Cuban Pig

Instructions

1. Combine the injection ingredients in a large bowl, and blend well.
2. Place the pig on a tabletop, skin side down.
3. Using a meat syringe, inject the entire amount of injection solution evenly into all of the meat.
4. To make the rub, separate the cloves from all 8 heads of garlic and peel them.
5. Place the whole garlic cloves, green onions, oregano, pepper, and salt in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
6. Rub this mixture onto the belly of the pig, working it into all crevices and making sure that all exposed meat is seasoned thoroughly.
7. Light 20 pounds of charcoal in the bottom of your direct cooker.
8. When the charcoal is hot and grayish white, rake the coals into 4 equal piles in the corners of the cooker.
9. Top each pile of glowing coal with another 5 pounds of unlit charcoal.
10. Place the pig on the cooker grate skin side down.
11. Center the pig, making sure it does not lie directly over the piles of burning coals.
12. Every 2 hours, add 5 pounds more hot charcoal to each pile through the side access door.
13. Cook the pig at 260F on the covered cooker for 8 hours, or until the internal temperature of the hams and shoulders registers 190F.
14. Let the pig rest for 30 minutes prior to serving.
15. The pig can either be offered whole, letting the guests use tongs to pull their own meat, or hand-pulled, chopped, and served.
16. Serve with plenty of Caribbean Mojo Sauce on the side.
17. Inject the meat evenly with the sour-orange mixture.
18. Cover all exposed meat with the coarse rub, pressing it into the crevices.
19. This will ensure more flavor and moisture both inside and on the outside of the meat.
20. If you want to serve the pig with a traditional apple in its mouth, cook the pig with its mouth pried open.
21. A stick about the same length as the diameter of the apple works well.
22. When the pig is cooked, replace the stick with a raw apple.
23. Indirect heat in a single-chamber cooker
24. Hickory, Oak, Apricot
25. 1 single-chamber direct cooker (with firebox inside the main cooking chamber); 80 pounds charcoal