Pig Roast with Firefighter Tim and friends!

Make this coming Labor Day or end-of-summer bash a memorable one by having a Pig Roast!! Firefighter Tim and his friends have had a busy night, but they’re going without sleep to show us how it’s done!

Here are the instructions, courtesy of Tim, himself:

First things first, let’s start with the prep. Once you’ve picked up your pig from your butcher like we did from Joe’s Fish and Meat Market, located in downtown Carmel. You want to inject your pig with a tasty mixture. A good injection is 64oz Apple Juice mixed with 1 cup Sugar, 1 cup Corn Syrup or Molasses, and 1 cup Finely Ground Dry Rub (the rub has to be a fine powder or it will clog your injector). Or instead of making your own there are a ton of great options you can buy that are ready to go. You’ll want to inject it into the Shoulders, Hams, Loins, and along the sides (where the bacon is located).Next step: the Dry rub

Make sure to apply your dry rub to any exposed meat. I also rub on a thin coat of regular yellow mustard before applying the dry rub. It helps the rub to stick to the meat really well and gives the meat a great flavor.

Next step: Presentation Is important

You want rub vegetable oil on your pigs skin. This will make it have a really nice “tan” color instead of a dark burnt look. You can even wrap the ears, snout, and tail in aluminum foil to keep them from turning to dark.

Next step: Get your smoker ready to smoke for the next several hours. Your pit will need to be at a temp of 220 deg and you will need enough coal and wood to last through the duration of the cook – so plan accordingly.

I like to use both charcoal briquet with some dried hickory and apple chunks with or without the bark. You can also soak the wood in some cheap red wine and or whiskey.

Place your pig in your smoker that is up to temp. Cook at 220 to 230 deg. Rough estimate for time is 1 hour per 10 pounds of piggy. You want to make sure your pigs internal temperature is when done should be 185 degrees in the shoulders and 175 in the hams.

Final step: let rest for 20 to 25 minutes, shred and enjoy.

Hard Cider Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

2 cups hard cider

3 cups apple cider vinegar

2 cups ketchup

1 cup yellow mustard

1 cup cinnamon apple sauce

1/2cup molasses

1/2cup honey

1/2cup packed dark brown sugar

2Tbs tomato paste

1Tbs kosher salt

1Tbs black pepper

1Tbs garlic powder

1Tbs onion powder

3/4Tbs chipotle powder

Direction

Mix all ingredients into sauce pan bring to a slow boil let simmer for an hour, cool and serve.

ABOUT TIM’S FRIENDS:

Andy Shultz:

-Works with Tim at Nature’s Canopy (www.naturescanopy.com)

-Long-time amateur BBQ/smoking enthusiast -veteran of 7 Finn Family Hog Roasts -Co-conspirator and participant in many, many misadventures with “Firefighter Tim”

Tim Shultz:

-Owner of Nature’s Canopy Tree Care based out of Westfield, IN -Competitive Tree Climber -Former Chef (trained at Johnson and Wales) -worked at a 5 star restaurant on Hilton Head Island that would sometimes cook multiple pigs on the beach for their guests.

-Veteran of at least 6) Finn family Hog Roasts