sure your brine penetrates all of the meat, not just the surface cuts.

Prepping Your Whole Pig Roast: Trussing

1. Proper trussing of your whole pig roast to the rotisserie spit is critical. As your pig cooks it will loosen, move and shift. The muscle fibers will pull apart and away from the bone. The result? Your whole hog could fall off your spit! That would be disaster. Prevent this by trussing aggressively and tightly.
2. In general, the spit should go between the thighs, along the inside of the body just under the spine and out through the mouth. Because the spit is not really going through meat, this is not secured to the spit. A large trussing need and heavy-duty kitchen twine should be used to secure the spine to the spit every 6 inches along the length of the meat. This should be tied as tightly as possible with the knots on the back. Cut off excess twine so that it will not burn.
3. The hips, thighs and legs should also be trussed securely to hold them tight against each other and the spit. Same goes for the head and shoulders. You don’t want any wiggle or give in your pig, it should move as one with the spit.
4. A great demonstration of how to truss a whole hog to a spit with pictures is available at SpitJack.

Go Slow and Easy

1. A whole pig roast takes a long time, you cannot, and should not, rush it. Quickly grilled pork leads to burnt skin and dried out meat. Cook slowly over the fire pit on the rotisserie at lower temperatures (around 250 degrees or so at the surface of your roast is ideal).
2. Whole hogs can take from 4 to 24 hours to cook completely depending on their size and the cooking temperature. So plan ahead and take your time.
3. When you think the roast is nearing doneness, test the doneness with a meat thermometer. All internal temperatures of the deepest meat (the hams and shoulders will be the last to cook thoroughly) should be at least 160 degrees and ideally about 165.

Basting, Basting, and Then More Basting

1. Basting with a good basting mixture helps to develop a nice thick, dark caramelized glaze on the surface of the roast. It also helps prevent the skin and superficial meat from drying out.
2. Baste frequently throughout the cooking period, particularly when you notice the surface getting dry.
3. Basting mixtures vary and can use any number of flavoring ingredients. Some examples of things to include are olive oil, wine, fruit juices, herbs and lemon juice. Even a little honey or sugar can enhance the flavor and help the caramelization. Just be careful not to put too much sugar on the surface of your whole pig roast or it will burn if it gets too hot. Remember, you want caramelization, not charcoal!

Whole Pig Roast Recipe

This whole pig recipe comes from one of my readers, Steve from Atlanta, GA! He submitted all these photos and info about how he cooked a Christmas Pig after getting some tips from this website. This isn’t quite a suckling pig as it was about 30 pounds but it’s not an adult whole hog either. I guess you’d call it a juvenile hog. He cooked it on his Weber grill rotisserie and had to truss it up and counterweight it, especially so that it would fit.

Here are his notes on how he did it. I think he makes some good points and it looks like it turned out beautifully!

Thanks, Steve!

Steve’s Whole Pig Recipe:

I found your site when searching for tips on cooking a whole hog. The whole pig went well! Folks were very happy and impressed. Most of all they were well fed. Thank you for your informative site.

I cooked a 29Lb pig on my (24″ wide) Weber Grill/Rotisserie. It took my equipment to the limit. My doctor spoke about bringing during Thanksgiving time and I was interested. He quickly pointed out the challenge of submersing a 29Lb pig into liquid in terms of quantity of liquid and size of the container.

I came up with an idea: I placed the whole pig in a heavy-duty contractor-grade 6ml plastic trash bag. I added salt, 1/2 gal of apple juice, 1/4 gallon of pineapple juice, and pineapple chunks into the bag with the pig. While leaving the bag unsealed, I placed it into a cooler filled with ice water. The ice water pressed the bag up against the pig and minimized the amount of required brine. I placed the cooler on wheels so I could roll it outside to drain.

This is the 30 Lb. hog, in a plastic bag, floating in the brine.  (The bag was placed in a cooler filled with water & ice).

This is the hog just after removal from brine and before he was skewered.

The pig roast went well (again thanks to your info). I had to hunch his back up a little which shifted the center of balance. I had to add several 12oz lead fishing weights as a counterbalance and cooked him the night before the party.

The hog required a counterweight.  I used 12oz sinkers.

This is the hog just before he went onto the rotisserie.  (Ears covered with foil to prevent burn-off)  The Stainless Steel hose clamps are available at my local hardware store for about $2.50 each.  They are much more reliable and faster than butchers twine.  I used a cordless screwdriver to unclamp the hog-very fast method.

I'm using a standard Weber Grill and Weber Rotisserie.  I had to prop the lid open and remove the "flavor bars" (Stainless Steel angles that burn off drip before it gets into the burners) to allow enough room for the hog to turn.

This is the hog when he came off of the heat.  I cooked the hog until it reached 150-160 degrees F.  (When I arrive at the party the following day, I planned to cut the meat off, place it in a foil pan [placing the skin and foil over top of the meat] and heat/finish cooking it prior to serving).

The next morning set the whole pig on collard greens, over red foil, into a tin pan, and over a large cutting board. I decorated with grapes and used green olives (with red pimentos) for the eyes. I weaved a small string of battery-powered blinking led lights into the collards for a festive look. On his head, he wore a Santa hat and had a red apple in his mouth. The apple kept falling out so I used an electrical wire tie to secure the apple.

These were the hog prior to wrapping it up for transport to the party. I used olive for the eyes and had to tie the apple in using a plastic wire tie.

Once the presentation was ready, I laid two 1/2 gallon milk cartons on their side and placed everything on top. I then wrapped Saran Wrap around everything to make sure nothing moved during the ride to the party.

I used two milk cartons to suspend the hog for plastic wrapping.  The wrap held all of these things together: The hog, collards, grapes, red foil wrapping paper, foil pan (that had a Ziplock bag concealed in it containing four pairs of surgical gloves for future meat cutting), and a large cutting board.

This was how the hog looked at the party after transportation.  Note the Saran Wrap tucked under the red foil and the green Christmas ball ear rings.

Once everyone got their pictures & it was time to eat.  I got a volunteer to help me pull the meat off, slice it up, lay it in the foil pan and cover it with the skin and some foil.  We heated it in the oven at 350 degrees F for 45-minutes.  The meat was served with four ‘over-the-counter’ flavors of the bar-b-queue sauce, rolls, and sliced tomatoes.

The group of 16 people ate this entire 30 Lb. hog!

A roast suckling pig is an almost holy thing in many cultures. To bring out a well glazed, perfectly done whole pig roast on a platter is the ultimate in presentation and festivity. It is the centerpiece of many celebrations and feasts. Young pigs also happen to be incredibly tender and succulent and downright delicious! While the smallest whole pigs can certainly fit in a large oven and can be prepared there, these delicious roasts lend themselves to cooking on an outdoor fire pit rotisserie very well. If you don’t have room for, or enough people to eat, an adult whole hog then a small young one is a great substitute. In fact, it is arguably better because of the more flavorful and tender meat.

While cooking a young pig in many ways is similar to cooking an adult whole hog, there are some subtle differences that are important to note.

Tips for Cooking a Whole Roast Suckling Pig:

How and Where to Buy a Whole Piglet

• Finding a whole pig can be tricky in some areas.

• Obviously, if you have a connection with a local pig farmer, this may be the easiest and most direct way to find a suckling pig.

• You can also special order them from good butchers, particularly ethnic butchers in Latino, Asian or Greek markets.

• Finding suckling pigs are a bit different from larger hogs. The young pigs may only be available during some times of the year, spring and summer most commonly. Additionally, because young pigs are so small, the typical price per pound would not be profitable to the farmers to raise just to sell as small pigs. For this reason, some farmers and distributers don’t even sell suckling pigs. For others, the prices may be quite high for this rare commodity.

• Shop around and ask around to find the best availability and prices.

• Keep in mind that the term suckling pig means different things to different people. A true suckling pig, which is still nursing and their primary diet is milk, should be from around 9 to 20 lb. or so. However, you may find butchers who will call a pig that is quite bigger a suckling pig. So be sure to indicate the exact size you are looking for and shop around to find a source who can get you exactly what you need.

Cooking Technique: Barbecue Pit Rotisserie versus Grill or Barbecue

• Because a roast suckling pig is quite a bit smaller than other whole hogs some people may consider cooking them on a grill or barbecue. I do not feel this is a good way to cook a whole piglet for a few reasons. To cook a whole pig perfectly, you need a relatively low, indirect heat to slowly cook the roast completely without burning the skin. High direct heat on a grill can quickly burn the skin and will lead to uneven cooking. Most grills, except maybe for very large gas grills, are not big enough to accommodate a whole pig when set up for indirect heat grilling. Additionally, even with a large grill set up for indirect heat, the roast would need to be turned frequently throughout the cooking process to cook evenly and completely. Flipping a hot, glazed whole animal is quite a bit harder than you may think. Save your arm hair and avoid using a grill or barbecue to cook a whole suckling pig.

• Rather than a grill or barbecue, a hog rotisserie set over a fire pit with charcoal or firewood as fuel is the ideal means to roast a whole pig. While it may take a bit more effort and/or money to build or purchase an adequate rotisserie to hold your whole roast, the payback will be unlimited. Your roasts will be much more evenly cooked, juicy and tender. Such a rotisserie can also be used for many other things including whole lamb roasts, goat, large whole poultry and any other large roasts you care to grill up. They are a very useful and make a large whole roast so much easier and more successful. The fire pit you use can be anything, including a dug-out hole in the ground, a free-standing portable fire pit, a temporary fire pit built of bricks, or even a permanent stone or brick fire pit. Basically any pit you can set your rotisserie over will do!

Recipes and Preparation: To Brine or Not to Brine

• While I will post some recipe ideas for roast suckling pig elsewhere, there are a few things to consider in planning on how to cook a whole pig.

• For one, while brining or excessive marinating and the use of meat injectors is critical for larger whole hogs, young suckling pigs have such succulent and tender flesh that they do not need as aggressive flavoring methods. However, I feel that these still do help for most recipes. The more flavor the better, right? I would strongly consider brining your suckling pig with a brine solution and assortment of herbs, spices and/or fruits to really crank up the flavors to a higher level. At the very least I recommend rubbing all the surfaces and inside of your suckling pig with abundant coarse salt the day before cooking. Before cooking, this should be brushed off. This acts similar to brining and helps keep the meat tender, juicy and richly flavored.

• The remainder of preparation and cooking of a suckling pig is otherwise very similar to other large roasts. Just like a larger pig they should be trussed very securely to your rotisserie. They should also be basted frequently throughout the cooking process to keep the surface moist and to develop a beautiful, rich glaze on the skin. This will bring great flavor and beauty to your finished roast!

Roast Suckling Pig Recipe Ideas

Roast suckling pig is delicious! It is also fun and a spectacle for all. There are many different ways to roast a whole pig, far too many to mention all here. Each culture seems to have its favorites, from Greek stuffed pig to Cuban-style roast pork, to Chinese glazed suckling pig, to Southern French stuffed suckling pig. Here I will discuss a couple of general ideas about the cooking process and give an example of a couple of recipe ideas, a fig-stuffed Southern French pig and a brined suckling pig.

Trussing

Trussing a whole pig is a very important and often overlooked part of cooking a whole pig roast on a hog rotisserie. While a roast suckling pig is not nearly as heavy as a large whole hog, they also need adequate trussing with heavy-duty kitchen twine. This helps to keep the whole animal tightly against the rotisserie spit and as it cooks prevents it from loosening and falling off. I suggest trussing a roast suckling pig just like you would a large pig, with several loops around the spit and spine as well as trussing the legs tightly against the body and the spit.

Brined Roast Suckling Pig

This is one of my favorite brine solutions for pork. I also use it to brine other cuts such as brined pork tenderloin. It does have a fairly intense sweet apple flavor so if you prefer a more mellow flavor for your roast you can use less apple cider, salt, and/or sugar. However, the high salt solution really helps to intensify the flavors of the meat and to help keep the meat tender and juicy. Also, I particularly like the apple flavor with pork (even better if you use some applewood to smoke the roast!) but you can certainly use other fruit flavors. One excellent option is a citrus-based brine with lemons, oranges, and orange juice for the brine and basting liquid. Experiment and see what you like!

What you will need:

• For the Brine (make as many batches of this as needed to completely cover your suckling pig):
  • 8 cups apple cider
  • 7 cups water
  • 1 cup coarse sea salt
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
  • 4 tsp dried rubbed sage
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Large onion, cut up
  • Apples pieces
  • Dash of ground cayenne pepper
• A suckling pig (about 10 to 12 lb.)
• Olive oil
• Optional: additional pork fat from the butcher
• Several additional apples, onions and sage leaves, chopped coarsely
• Salt and pepper
• Additional apple cider for basting
• A bottle of rosé or rich white wine, more if needed

How to Prepare It:

1. One or two days before cooking, prepare the brine solution. Stir thoroughly to make sure all the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Make enough to completely cover your suckling pig in a large pot or other container. For very large roasts you can find very large boiling pots or whole turkey fryers at kitchen supply shops. For even bigger roasts, you can use a new, cleaned plastic trash can.
2. Reserve the brining pig in a cool place for about 24 hours or more.
3. On the day of cooking, remove the pig from the brine and pat dry with towels.
4. Make several superficial slits in the skin, not through the skin completely to prevent the skin from rupturing as it cooks. Make one long slit down the back and several diagonal slits on each side. None of the slits should touch any other.
5. Rub the pig with olive oil on all its surfaces.
6. Truss the suckling pig to your rotisserie spit.
7. Fill the body cavities with coarsely chopped apples, onions and sage leaves seasoned with salt and pepper. Close the body cavity securely with twine.
8. If cooking in an oven, the pig’s own fat will collect in the roasting pan and, combined with the wine and apple cider, makes a good basting liquid. However, when roasting over an open fire or charcoal the fat falls into the fire and cannot easily be collected. Instead, if you are able to get extra pork fat from your butcher, this can be rendered in a pan and then combined with warm wine and cider to create a suitable basting mixture. If no fat is available, olive oil and/or melted butter mixed with the warmed-up wine and cider can substitute. Keep this mixture warm, near boiling.
9. Check that the temperature at the level that the roast suckling pig will be is around 250 to 350 degrees above your fire pit. A meat thermometer or grill thermometer is good for doing this. If it is much hotter than this, let your heat source burn down a while until the heat is lower. This heat can then be maintained by occasionally adding small amounts of firewood or charcoal. At lower heat (250 – 300 degrees) your roast suckling pig will cook slower, but will end up more tender and evenly cooked). At higher temps it will cook faster but not as well.
10. Place the spit on your rotisserie over the fire pit and begin cooking.
11. After about 30 minutes or so, begin basting liberally with the pork fat and wine mixture. Baste every 10 to 20 minutes. Over time this will help develop a rich, glazed appearance to the skin.
12. Continue cooking in this manner, basting regularly and occasionally tending the fire to maintain even and constant heat, for about 3 to 3 and a half hours. This cooking time will depend on the heat of your fire pit as well as the size of your roast suckling pig. Therefore, this number can vary quite dramatically. If in question, you can check the internal temperature in the deepest parts of the meat and in the chest cavity with a meat thermometer. Pork should reach about 150 to 160 degrees at least to be finished.
13. When done, remove your spit from your rotisserie and set the roast suckling pig aside to rest for about 30 minutes. Then place in a large platter and remove all the trussing twine and the spit.

Your roast suckling pig is now done and can be presented at the table and carved carefully. I recommend first removing the shoulder and hind legs at the joints. These pieces then can be sliced to serve. Next make a cut down the middle of the back, down the spine. Carefully cut from the shoulder cut, hugging the bone of the ribs and spine, down to where the hams (rump and hind-leg) were removed. This large piece will include the rack and loin cuts as well as the pork belly. It can be sliced crossways to serve. The meat between the ribs can also be freed and the stuffing can be scooped out. Enjoy!

Southern French Fig-Stuffed Roast Suckling Pig

This is a great recipe that can be made either on a rotisserie over a fire pit or in an oven if the pig is small enough.

What you will need:

• A suckling pig (about 10 to 12 lb.)
• A box of coarse salt
• Olive oil, about 3 or 4 tbsp plus extra for basting
• A bottle of rosé or rich white wine, more if needed
• 1 lb. chard leaves – thick stems removed, boiled for a few seconds, rinsed in cold water, drained and chopped.
• 12 oz old, firm bread, crust removed, soaked in milk and squeezed so that it is almost dry
• 4 oz young, fresh goat cheese (chevre)
• 4 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 12 oz fresh figs, chopped coarsely
• 4 oz walnuts, chopped
• 2 cloves, ground to a powder
• Freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch
• Additional salt and pepper
• Optional: Additional pork fat from the butcher

How to prepare it:

1. The day before cooking, pour abundant coarse salt all over the pig, inside and out, and rub in to all surfaces. Place in a large tray and leave overnight in your refrigerator or other cool place.
2. The next day, discard the liquid which has accumulated in the tray and wipe the suckling pig dry with towels.
3. While your fire pit is being prepared, prepare the stuffing for the pig. Mash together the eggs and cheeses in a large bowl. Add the walnuts, figs, chard, milk-soaked bread pieces, cloves, nutmeg and salt and pepper and mix all the ingredients together thoroughly with your hands.
4. After trussing the whole pig to the rotisserie spit securely (but not yet set over the fire pit!) and before lacing up the chest and abdominal cavity, push the stuffing into the pig’s chest cavity and then the abdominal cavity.
5. Lace up the abdominal opening securely and truss the legs.
6. With a sharp paring knife make superficial slits in the skin, never cutting all the way through the skin. One cut should go down the back and there should be three or four down each side diagonally from front to back. None of the score marks should cross another. The purpose of this is to prevent the skin from rupturing as the pig cooks and the skin tightens.
7. Rub all over with olive oil and wrap pieces of aluminum foil around the ears and tail to prevent their burning. These can be removed a few minutes before the roast suckling pig is done.
8. If cooking in an oven, the pig’s own fat will collect in the roasting pan and, combined with the wine, makes a good basting liquid. However, when roasting over an open fire or charcoal the fat falls into the fire and cannot easily be collected. Instead, if you are able to get extra pork fat from your butcher, this can be rendered in a pan and then combined with warm wine to create a suitable basting mixture. If no fat is available, olive oil and/or melted butter mixed with the warmed-up wine can substitute. Keep this mixture warm, near boiling.
9. Check that the temperature at the level that the roast suckling pig will be is around 250 to 350 degrees above your fire pit. A meat thermometer or grill thermometer is good for doing this. If it is much hotter than this, let your heat source burn down a while until the heat is lower. This heat can then be maintained by occasionally adding small amounts of firewood or charcoal. At lower heat (250 – 300 degrees) your roast suckling pig will cook slower, but will end up more tender and evenly cooked). At higher temps it will cook faster but not as well.
10. Secure your spit to the rotisserie and begin it turning.
11. After about 30 minutes or so, begin basting liberally with the pork fat and wine mixture. Baste every 10 to 20 minutes. Over time this will help develop a rich, glazed appearance to the skin.
12. Continue cooking in this manner, basting regularly and occasionally tending the fire to maintain even and constant heat, for about 3 to 3 and a half hours. This cooking time will depend on the heat of your fire pit as well as the size of your roast suckling pig. Therefore, this number can vary quite dramatically. If in question, you can check the internal temperature in the deepest parts of the meat and in the chest cavity with a meat thermometer. Pork should reach about 150 to 160 degrees at least to be finished.
13. When done, remove your spit from your rotisserie and set the roast suckling pig aside to rest for about 30 minutes. Then place in a large platter and remove all the trussing twine and the spit.

Your roast suckling pig is now ready to be carved and served!