Whole Roast Suckling Pig Recipe (2024)

Great recipe, good job explaining the process. One technical note from a retired Chef Instructor. To bard meat is to wrap a lean piece of meat (like game) with fat in order to provide moisture. To lard meat is to inject lean meat with strips of fat (often using a larding needle) to provide marbling inside. The proper term here for injecting pieces of garlic into meat would be piquer.

I have roasted two sucking pigs and this is a much simpler recipe. Warnings for the neophyte piggie roaster. 1. You may have to enucleate the eyes (remove them) - ickiest part of prepping. I tried a sharp paring knife but found the sharp edge of a good veggie peeler worked well. Replace them with marbles or balled foil. 2. Check for the kidneys and remove them. My kitties feasted on cooked kidneys.3. Everyone ended up using their hands to tear off meat and eat, Tom Jones would approve.

What's with the small potato in the pig's mouth?

In South Florida we roast pigs in a La Caja China box which mimics a pit. Way better than using an open

No carving needed. The meat falls off of the bones. I cut pieces of skin, then grab the meat with kitchen tongs and move it to a serving dish.

I wish I had known about the smell of urine. A few years ago, I threw out a freshly roasted suckling pig because it did smell of urine and I thought that I was sold a bad piglet. I am quite familiar with big roasted pigs ("lechon") and had never encountered this smell. Please, the real reason for the smell. The butcher could not tell me.

somebody asked what the potato was for. The potato keeps the mouth open while it roasts so you can put a decorative apple in when it's finished. If you don't prop the mouth open it can pull or shrink weirdly. I also put child's sunglasses on the three suckling pigs I've done when brought to the table,to hide the dried-up eyeballs. People react well to that. I also put foil on the ears during cooking if they get too burnt. The meat is incredibly delicious.

I heard back from the NYT and was told to absolutely not brine the piggy!

Curious if there's any way of duplicating this, but without having a whole suckling pig. It's just my husband and myself, so this would make a LOT.

“Rub the entire pig in oil exactly as you would apply suntan oil to a sunbathing goddess of another era” Apply oink-ment liberally.

Maria. Boar taint.

Made this for a birthday party and it came out perfectly. So easy, beautiful and delicious. The skin was crispy and meat tender and moist. No need too remove the eyes, by the way!

To Maria L Turner: this might explain the “urine” smell. https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/planning_a_roast_pig_barbecue_e1604

I cannot believe how easy this was to create perfectly. We made some dipping sauces, our favorite being Korean.

With hind legs tucked under, my oven could only accommodate an 11-pounder.

This is definitely a special occasion meal, and a totally amazing one at that! The initial set up is the most complicated part, then the pig just basically falls off the bone after it’s cooked. Super moist and tender! Made a 19.5lb pig that was too big for the biggest allclad roasting pan (13x17) but used a big foil roasting pan from grocery store and kind of scunched the pig a bit. Still came out great!

It is Hannah again. The potato in the pig's mouth keeps the mouth open so you can insert that apple. Otherwise, the mouth will fall apart when you try to open it post roasting.I also was advised to put a couple of pins (the type used to close a turkey's cavity) in the ears to keep them erect and then wrap them with foil. It works so the pig does not resemble a Scottish Fold kitty.

Do you have to take out the rib cage before roasting?

Do I need to remove the rib cage before cooking? Thank you !

My butcher insists that we brine the pig first because it is so fresh but this recipe doesn't call for it. The pig is being butchered today for cooking on Tuesday. Does anyone have any feedback on whether to brine or not? Thanks in advance

"What's with the small potato in the pig's mouth?"to keep the jaws open during the roasting process so you can insert an apple once done

Thank you. As a post-script, perhaps Ms Hamilton could share her technique for carving the pig! That would be very helpful.

What sides go well with this?