Buying and lighting calculator · Pork

How much suckling pig do I buy and when do I light?

Suckling pig is a piglet of a few weeks fed only on its mother's milk, with tender, almost gelatinous meat under a thin skin that turns to glass when roasted. A whole one weighs 4.5 to 5.5 kg and will not fit most kamados, so the usual choice is half a pig, around 2.3 kg, split and cleaned. Plan on about 440 g raw per person: between bones, head and fat you get less than half as meat. At 150 °C with the deflector in, aim for roughly 85 minutes per kilo, never under two and a half hours; the probe in the shoulder should read 92-95 °C. Dry the skin with salt the day before and do not cover the pig while it rests.

How to ask for it

For 4 people: Ask for a milk-fed suckling pig, split in half and cleaned, 2.3 kg in total. A whole one weighs 4.5 to 5.5 kg and many butchers sell it by halves; order a few days ahead.

Between bones, head and fat a suckling pig yields under half: for 200 g on the plate you buy about 440 g. 92-95 °C in the shoulder; the skin crackles like glass when tapped.

How we calculate it

We start from a reasonable cooked portion (about 200 g of meat on the plate, 170 g of cleaned fish) and convert it to raw weight using each cut's bone and trim loss. "Hungry" adds 25 %. We round up to what is actually sold: quarter kilos, whole pieces, units.

To the cook time (per kilo or per piece, at each method's temperature) we add the kamado's lighting and stabilising (20-45 min depending on the method, as on the recipe pages), the rest, and a margin for long cooks, which vary from one piece to the next. Times are approximate: your kamado, the wind and the charcoal decide; on big cuts, trust the probe.

Frequently asked questions

How much suckling pig per person?

Plan on about 440 g of raw suckling pig per person. Half a pig of 2.3 kg feeds five people with sides, and a whole one of 4.5-5.5 kg ten or more. That is a little less than tradition, which shares a whole pig between six or eight guests at a feast.

How many hours does a suckling pig take on a kamado?

At 150 °C with the deflector in, allow about 85 minutes per kilo, with a minimum of two and a half hours. Half a 2.3 kg pig takes around 3 h 15 min. When the probe reads 92-95 °C in the shoulder, raise the heat for a few minutes only if the skin has not crisped.

Whole or half suckling pig for the kamado?

Half, unless your kamado is 24 inches or larger. A whole 4.5-5.5 kg pig is long enough that it has to be folded and cooks unevenly. Ask for the half, split and cleaned: the skin faces up and roasts evenly.

Other Pork cuts

← All cuts

Approximate figures. Sources and the portion rule are in "How we calculate it".