Thanks for the pix, Marty! I took one picture.
A couple of folks have sent me some pix which I'll put up soon. There was a pretty absurd amount of food, like 2 full tables plus the counter along the cooking area.
As to the pig - this time I burned oak down to coals, and this gave me the flavor I was looking for. I injected with Sweet Brine O Mine 'cause I've been getting great results with that stuff and this was no exception. I hit the skin with salt after the pig started sweating and this made for really nice cracklin skin, although I got a little heavy with the salt in places.
Overall I was very pleased with how it came out. The hams are a little tighter than I'm used to when cooking in an offset, but that stuff can be sliced or chopped and it's still tender, juicy, etc. so it's all good. Plus, if you go all the way to pulling temps on a rotisserie, I'm pretty sure the pig would just fall off the spit and into the fire.
We finished off cooking the head and picked at it later on at the party, and then I reheated it on the Ranch Kettle (indirect high heat) and picked at it again for lunch yesterday - that chit was great! Tender meat, crispy cracklin - just fantastic. It might have looked a little odd to see us standing around picking at a pig head, but it was damn good.
I'm still trying to figure out why, on what is usually about the hottest day of the year, my chosen activity is to stand next to a blazing fire all day. :noidea:
Jeanie - that pull bread - WOW! That was a big hit. I can't thank you enough for that and so many other great recipes and ideas you have shared with us - you are definitely a treasure.
Many thanks to campdude and SmokinJohn for y'all's help! I'm great at biting off more than I can chew and it is a blessing to have Brethren brothers like these around to dive in and help make things happen. It was great to hang out with y'all and I'm really looking forward to the Bash!