just killed my 1st hog,i have him quartered & soaking in ice water.im looking for some tips on butchering & or preparing this thing. i havent been in on a hog butchering in about 35 yrs.do yall make alot of sausage,leave the hams whole,make bacon,cure the meat,etc...
all suggestions appreciated
thanks keith
I treat it like it's a deer. Steak up the loins, make roasts from the shoulders and rump, and grind the rest. I course grind it and vacume pack it in 1 # packages. Use it like burger in pastas, chili etc.
Works good. We usually have a couple hundred pounds in the freezer at a time.
Noticed we were getting low, might be time for another pig hunt.
Mike
Congrats on the hog. You'll likely get a lot of different advice on this issue. Here's mine for what it's worth.
Wild hog in not domestic pork. It's quite different. Fat on a wild hog is developed from whatever he's been eating, including lots of bitter and nasty stuff. I've tried wild pork just about every way a guy can try it and I've pretty much decided that if I'm gonna eat it I'll be cooking the quarters whole with the bone in on the bbq pit. Bone in works best for me. I even leave the backstraps on the bone and simply section them and cook the backbone and all. Slow for several hours and then finish by wrapping in foil and turning up the coals for an hour or so. This steams the meat off the bone.
Oh, I also make sausage. :D I do try and remove any of the fat and I add demestic pork fat for the sausage. The fat isn't always wild tasting but it can be depending on what he's been eating.
On with the recipes. Congrats again. CK
Do mine same way Curtis does his. Hard to beat hawg sausage on the bbq.
thanks guys! yall keep it coming,much appreciated.
Yep, don't expect bacon or a Hamilton for the oven. Treat it just like a deer, only be prepared to like it much more.
My wife will put it in an oven bag, and then in the oven with various seasonings. When it is cooked through she shreds it with a fork and puts it in BBQ sauce on the stove (like sloppy joes). Makes some good food.
The backstraps I will medallion out and wrap in bacon.
Yep just like a deer. Although I went to youtube and looked up the "ask the meatman" videos on hog butchering. VERY informative. I also looked up and made italian bacon (pancetta) and it was some of the best eating I have ever done. So long as it's not too stinky a boar, they are absolutely delicious and the fat on them is also quite devine, at least on our sunshine reared California variety of wild swine :D
I will slow cook the backstraps like Curtis but the rest I grind up and add domestic pork fat to it and fry in patties like regular ole pan sausage. season with salt, pepper, and a touch of garlic. My kids love it.
Why do you soak in ice water? Just curious...I've heard this before from others but I haven't done it myself.
I pretty much treat mine like deer. Bone in pork chops, tenderloins, roasts from the shoulders and rumps. Here is where I differ from the deer...from these roasts I make large portions of pulled pork, carnitas, chili verde etc...any recipe that calls for long, slow, wet, cooking, and serve them at parties. The last time we had a big get together I cooked up one roast and turned it in to pulled pork and another roast a turned that into chili verde. Fed 13 folks over two days of crabbing (crabbing was bad this year, so we ate wild pork!)
I try to trim the fat where I can. Our pigs in my area of California though feed on acorns, acorn mast, vineyards (red and white grapes and vine roots) and other tasty forage, so I've had some pretty tasty pork fat on mine.
I'd love to start making sausages so I'm looking for recipes on that. Right now I have a bunch of country sausage in the freezer with some shoulder roasts...all the backstrap, chops, and tenderloin got eaten first!
Ah jeez Juan...you had to mention the pancetta...We need to kill another hog soon! I'm still holding country sausage for you too! Don't forget next time you come down to make arrows.
I try to soak my pig and deer for awhile in ice. Seems to tenderize and remove any stench. I leave the pig on ice for 2 or 3 days and the deer on ice for up to seven. First time I did this was an accident. Just could'nt get to the meat so just kept adding ice. When my wife cooked up the first batch she informed me I would be following the same proceedure from now on. I do as I am told. hehe
I make sausage out of the big ones. If less than about 80lbs i split em down the back bone and do em kinda like this. YUM YUM. Don
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c222/526don/DSC01792.jpg)
i soak everything in ice water in a big ice chest,every couple of days i drain the bloody water off and add more ice & water.sometimes i might do this for almost a month.seems to help eleminate any strong gamey taste.
You know, I have only had wild pig once. It was by far the worst game I have ever had, and I swore it off. I couldnt figure out why everyone was so pumped for wild pigs.
This thread has me reconsidering. I think I might need to try some more....
Thanks guys. Great info here.
i'm not much of a cook, so we make it into spicy sausage in patty form. you can eat it just like it is with breakfast or just put it on the grill and make a burger
I just separate mine into big muscle groups and slow cook it on the grill,wrapped in tinfoil first an then the last hr. or so I take it out and really smoke it hard and use lots of home made slopping sauce. Cook it till it's 160-170 degrees inside and falling apart. The rest gets made into breakfast sausage. I've cooked steaks and chops on the stove as normal and man it stinks but it tastes fine,it's hard to tell from store pork.
I put my meat in an ice chest as soon as it's dressed out with ice,water and lots of lemon juice, it stays there for at least a week draining and refilling it every other day.
Field care of the meat is what's important. Those of you that think wild hog tastes bad I bet it wasn't handled properly in the field. I gut mine and open it up immediately,then it gets into the ice chest ASAP.
I put a dry rub on mine, after removing as much fat from the exterior as I can, with a tiny bit of cooking oil, cover, and put in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours.
I then take it out and put it in the smoker at 225 to 250 degrees for 2 1/2 to 3 hours
Then its back in the oven, smothered in BBQ sauce, wrapped up in foil, so the sauce gets deep down into the meat for around 6-7 hours at 200-220 degrees.
It is then ready to be pulled, sliced, whatever you want to do, to make sandwiches, etc.
Breakfast sausage is made by my chosen processor with lots of sage and red pepper flakes, and also italian hot sausage for browning and adding to spaghetti sauces started with browned deer burger.
I have been doing mine like Wingnut. But I'm going to try the Curtis method.
QuoteOriginally posted by BTH:
Ah jeez Juan...you had to mention the pancetta...We need to kill another hog soon! I'm still holding country sausage for you too! Don't forget next time you come down to make arrows.
YOU GOT IT BROTHER!!! Oh, and don't you worry about wild hog sausage recipes, I've got it covered... including equipment! :thumbsup:
QuoteOriginally posted by ishiwannabe:
You know, I have only had wild pig once. It was by far the worst game I have ever had, and I swore it off. I couldnt figure out why everyone was so pumped for wild pigs.
This thread has me reconsidering. I think I might need to try some more....
Thanks guys. Great info here.
In my opinion, there are few things as fine on God's green earth. Something went wrong with the pig you tasted. Try it again, I think you might be surprised.
Yep,
Wild hogs make for some fine eating. I cut off the ribs starting at the bottom of the backstraps then carve out the loins and backstraps then quarter up the rest of it. I'll smoke a whole quarter for 6-8 hours depending on size. You can also bone out the hind quarter remove all the fat that you possibly can, I use a dry rub made by Head Country to season let it set in the frig overnight then put it in a crock pot with just enough water to cover the meat and slow cook over night, drain the water, pull the pork and add Head Country BBQ sauce slow cook for about another hour then get ready for some of the best eating in the world!!!!!!!
I can vouch for the way Ray does a pig. Man is it good. Best pork I have ever had.
Danny
1st of all GET IT OUT OF THE WATER!
Keep it cool but keep your coolers drained.
I'm a sausage freak! But smoking the shoulders is a great way to prep some for later use. After it's smoked, I pull it off in pieces and freeze it. Use a vaccum sealer to prevent burn. Easy to thaw out and use in recipes thru-out the year.
I really dont understand the "soaking in water" thing. I grew up in Louisiana and pretty much everyone does that. All it really seems to do is leach out the blood and turn the game slimely and white in color. I wont touch a deer that has been soaked. Just nasty to mess with. I think that the fact that it is always so warm down South people think they have to do it to keep it from spoiling. The concept of hanging meat is lost. When I tell people back home what I do they think I am crazy, but they always say my stuff is the best they have tasted.
QuoteI think that the fact that it is always so warm down South people think they have to do it to keep it from spoiling.
That's it, Kind of hard to hang meat when it's a 100 degrees out. The ice and water + lemon juice does bleach the meat and lets access blood drain and makes it more eye appealing if you ask me.
I've never had a bad tasting hog.
What about javies? I'm hoping to arrow a few in Texas in a couple weeks and was wondering if you all do the same. Thanks.
Mike
Soaking in ICE water for a couple of days is a good and safe way to age the meat and leach out any blood. You might have to change the water a couple of times. Just make sure there is ice in the water and the temperature will be ok, just above freezing to 40deg f.
By the way, I usually like to keep it in a big of chunks as feasable and smoke it. It is great tasing and tender.
It also makes pork mushy and colorless.
I figured out about 100 hogs ago that keeping them out of the water, iced or not makes for better tasting pork no matter what you do with it.
WOW ! I'm with Biggie, never soak meat. Ask any butcher of any animal wild or domesticated and they will stress the same. Stay away from water when it comes to meat. Have you ever seen a cut of meat at a butcher shop thats been soaked ? And you never will because noone would buy it. Soaking takes away the color which in turn translates into removeing flavor. Not to mention promoting bateria growth and whoever said they do that for a month :( remind me not to accept dinner at your house. No offense but thats gross
I am definitely with Biggie on this one. Heavy duty food grade bag so water does not touch meat. Drain blood as needed Out side of cooler.
I lay the meat on top of the ice with the drain plug open. I don.t age my pigs but will keep deer like this for several days. Again on top of the ice with sometimes a bag between the meat and ice but I never want the meat to touch the water.
water will never "age" meat...it ain't gonna happen. It takes everything out of it..including the taste like Biggie said.
Pork should never be aged anyway...it doesn't age like beef..its as good as its gonna be the minute you kill it...hanging it somewhere is only going to reduce the quality by a factor of how many hours it hangs.
Get it cold, as soon as possible, NOT ICED. That goes for deer as well. If you age somehting, like deer, do it in dry cold, not wet cold.
been soaking deer meat in ice water for years,people that never liked deer meat love mine!!ANYWAY I ASKED FOR YOUR BUTCHERING / COOKING SUGGESTIONS not your meat soaking opinions!!!
and oh by the way,the fellow that said (remind me not to accept a dinner invite to your house) I WOULDNT INVITE YOU TO BEGIN WITH!!!!
sausage is a good option
backstraps strait on the grill
shoulders are good smocked/ roasted slow.
if you have the option hole young howg on the spit, bbq and brown sugar, beer and your mates, if its at all possible African sunset when you start carving. :D
I just slow smoked a big boar's backstrap this past weekend. Smoked it with mesquite at low heat for about 4 hours. Kept it in a foil tray while it was smoking to keep the juices. Then wrapped it all up in heavy duty foil with the juices and cooked it for an hour or so longer. Great stuff!
I keep the water drained off the hog while it's in the ice chest. I've done it up to 2 weeks for deer and hog. Family loves it and most people that don't know can't tell it's wild pork.
So, I see that eating habbits are still bit different from the US and old Germany.
We prefer doing nearly every part (except the filets) of a hog by letting it cook for a long time in the oven with several spices and vegetables and to make a sauce of the juices the meet looses and the juice-cook vegetables.
Some dumplings aside and there you are!
And another difference, the skinned animal is left to mature in a cold but not to cold place in the air for at least 6 days, no Ice water. I think thats because the special wild-game-taste some of you dont seem to like is espescially asked for here.
Ohh and BTW instead of grinding the left overs, I find it more tasty to cut all remaining maet on bows etc. to pieces and make a long simmering stew with dried fruits like plum etc in it...TASTY!
AND, if someone wants exact recipes, just ask, but it would be a bit long writing here
Keith, add a little sugar to your coffee will ya?
Meat prep directly affects the outcome of any recipe. That's why we think it pertinent to this thread.
People who like meat soaked in water don't like the taste of wild game meat, it's that simple.
If you like it that way that's fine. As far as recipes, you can't do wild hog wrong!
QuoteANYWAY I ASKED FOR YOUR BUTCHERING / COOKING SUGGESTIONS
This is good as a slopping sauce and to cook with when wrapped in foil.
BBQ Sauce:
1 1/2 cups Ketchup
1/4 cup Orange juice
1/8 cup Mustard
1 1/4 cups Apple cider Vinegar (Apple cider,not regular)
1 stick butter
1/2 tbsp. Red Pepper (to your tastes,this is a little spicy)
1 1/2 tbsp. Dry Mustard
1 tbsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tbsp. Chili Powder
3 tbsp Molasses
1/2 onion grated (1/2 Red & 1/2 Sweet)
2 tbsp. Brown Sugar
1 tbsp. Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Worcester Sauce
Turkeyslayer,
My appologies sir, My coment on a dinner invite wasn't meant to come across that way.
I was attempting to stress the inharent dangers of leaveing hog meat un-frozen for a month. Very risky. But I'm sure if I was fortunate enough to get an invite I would accept and probably never know how the meat was prepared.
Sorry again as I didn't intend to offend you.
I guess I will join in the argument. I grew up in Texas and was taught to soak my deer and pig in ice water. I always thought the meat was slimy and very bleached. It also seemed like it lost a lot of flavor. I did this because it was possible to have 90 degree days during the bowseason.
I moved to Nebraska a couple years ago and learned a lot about game care. I fell in with a family that probably kills 20 deer a year and made a few friends that processed deer for a living. All of them thought I was crazy for soaking my deer in water. I was told that water harbored bacteria and to not even rinse the carcass unless I made a poor shot.
Currently if it is too hot to hang a deer or pig whole I will skin, quarter and place in a cooler. I also keep several milk jugs that are filled with water and frozen. I will put 3 or 4 of them in the cooler along with a meat thermometer. I will change out jugs as needed. I am able to hold a constant temp between 35-40 degrees with very little work. The meat remains cool and dry. Has definetly improved the quality of our final product.
Not the only way to do things but works for me.
Also, I have used ground pig with venison to make some really good breakfast sausage and brautwurst.
Caleb
that was one of my next questions,has anybody ever mixed deer & wild hog together & made breakfast sausage,was wondering how that would taste?
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/2008%20season/last%20weekend/th_pulledpork2.jpg) (http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/2008%20season/last%20weekend/?action=view¤t=pulledpork2.flv)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/2008%20season/last%20weekend/th_pulledpork5.jpg) (http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/2008%20season/last%20weekend/?action=view¤t=pulledpork5.flv)
(http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/2008%20season/last%20weekend/th_pulledpork6.jpg) (http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/heilakka/2008%20season/last%20weekend/?action=view¤t=pulledpork6.flv)
Quotethat was one of my next questions,has anybody ever mixed deer & wild hog together & made breakfast sausage,was wondering how that would taste?
That IS a good question. Like to try that myself.
The pork would add some moisture too.
Anybody?
Like any good meal, Its all in preperation. Like batman I cook the little ones whole,start with apple at about 200f for 2 hours thn finish it with hickory for 3h. If you have a smoker that wil fitt it. As far as the big ones my grandmother use to soak the shoulders in buttermilk for what seemed like all day then pan fry it with a little flour or slow cook it for sunday dinner with some veggies and onion soup mix. sometimes you just get a game-ie (sp?) pig those make good pan sausage. really ive got hundreds of recipes,PM me for details id be happy to share. LOve to hunt and cook pigs,but I also dont mind the game taste.
congrats on the piggie
Larry McNew
I cant remember specifically what I did. It seems like 30% wild hog and 70% deer. It made a great breakfast sausage. I might have even pitched in a little bit of bacon for taste and moisture. All I can say is that I have not been able to duplicate and wish i could.
C
Some people soaked them in milk in refrigerator for 24 hours. I never tried it but some who I have talk to say that after soaking in milk there is no wild taste anymore.