On 10-May-2004, "Ridge Roofing, Inc." > wrote:

> I plan on having a real barbecue this summer including roasting either
> a side or quarter of beef on a spit. I was wondering if anyone could
> tell me just exactly how to do it. I have a very large, height
> adjustable spit for this. How long & how hot? Will the outside burn
> before the inside gets cooked due to the size of it? If so should we
> carve off as the meat cooks? Any & all info is appreciated, thanks.
>
> Pete

Pete, the following is offered as one answer to your question. Bob in GA is
as real as your and I.
I had occasion to attend a cookout with him and his lovely wife Ginger just
a week ago at Micanopy,
FL. Bob and Ginger live in South Central Georgia on a farm where they grow
their own hogs, sheep,
etc. Big Jim of Big Jim's LazyQ hosted the get-to-gether which was attended
by a motley bunch
from all over Florida and Southern Georgia. Pictures posted on ABF are
probably long gone, but
can be reposted from backups if desired. This is probably more then you
wanted to know about
cooking a hog, but what the hell. It's free.

Bob in GA made the following comments.

The following bunch of mumbo-jumbo comprise my thoughts and opinions on
classic pork bbq and try to address some of what you are planning to do.
While Garry Howard believed that the best way to learn bbq was to encourage
passers-by at a shopping center contest to buy a tin smoker, I'm a believer
that BBQ (or any food) should be learned "Classic first". At least this is
the way that chef's are taught and from there they have the background
knowlege to stray off and create. His point that classic bbq was out of most
peoples reach was, however, somewhat valid. This will probably end up making
you say "Geeezus, sorry I asked" lol
While the methodology is similar and both have been around for a long time,
I don't consdider Lexington style barbecue to be THE classic. In my mind,
the classic is East North Carolina Whole Hog barbecue.
You are right in that it MUST start with a whole hog. This is one of the
three main things that doesn't allow Lexington style to measure up in these,
most stringent of terms.
Shoulders make excellent bbq, but in a purist sense, there's no way the two
can be even judged against one another. It would be like having a Champagne
contest and allowing California Sparkling wine as a contestant. Or allowing
blue cheese to be judged to Rougefort. Just one of them thangs'...
Classic is classic, and that's want you asked for.
In the old days, small hogs were used. In fact, Pete Jones (the elder
statesman of pork bbq) says that his uncle never cooked pigs over 40 pounds.
I suspect this was approximately the size used by most 100 years ago. But in
more recent times the size has moved up close to 100 pounds with Pete Jones
cooking hogs in the 140-160 pound range.
The methodology used to cook this classic bbq, in my opinion, was not meant
for huge thick cuts such as the shoulder-butts from #1 hogs that are sold at
grocery stores. Reason being that I don't subscribe to the newfangled idea
that the process was ever intended to be "low and slow" ala internet
hobbyist bbq. But I'll get to more on that later.
Back then, hogs were raised much fatter, thus allowing them to be more
"violently" cooked, if you will, without drying out. So try to get a hog
with as much fat as possible.
The feral-type of hogs that I raise seem to have old genes and put on fat
much easier than meat. They grow slower and the older, more excercised the
hog is, the more flavor it will have. Of course, mine aren't suited for
commercial production because it is too ineffecient to allow a profit on
what is already a pretty tough business. I don't know what type of meat you
have access to, but that's my general opinion and understanding and
experience has backed it up.
It's nice that you have someone who will scald the hog for you. My neighbor
and I do this also. The one bothersome thing that you said was that you
intended to cook it immediately.
There was a very informative discussion between Kit and Dan Gill (that never
got completed) a while back on rigor mortis.
The general consensus seemed to be NOT to cook a hog until it had come out
of rigor, which if I remember correctly, was approximately 8 hours. I can
not provide any real-life experience on this. But on two seperate occasions,
I have cooked a hog about 24 hours after butchering and did not like the
texture of the meat. I normally cook 2 days after killing and have never had
any problems. Now that I've thrown this monkeywrench into your plan, the
first thing you'll ask is "where the hell do I keep the thing for 8+ hours."

Ideally it is hung to stretch. Your butcher may have a walk-in cooler.
Unfortunately I do not have one and use a dedicated refrigerator. This is
especially a problem during this time of the year because during the colder
months you can let one hang for a while without much risk. I encourage the
input of others on all of this, but it is something you may want to keep in
mind.
A few last few thoughts on the hog and how to have it butchered. I have to
assume that classicaly, hogs are cooked with the head on. But I don't know
this for sure.
At the Skylight Inn, Pete Jones cooks his hogs butterflied with the head on.
However, they take an axe and bust the head in half before cooking so that
the halves lay flat on the pit. I know this is a little different than what
is done in the "beauty contests", but I highly recommend it.
The head is extremely bloody and this allows it to drain thoroughly. It also
has a tendency to take longer to cook than the meat if left intact. This
could possibly leave you a choice of overcooking your meat or trying to
seperate bloody head-meat from the rest of your bbq. Soaking the head in a
bucket of water will also assist greatly in draining a head.
Wilber's, on the other hand, doesn't cook their hogs head-on, at least when
I have been there. Heads simply take up a lot of room. They also do not cook
them butterflied. They are sawed in half down the backbone, which makes them
much easier to handle. Most times, this is what I do also as the head has
very little meat as a percentage to make it worth messing with. You do lose
a little more grease by having it sawed down the back, but my experience
says it isn't significant.
The Jones's traditionally caught all of the grease that they used in their
cornbread, but are able to catch only a small percentage nowadays as a
result of the move toward leaner hogs.
Assuming that you do not choose to cook the hog immediately after killing
it, here are some thoughts on meat temperature. It seems that I remember a
post from you in the past stating your opposition to leaving meat out to
come to room temperature. (which is technically 67 F, I believe) I'm a firm
believer in bringing meat to room temperature. In fact, the popular formula
for shoulder butts for internet bbq, in my opinion, would be erroneous if it
weren't assumed that meat was taken directly out of the refrigerator and put
on a pit. I normally leave thoroughly thawed meat sitting at room
temperature for 6-7 hours before putting it on. I've never seen a cold hog
on the pits at Wilber's or Pete Jones's, either, for what that's worth.
I've only had trouble once and I'll tell you the story because there may be
some parts to keep in mind when you get it butchered, but I'm sure the
butcher is also well-versed on these things.
Late last July we attempted to kill a rather large sow in my wooded pen of a
couple of acres. I missed her on the first shot, only wounding her. She took
off in the woods.
Becoming quite skittish at this point, I couldn't get a decent shot and only
wounded her a second time. This time I couldn't catch her and we had other
hogs dead and awaiting scalding on a day that was about 100 degrees. Another
guy came up and volunteered to track her a kill her. He finally dropped her
at the edge of a small pond. When I got down there, she was still alive but
in the process of drowning. I stuck and bled her and drug her up a steep
hill with my lawnmower. It had been about 1 hour since the first shot.
Nothing seemed unusual to me as I've had similar, though not as bad,
experiences killing hogs in large areas.
We cleaned her and I took a #35 pound shoulder and put in the refrigerator
to cool. I was to repay my neighbor for his help with bbq the next evening.
The result was that when I finished the bbq and went to pull it, most of
the meat inside was spoiled and extremely foul smelling.
Now I can't tell you exactly what happend, but here are my thoughts. The
meat was extremely thick and I believe this may have lead to the outside
cooling while the inside was still quite warm. It was only in the
refrigerator for about 12 hours. But the outside being colder also slowed
down the cooking time (which was quite long due to the size) allowing more
time for the inside to spoil.
Theory 2...After this, my wife read up on something call "dark cutting".
This happens when an animal is exposed to tremendous stress during the
killing process.
According to the article she read, it can lead to much faster deteriation of
the meat, to make a long story short.
In commercial operations, hogs are stunned before killing, which supposedly
causes less adrennaline, which can cause flaws in the meat.
Good chance both things were at play here, but making a clean kill and
quickly sticking is the best way to avoid any troubles as far as I
understand. But I haven't come across any problems in simply leaving meat to
sit out. To me, it cooks more evenly.
All of this makes me want to make a comment on Kit's interesting "Bacon on a
stick" invention as it applies to butts/picnics. It is an interesting
concept. But I would be somewhat careful as to not allow the outside to be
too much cooler than the inside, especially if one is going the "low and
slow" smoker route with a cut that is extremely thick. But my situation in
the above was not comparable to what he recommends doing for the most part.
And he knows much more about this type of thing than I do so I'm sure he has
taken this into consideration, if it even warrants it.
Here's some thought on how to build a pit for this "Classic BBQ"...
This is a very difficult subject to be able to describe in print. At least
to me So I'm not going to try too hard.
The biggest mistake I see people make is in the actual surface they lay the
hog on. This, I believe, is a crucial part of making this type of bbq. In my
opinion, the surface you must have is STEEL BARS. Not a hamburger or some
all purpose cooking surface. To give you a reason why, I'm going to have to
sort of jump way ahead for a second.
After you have finished cooking the hog (skin up) and deem it properly
cooked, you will be turning to blister the skin.
Upon turning, all of the grease will immediately flow down toward the skin.
This grease, when further heated by the coals actually fries the skin like a
pork rind. The grease-filled skin will expand downward. You need the large
gaps between the bars to allow this to properly happen. The skin directly
touching the bar will not expand and cook well normally and often be
inedible. Imagine having a mesh or other all-purpose type of grate and
attempting to pick the useable skin from the non-useable in little diamond
shaped patterns that cover a large percentage of the hog.
Another reason this is a "must" is the same reason that bars are not
generally suitable for open-faced meat, such as shoulder pieces, briskets
and ribs. The uneven weight distribution created by a small number of bars
allows the skin to sag and expand much better.
The reason that I don't consider bars to be optimal for open-faced cuts is
that the uneven weight distribution of the bars tends to put too much weight
on the areas resting on them, thus creating hard inedible area's on the
outside or exposed meat. It's not a problem on a hog because there's very
little outside meat exposed, it's rests mostly on bone areas and the
"intactness" of it doesn't allow much sagging. I do, however, cook
open-faced cuts on my bars, but they can't be done at very high
heat/radiation without a detrimental affect on some parts of the outside
meat. Best is probably to lay a more all-purpose grate over the bars. But
that's not what we're talking about here
Bottom line is try to get bars or a surface that has as large of gaps as
possible. I usually use about 5 bars or so under a small hog. A larger one
will take more.
Now back to the rest of the pit.
The cooking height is a question that I could write forever about, but may
confuse myself more than I confuse you
The lower you get, the more dangerous it is to drying out and burning up
your meat. This is less of a concern with a hog than with the more popular
open-faced cuts. But not something to take lightly. Every inch causes severe
changes in how it will cook, especially as you start moving below 24".
Here's my take on the subject via what I learned from The Wilber's and Pete
Jones operations combined with my own experiences.
I would guess that Wilber's cooks at between 16" and 20". They fire the open
doors putting all of the coals directly under the meat. They cook smaller
(70-100 lb) hogs very fast in 4-6 hours. Skin-up the entire way allowing
them to cool for several hours before turning to cook the skin.
Their pits are covered with roofing tin that is laid flat over the pit
without much ventillation. They fire every :20 minutes to 1/2 hour. Grease
fires are more the norm than the exception according to one pitmaster. Their
hogs turn out generally very charred, which makes for a good taste much like
a good steak. But they often overcook the meat or burn it. This isn't really
a shot against the pitmasters, only a product of the methodology and height.
In fact I believe the meat gets overcooked occasionally because the pits
become so hot it continues to cook far too long.
But they have their orders as to when to have it cooked by. This bbq, as I
said, is often not perfect. Oooh, but when it's good........there's nothing
like it. But they generally fall short on the skin aspect (burning it) and
that alone, in my opinion is why I may give a slight overall nod to the bbq
at Pete Jone's. I have the advantage of cooking only one hog and being able
to pay much closer attention to it.
The further you move away from the coals the less chance of having a grease
fire actually flame up high enough to burn up your hog. I had many
experiences with grease fires at below 15", especially when turning skin
down.
Now for another method... This is the Jones methdod. Their pits are about 2
feet high. He keeps at least 1 foot of ashes and grease built up in them so
the hogs cook at about a foot or so. The pit has no door on the bottom to
shovel coals. They lay the butterflied hogs in the middle and fire along the
sides just to the outside of the hog. This is not exactly direct, but some
coals do end up underneath the hog. Also it's so low that the radiation
factor may be as strong as having the coals directly beneath at a higher
height. (I don't know the formula but it was posted here a couple of years
ago) They have metal tops that swing down which are left slightly open.
The result of this method is a more consistant, tender, and juicy bbq. But
also a somewhat milder flavor than the aggressive approach used by the
Wilber's method. I was told by Jeff Jones (Pete's nephew) that if you were
going to stay with it, you could fire it as fast as you can make the coals
and cook one in 4--5 hours. And that's for a 150+ lb hog.
Notice where I'm going with this ? Right !! As controversial as it may
be, I'm trying to dispel the misinformation that pollutes the internet as to
classic bbq pork being a "low and slow" product ! Or that coals are used for
nothing more than heating up a cooking chamber to a certain temperature as
judged by a thermometer or any other type of temperature gauge.
But then again most of the information that abounds is not intended for
classic pork bbq. But unfortunately most people who read this don't realise
this. But as I have been able to gather, most don't care anyway The
faster meat cooks, the better flavor it will have. Unless the actual
intention is to bathe it in smoke ala the new-fangled smoker version of bbq.
But that's not what I'm talking about here. That's an entirely different
dish.
I can do either of the above methods on my pit. My personal experiences with
both methods has been positive. I will say that the Jones method is quite
preferable to the Wilber's if one is cooking a large hog or large shoulder.
This is because the Wilber's method will dry the outside before the inside
gets done, especially at lower heights. You'd have to get me at least two+
feet from the coals to get me to cook a 40 lb shoulder using the Wilber's
method. Maybe more, or else I'd be totally slow-baking it, which may be the
only way to approach a cut like this. I'll leave cuts of this size to the
pitmasters at Dan gill's get-togethers
Remember again that this bbq, it's flavor and the method was used to cook
small hogs, which generally speaking, might have a shoulder that weighs 6
pounds which translates into a butt of only about 3 pounds or so. There's a
lot of misconceptions that abound as it pertains to cooking times required
for whole hogs versus pieces of shoulder. For starters, the 1 hour+ per lb
at 250 F "internet formula" goes right out the window once you're you stop
dealing with #1 hog shoulder pieces that are sold in the grocery stores.
I think most of these folks that say they are going to cook an under 120
pound hog for some ridiculous period of time are simply out for a good time.
Or from the contest crowd that produced that embarrassing steamed-looking,
24 hour cooked #120 lb hog from the drunk who won the Memphis in May in '99.
I don't think that cooking times are greatly extended by having the hog
intact.
I think this is something that is born out of people who live by "the
formula" and think that because they have a 100 pound carcass, they should
apply the formula and cook it some comical amount of time. But in all
fairness to them, once again, this is an entirely different dish.
That should give you some things to think about as to how to build your pit.
You're no stranger to building pits, as I've seen on your web page. As for
tops, we both know the dangers of using wood/wafer board I'd opt for
roofing tin. If you opt for the Wilber's pit/method, place the tin flat down
on top of the pit. This will reduce upward draw, lessening the chance of a
grease fire. Build it 3-sided or leave enough room to comfortably fit a
shovel and swing it side to side. Don't cover the door during cooking. Leave
it as is. If you go with the Jones method, build it 4- sided and leave your
top slightly ajar during cooking to give ventillation. I simply use a brick
(layed flat) under the top/tin to prop it open when cooking this way.
As for making coals. Do it in something that will make a lot of them. Too
many is far better than not enough. Keep a good fire going at all times.
Make sure to have a good supply at the end if, for some reason, the skin is
giving you trouble.
Take some garden tools as you'll probably find a use for most of them during
some point during the process Remember, in this method, the goal isn't
simply to heat your pit, but to cook the meat with the coals.
I'm going to advise you to salt the skin (only) after you lay the hog on the
pit. Give it a good coating. Neither Wilber's nor Pete Jones salts the
meat-side before cooking. I have done it and didn't care for the result.
Wilber's doesn't put anything at all on either side of their hogs.
But because skin is such an intregal part of classic pork bbq, I recommend
salting it. Pete Jones swears by it and his skin is consistantly top-notch.
My own experience backs up his view.
I have done good skin without salting it, but the results, like Wilber's,
have been less than consistent. The meat, however, is a preference call as
to whether to salt. Actually there's not that much exposed meat to salt.
As for cooking the hog, try to think of it as one piece of meat. You're not
trying to cook the different parts that just happen to be connected. (parts
cookers can be prone to approach it this way) Also try not to think in terms
of temperature, as measured in any terms. I know this can be hard. Just keep
a close eye on it to make sure you're not cooking too fast. A full shovel
spread evenly at about 1/2 hour intervils should be sufficient for the first
couple of hours. You can use two shovels at first to get it cooking good.
After that, just try to keep the heat up and keep it cooking as rapidly as
possible without burning it, much like you would a good, thick steak. It may
require more or less due to the effect of the wind on the coals, but you get
the general idea. (Mine is inside so I don't have a problem with the wind,
but simply leaving the door open can stir up the coals and make them burn
much hotter and out faster)
When is it done ? Again, hard to verbalize. But if you are used to cooking
shoulders or picnics you should know what to look for. There will be a gap
or space between the skin and meat. This will happen in the middlin'/rib
area first. Then probably the ham. Wait for this to happen on the shoulder.
Once it starts to happen in one spot, it can happen in the rest rather
quickly, so keep a close eye on it, especially if you've got it cooking
pretty hot and fast. The only part that may not pull away completely is the
area on the shoulder directly on the end leading up to the head. There will
be thick fat here.
Try to wait for it or even fire under it heavier if the rest looks done. Let
the rest get a pretty good gap, not just barely pulled away. That part of
the shoulder is just a judgement call based on what it looks like in
relation to how thoroughly you think the rest of the hog is cooked. The more
fat the hog has, the less you have to worry about it. Just as would be the
case with the "low and slow" method due to the very forgiving temperature
environment that the methods uses.
But these are types of things that seperate pitmasters from thermometer
watchers. But at this point there's a fine line between having perfectly
acceptable meat and perfect meat.
(Disclaimer: Just like Wilber's and Pete jones, I don't always cook mine
perfectly either. But that's the challenge that makes this a hobby, rather
than simply an alternative method of cooking cookie-cutter meat that can
only be distinguished by variations in some type of external seasoning.)
Once you have determined that it's cooked, take something and wipe off the
ashes and any excess salt that may be left on the skin. Now is time to turn
it. As I said, I generally prefer to cook them in half's, so it's not nearly
as difficult. If whole, I take an old feed sack and stick my arms through to
protect my forearms. Then get under it as far as possible with my forearms,
pull toward me and filp it as best as possible. It's delicate and I usually
ask for help. Bill Tolbert had a unique method posted a while back.
Unfortunately I cannot get to both ends of my pit and cannot use it. Don't
forget to brush off the salt as it can make your skin too salty.
Pete Jones claims he cooks his skin with the coals to the outside of the
hog. Personally I have had very limited success with this. Actually one of
his pitmen told me that they put coals outside to cook the hog and then
underneath to cook the skin. I watched as another guy put them to the
outside and closed the lid.
I walked away for a while after that. About :45 minutes later the skin was
perfectly cooked. Did they add coals under while I was away ? I suspect they
may have, but it's still a mystery to me. The cooking time was made longer
due to the meat and pit being not up to heat.
My advice is to go directly under, regardless of how you cook the hog. I get
almost perfect results this way.
If you've been firing underneath and the pit is good and hot, it may not be
necessary to add many coals.
Once turned, leave the top off of the pit ! The hog is already cooked. You
don't want to add any air temperature which may further cook your hog.
You're simply cooking the skin with radiation at this point. Once you have
turned it and fired it, you should almost immediately see the skin start to
protrude down between the bars almost like a baloon filling with air. It has
to be hot to blister properly, but be careful not to burn it, which can
happen more easily the lower you choose to cook. Keep in mind that the
actual skin will be much closer to the coals than the bars by virtue of the
dropping. It should cook in about 20 minutes or so. It will be soft when it
first drops. It's ready when it hardens up. If it's not happening right, add
more coals. You'll get your best skin from the middlin'/rib area. It gets
more difficult to get done as you move towards the ends of the hog, but
you'll get more than enough from the center for your barbecue.
This part of the process can be seemingly violent with tons of smoke from
grease hitting the coals.
Actually, the burning grease makes me nauseous if I inhale too much of it
It's also probably not a scene that the "low and slow" crown would ever
associate with bbq. The chances for a grease fire are at their peak during
this process. Watch it closely. If some coals catch on fire, watch that they
don't touch or climb the grease stream up to your meat. Simply having a few
small coals burning isn't going to hurt anything. You can move the ones that
catch fire out of the way if you deem necessary.
Now comes the fun part ! Take it off whole or cut off the various pieces,
whichever is easier.
Pull all of the meat and stack it up somewhere. Now take the skin and cut or
break off the parts that really blistered and expanded nicely. Cut away the
parts that were laying on the bars. Now chop the skin finely.
If any sems tough and doesen't want to chop, discard it, as it will we
inedible. It should almost be like chopping up a fried pork rind, with a
light airy texture.
Next chop up your bbq somewwhat coarsely. Then sprinkle a reasonable amount
of skin over the meat. If you put too much it can become too dominant in my
opinion, but this is more of a personal preference thing. Chop it a little
bit more mixing the skin in well. (the skin is reason #2 as to why Lexington
Style cannot be considered THE classic) Pick up the meat from the bottom and
flip occasionally during chopping.
You asked for seasoning...I truly believe the classic seasoning for this is
simply a little vinegar, (traditionally cider) salt and pepper. With some
red peopper flakes sprinkled in, more or less for decoration than anything
else. When I say this, I mean take some vinegar and pour over the pile of
bbq. Just enough so that it gives it a good smooth looking texture. Err on
the side of not enough as this can be added at the table but not taken away.
You don't want it watery at all. Then take the salt and lightly sprinkle
over the meat. Same with the pepper and flakes.
Chop this into the bbq.
And hey......LET's EAT !! It's that simple
The seasoning is the least important thing here. Many recipes for East
Carloina pork vinegar sauce exist. But to me they are far too much trouble
for something that should be barely noticeable. Whatever you do, don't use
any tomato product on the meat. (this is the 3'rd reason why Lexington Style
can not be considered THE classic)
I would also shy away from using any sugar. Some may argue that it is
acceptable, but I've heard that East Carolinians often hid themselves in a
closet if they had a mind to put sugar in their vinegar The above
seasoning method is a close proximity of what is done at the Pete Jones's.
Although they use vinegar and Texas Pete (still vinegar) as their vinegar
portion and does not use red pepper flakes. Since they have been doing it
this way for 130 years longer than Wilber's (since the 1830's), I would tend
to believe this was the more classic method. But the only way you can go
wrong is to over-sauce it or vinegar it or destroy it with tomato or sugar.
Wilber's puts some type of cooked sauce on their's, although not the same
stuff they sell in the front. They're seasoning is normally well done and
has a nice peppery taste. I have not detected nor do I have any reason to
believe there is any sugar present in their seasoning, either.
The amount that that I advised you to chop it may strike a nerve in some
pulled pork and pig-pickin' fans. But my ideal of classic pork bbq is
somewhat more finely chopped than many big thick steak loving Americans
would find proper. But I believe the "classic" is meat designed to be put
between two pieces of bread. And to me, I think the idea of chopping at all
would be lost if I didn't get a taste of all of the various parts of the hog
with the wonderful differences in flavor and texture in every bite !
However, BY NO MEANS... am I in favor of grinding meat to oblivion such as
has been popularized by Parker's and other "has-been", gas burning Eastern
Joints.
Well, you asked for my opinions and what I know. That's all I can think of
at the moment for someone who has their eyes set on the "Classic". I want
everyone to know that while I do all of this somewhat regularly, it doesn't
mean that I hate "low and slow" smoked meat. On the contrary, I have quite
an appreciation for a well-done version of that dish. But I just hate like
hell seeing the the classic, along with and all the thoughts, skills and
equipment needed to produce it get swept into oblivion by the mass
propaganda that abounds promoting another dish commonly referred to by the
same name.
But what do I know ? There's a guy on this list from California (I forget
his name), I believe from the Frisco area that privately e-mails listmembers
claiming that I am a fraud and have never actually cooked bbq So keep
this in mind just in case anyone decides try something that I say.
All thoughts, corrections and critique encouraged and welcomed !
Bob in Ga >

--
M&M ("When You're Over The Hill You Pick Up Speed")

Ridge Roofing, Inc. wrote:

> I plan on having a real barbecue this summer including roasting either
> a side or quarter of beef on a spit. I was wondering if anyone could
> tell me just exactly how to do it. I have a very large, height
> adjustable spit for this. How long & how hot? Will the outside burn
> before the inside gets cooked due to the size of it? If so should we
> carve off as the meat cooks? Any & all info is appreciated, thanks.

Ya know, Pete, I would hire a pitmaster to do it for you. Work with him and
learn how he does it this year, then do it on your own next year. It's a
lot of meat on the line, and a lot of people depending on the beef, if ya
screw the pooch.
Dave

"M&M" > wrote in message >...

> Bob in GA made the following comments.
>
> The following bunch of mumbo-jumbo comprise my thoughts and opinions on
> classic pork bbq

Thanks for posting that. I should get in my car tonight and be there for lunch!

Cam