questions for some of you hog killers

[turkeyslayer]

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

[wingnut]

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

[Littlefeather]

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

[hunt it]

Do mine same way Curtis does his. Hard to beat hawg sausage on the bbq.

[turkeyslayer]

thanks guys! yall keep it coming,much appreciated.

[Apex Predator]

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.

[stick_string]

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.

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

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

[Stripstrike1]

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.

[BTH]

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!

[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.

[Bob Sarrels]

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

[Don Batten]

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
 

[turkeyslayer]

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.

[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.

[leewillis92]

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

[MikeW]

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.

[Ray Hammond]

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.

[Bjorn]

I have been doing mine like Wingnut. But I'm going to try the Curtis method.

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

Originally 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!