Project Smoke

infused with wood smoke). Pull it off with your

(gloved) hands. Using a knife, scrape away and

discard the excess fat, then tear or cut the skin into

5- or 6-inch squares. Direct grill it over a hot fire

(starting fat side down) until crisp, or deep-fry it in

hot oil or lard. Chop or break the crisp skin into bits

and sprinkle them over the meat.

Serving your hog: One of the ironies of going whole
hog is that for all the effort you expend roasting and
showing it off whole, serving it involves shredding
or chopping it into tiny bits, then dousing it with
vinegar sauce and piling it on a bun. Wearing
insulated rubber gloves, pull large chunks of meat
away from the bones, discarding the bones and any
large lumps of fat. Set the skin aside for crisping
(see below). Transfer the meat to a cutting board
and chop it with heavy cleavers or shred it with meat
claws (page 16).

Don’t forget the skin: During the smoking process,
the skin will become tough and leathery (and richly

How many will it serve? Figure on V/2 pounds

raw meat or 6 to 8 ounces cooked meat per

person (4 to 6 ounces if that pork is destined for

sandwiches). Note: The larger the hog, the higher

the overall yield. Thus, a 50-pound hog will serve

about 30 people; a 225-pound hog will serve

150 people.

CUTS OF PORK

ms

LOIN I %

Y,

TA

P/c%

*

T* &

5?

:

PORK | 93