Soaking Wild Boar in Water

Dave from Elkridge, MD wrote:

Hi Brad,
Come this fall, we are fixing to go boar hunting to get a couple hogs in the 250lb range. Now we know that wild hogs are red meat.

Question is: How do I get the hogs to the right shade color of meat - like in a store? I have been told that you soak the hogs for a few days in pure ice water, changing water each day till you reach the color you want. Do you have any insight on this? 

Thanks, 

Dave


Hello Dave,

That's a crazy wild hog question! I've never been a big fan of soaking meat in water. I like to dry age and let the body moisture come out of the carcass for flavor reasons, rather than soak meat in water adding additional body moisture.

The only experience I've had soaking meat in cold water is when it's down in a cure brine. Rather than dry rub bacon, I make a brine and soak them for 6-7 days and then rinse and smoke. You get a more consistent product that way. Often times, pork bellies will have serious inconsistencies. Some are fat, some are lean, some are moist and some are dry on the surface. When you dry rub these bellies, each one seems to take the dry rub a little differently. With soaking in a brine, the moisture penetrates more consistently.

Why the concern about color? It won't affect the flavor. Soaking the meat in water for several days may change the flavor - it will certainly water log it. To answer your question: I would dry age and not soak in water. I would focus on the flavor rather than the color.

Good luck on your hunt and I hope these little tips help you!

Brad Lockwood

Should I Leave Processing of Wild Hogs to the Professionals?

Grant from Dallas, TX wrote in:

Hi Brad,

Saw two of your three seminars at the NRA Annual Meetings in Nashville. Great work and thanks for putting those on.

I live in Texas and try to shoot as many wild hogs as I can fit into my freezer.

When I get the meat back from the processor it has been frozen solid as a rock. Friends of mine say this "flash freezing" helps kill any parasites that might be in the meat. Is that true? If so, should I leave processing of wild hogs to the professionals or is it ok to age them in my refrigerator and store the pieces in vacuum bags in my freezer?

Hello Grant,

Flash freezing will kill some parasites but the better method is cooking the pork properly. Cook your pork well and you will be just fine.

You can age your pork just like beef and deer with no worries, Simply be sure to cook it well, bloody pork is no good, much different than beef. I prefer to process my own game under all conditions no matter what the animal is. 

The only one I trust with my food is me. That way I'm sure it wasn't cut on the same dirty cutting block with 10 other animals. That way I know the grinder was cleaned properly before my meat was put in. And that way I know it didn't sit out in the warm cutting room while everyone takes lunch breaks. Yep.... I prefer to do it myself! 

I love my garden, my canned deer meat, my own smoked hams, my own bacon. I need a green house in my back yard so I can have my own fresh tomatoes and lettuces year round! Maybe some chickens for fresh eggs. Now I'm getting overboard! However I do feel much better when my food comes from my own hands!

I hope you enjoyed the seminar and I hope to see you next year!

Brad

What to do with Wild Boar?

Ethan from Magnolia, Iowa said:

Hey Brad, 

I just got a bunch of wild boar meat. Some loins, front shoulder and hind quarter. I was wondering where I could find some good recipes and instructions to smoke those big pieces of meat. Thanks!

Thanks for the question Ethan,

I just returned from a Javelina hunt myself in AZ. Had a great time and shot a big old sow hog that looks to be tough as nails! My thoughts are going to be to make the shoulders into a sausage with a strong flavor profile to help cover any off flavors. I will make 2 products from all the trim meat and front shoulders: smoked Kolbassi and hot Italian sausage. Last year, we made pepperoni sticks and they were fantastic! 

I would stay away from fresh breakfast sausage type products. For some really advanced processing techniques check out our Mastering Marination DVD. This DVD will show you the proper methods of making injected bone-in & boneless hams as well as Canadian bacon from your loins. These products are out of this world!

Hope this helps my friend, and thanks for the question!

Brad Lockwood

How do I make sausage from fresh hog?

Paul from Waxahachie, TX said:

I have now killed two hogs to make sweet Italian sausage. This will be my first attempt at making any kind of sausage. Besides seasoning, do I have to mix other kinds of meat or can I just use hog? And if I'm using hog only, will this sausage be dry. If so - what exactly should I use? Any advice would be awesome. 

PS: I will be attempting breakfast sausage also.

Thanks for all of your great advice in the past as well!

Paul,

When making boar sausage, a lot has to do with the age of the hogs. Old hogs tend to be strong flavored and create limits on what you can make. Young hogs are much like domestic hogs and you can make virtually any pork product you would like from those. On older hogs, I try to make strong flavored products like hot sausage and kielbasa. On young hogs, any type of a breakfast sausage will work well. If the hogs are really big boars, I reserve those for smoked products like pepperoni, smoked kielbasa, and smoked sausage. If you need information on stuffing, grinding & smoking I would refer you to our Advanced Sausage Processing DVD which covers the proper processing of fresh & smoked sausages as well as the operation of home smokers.

Good luck Paul and I hope this helps.

How long do I bake wild boar in the oven?

Christopher from Newport Beach, California said:

I recently went on a hunting trip for Wild Boar and was successful in harvesting  3 good size animals. My question is: How long per pound should I bake the hams in the oven?

Christopher,

Wild Boar is one of my favorite wild game meats so I'm very glad you asked! I have embedded a video from my Butcher Block segment below. In the video, you will see how we prepare an elk roast using the new CanCooker. I realize you are preparing this roast in an oven, but the segment I would like you to see is the seasoning application. The method that we use to cut the roast and get the seasoning deep inside that large muscle is very important. When you simply rub the seasoning on the outside surface of the meat you will get very little seasoning penetration, but by deboning the roast and placing the seasoning deep inside the meat you will get a spectacular flavor out of your Wild Hog Roast! 

Try it out - I know you will enjoy it! And as far as cooking time is concerned, my theory on all wild game meat is: "Low and Slow." Cook at a low temperature, 250-300F and the size of the roast will determine the cooking time. If you use a Reynolds oven bag as we do in several of our Butcher Block Segments, it will hold the natural juices in and give you a moist and tender product. I cook all my roasts until they fall & shred apart. The length of time will be determined by the size of the roast, but if you use an oven bag inside your smoker or oven, you will have no issues with the meat drying out on you, so you can cook it about as long as you want.

Try the CanCooker on wild game meats as well! You will love the way it cooks with steam and keeps the meat nice and moist! You can check it out on my Hunter's Butcher Shop site: TheHuntersButcherShop.com/Cancooker.

Thanks for your question Christopher!

Brad