The first step of cooking a whole hog, says Rodney Scott, “is to get you some patience. Because you’re gonna need it.” Scott would know. The James Beard Award-winning pitmaster, owner of Rodney Scott’s BBQ in Charleston, Birmingham, and Atlanta, has been perfecting the art of whole-hog barbecue for nearly four decades—since he cooked his first at age 11. “It’s going to take you about 12 hours. You can’t rush it,” Scott said. There are no shortcuts, from burning the hardwood down into coals; to repeatedly shoveling them under the 180-pound pig to maintain the right heat; to flipping the whole hog over—a two-man feat of strength and finesse; to crisping the skin and finishing it off. (There are tricks, however, like learning to judge the right temperature by the rhythm of the fat dripping onto the coals.) Scott learned how to cook his hogs from his late father. He grew …