This little piggy went to the...

...slaughter house. Out of necessity, I was in charge of getting the pig for our New Year's Eve Pig Roast. 

This was my first visit to a pig farm. It was apparent this operation was well run and tidy. But there's just no way to avoid the smell of pig. Thankfully Rex was able to ride to the farm with me and select the pig. He stood in the pig house for approximately 60 seconds, touching nothing and still he reeked when he got back into the truck. Holy cow, that stuff stinks! It was raining so I couldn't roll the window down. It may have been the first time I couldn't wait until Rex was far, far away. 

The above picture was the only time I planned to look at my little pig until it was slaughtered and cleaned. (These are new terms I learned this week.) But at the slaughter house I had to help with the cage as the handler grabbed the pig. He screamed in my ear, the pig, not the young man.  

 The next day I picked him up all cleaned and looking much more like food than a pet. He didn't really stink. 

 We smoked him on my brother's pit for an hour.

 Then transferred him to our neighbor's cooker.  

This is the 3rd time we've used this method. It's much like an oven. The pig is in a box and hot coals are placed on the lid.