Shrinkage on a 140 lb pig?? Anyone???

[Ron V]

Hi Y'all
We have had a request to do 2 large pigs for a local festival to feed 400. What is the largest pig I can get on my Lang 84's?
I see pics on Lang's site of a 141 lb pig. Has anyone done one larger?
What do you think the shrinkage will be on a 140 lb'r.
I would really appreciate some advice.
Thanks!

[curious aardvark]

I think you work on about 1/2 - 1/3 of the starting weight as actual meat.

head, bones, feet & skin are pretty much all waste. And it loses a lot of water and fat during the cooking.

So 400 people, average 4oz per sandwich is 100lb of meat.
So you'll need at least 200lb piggy to start with - or 2 100lb porkers.

What I'd be inclined to do would be shoulders for pulled pork - better yield, you can pack way more into the lang weight wise and basically end up with the same end product.

But it doesn't have the same theatricality.
Soooo, what I would actually do is to cook up about 150lb pp BEFORE the event - reheat in pans in the lang (or other oven type thing) as needed.
And cook a small piggy at the event and supplement with the pp.
That way you get get the best of both worlds. You can serve throughout the day, and you still have a piggy for the wow factor.

[curious aardvark]

I think you work on about 1/2 - 1/3 of the starting weight as actual meat.

head, bones, feet & skin are pretty much all waste. And it loses a lot of water and fat during the cooking.

So 400 people, average 4oz per sandwich is 100lb of meat.
So you'll need at least 200lb piggy to start with - or 2 100lb porkers.

What I'd be inclined to do would be shoulders for pulled pork - better yield, you can pack way more into the lang weight wise and basically end up with the same end product.

But it doesn't have the same theatricality.
Soooo, what I would actually do is to cook up about 150lb pp BEFORE the event - reheat in pans in the lang (or other oven type thing) as needed.
And cook a small piggy at the event and supplement with the pp.
That way you get get the best of both worlds. You can serve throughout the day, and you still have a piggy for the wow factor.

[merrell]

I'd have to agree with CA on this one. One piggy and the rest butts / picnics.

[Whisky Fish]

But it doesn't have the same theatricality.
Soooo, what I would actually do is to cook up about 150lb pp BEFORE the event - reheat in pans in the lang (or other oven type thing) as needed.
And cook a small piggy at the event and supplement with the pp.
That way you get get the best of both worlds. You can serve throughout the day, and you still have a piggy for the wow factor.

Excellent advice

!00 pound pig is generally thought of as the best size for whole hog.

[Ron V]

I think you work on about 1/2 - 1/3 of the starting weight as actual meat.

head, bones, feet & skin are pretty much all waste. And it loses a lot of water and fat during the cooking.

So 400 people, average 4oz per sandwich is 100lb of meat.
So you'll need at least 200lb piggy to start with - or 2 100lb porkers.

What I'd be inclined to do would be shoulders for pulled pork - better yield, you can pack way more into the lang weight wise and basically end up with the same end product.

But it doesn't have the same theatricality.
Soooo, what I would actually do is to cook up about 150lb pp BEFORE the event - reheat in pans in the lang (or other oven type thing) as needed.
And cook a small piggy at the event and supplement with the pp.
That way you get get the best of both worlds. You can serve throughout the day, and you still have a piggy for the wow factor.

That is exactly what we did for The Deep Freeze festival 76 lb pig backed up by 360 lbs of butts. We got 60% shrinkage on the butts and did not get a chance to weigh the PP from the pig so I do not know what the shrinkage was. If 60% is the standard for boneless butts then a pig should be higher. maybe 75%...

[barkonbutts]

We got 60% shrinkage on the butts and did not get a chance to weigh the PP from the pig so I do not know what the shrinkage was. .

That seems high for the butts... by about 10-12.5%....did they have big fat caps on them? seems I am closer to 45%-50%... maybe you have to pick a bit more if you are feeding others than yourself which might be the case...

[Mark R]

You're gonna have a lot more loss on a whole piggie than on butts. Head, hooves, skin, bones then the normal fat loss. Prolly over 50%. Never actually checked, but they do shrink a lot.
I usually do butts, picnics and loins along with the piggie.
There isn't much difference in length between an 80lb and a 120lb. Just thicker and hence longer to cook. Actually cooked a 40lb and an 80lb at the same time, was amazed how similar they looked. Same length (MOL), one just a lot thicker than the other. There was also much less waste on the larger pig. That said I don't think I'd wanna smoke one over 120lb.

[shellbellc]

How cold is the water??

[Ron V]

How cold is the water??

It's Edmonton...The water is ICE cold. So... you are saying I should expect MAJOR SHRINKAGE!!

[Richtee]

How cold is the water??

Hehehehehe.... YIKES!